The ESC Top 250 is an annual countdown of the top songs from Eurovision Song Contest which began in 2007. It has been hosted by online radio channel ESC Radio every New Year's Eve from 2009 to 2022, and EFR12 Radio since 2023.
No countdown was held in 2010.
Format[]
Fans around the world are invited to vote for their favorite songs from 1956 to the present via an independent site (since 2017, the voting is hosted by Belgian fan site songfestival.be) for a period of time in early December. Every year, the newest batch of songs from the most recent contest are added to the pool. Fans vote in the traditional Eurovision style from 1-10 points, with their favorite song receiving 12 points.
At the end of the voting period, the votes are counted and the points combined. The 250 songs that receive the highest points are presented on that year's Top 250.
Airing[]
The countdown begins New Year's Eve at 11:00am Central European Time (5:00am Eastern Standard Time) on ESC Radio with #250 and continues throughout the day. The number 1 song is usually presented to coordinate with the approach of the New Year in most of Europe (around 00:00 CET).
The 2023 edition featured an on-air presenter for the first time.
The very first song to reach #1 on the ESC 250 was Lapponia by Monica Aspelund (Finland 1977).
Euphoria by Loreen (Sweden 2012) had the longest reign at #1, holding the top spot from 2012 to 2021.
The most recent #1 is Cha Cha Cha by Käärijä (Finland 2023)
Trivia[]
- As of 2022, Serbia is the only country to have all their entries appear on the list at least once.
- Only 40 songs have appeared on every single list since the countdown's reception in 2008.
- 2012, 2017, 2019 and 2021 are the only years where the winning entry debuted the highest of their year (Euphoria came in at #1, whereas Amar Pelos Dois, Arcade and Zitti e buoni debuted at #2).
- Six artists achieved the rare feat of having 2 entries in the top 40 in a single year. They are Dima Bilan in 2009, Helena Paparizou in 2011-13 and 2015-16 (both solo and as part of Antique), Lena in 2011, Zeljko Joksimovic in 2012 and 2013, Gjon's Tears in 2021, and Loreen in 2023.
- Despite the cancellation of the 2020 contest, all 41 entries were eligible to enter the voting pool for the 2020 ESC Top 250. 20 of the 41 songs appeared on that year's chart, the lowest-ranked being Don't Break Me (Australia) at #241 and the highest-ranked being Fai rumore (Italy) at #8.
- The pool also includes the songs eliminated from Kvalificija za Millstreet and the 1996 audio-only pre-qualifier, though as of 2021 only Planet of Blue has appeared on the 250 itself, coming in #249 in the 2021 edition.
External Links[]
- ESC Top 250 2019 (songfestival.be)
- ESC Top 250 2018 (songfestival.be)
- ESC Top 250 2017 (songfestival.be)