Nul Points

Jahn Teigen at the 1978 contest, said to be the most famous "nul pointer" of all

"Nul Points" is considered to be the most famous phenomenon of the Eurovision Song Contest. The term refers to an entry (or entries) that fails to earn a single point. It is often preceded by the words "the dreaded", as it is the one score that every country is determined to avoid getting.

To date, there have been 41 victims of the score of "Nul Points", with 4 entries failing to get a single point in the semi-finals and 37 in the grand final. 18 other entries got zero points on one half of the split vote system (12 in the Grand Final, 6 in the semi-finals).

Belgium was the first ever country to receive "Nul Points" in 1962. The most unfortunate victims are Norway and Austria, having each scored "Nul Points" 4 times. If the semi-finals are counted, Switzerland has also received "Nul Points" on 4 occasions.

From 2016 onwards, it was deemed almost impossible to attain "Nul Points" in the Grand Final due to the new voting system. Despite this, the United Kingdom received "Nul Points" in 2021.

Grand Final

Year	Country	Artist	Song	Notes
1962	Belgium	Fud Leclerc	Ton nom	First victim due to being early in the running order, and also the first time one of the founding seven countries receives "Nul Points".
	Spain	Victor Balaguer	Llámame	First time that a country that is now part of the Big Five receives "Nul Points".
	Austria	Eleonore Schwarz	Nur in der Wiener Luft	Austria's first "Nul Points".
	The Netherlands	De Spelbrekers	Katinka	The Netherlands' first "Nul Points".
1963	The Netherlands	Annie Palmen	Een speeldoos	First time a country received "Nul Points" in consecutive years, and the first time a country gets "Nul Points" twice.
	Norway	Anita Thallaug	Solhverv	Norway's first "Nul Points".
	Finland	Laila Halme	Muistojeni laulu	Finland's first "Nul Points".
	Sweden	Monica Zetterlund	En gång i Stockholm	Sweden's first "Nul Points". This marks one of only two occasions in which Sweden finishes last.
1964	Germany	Nora Nova	Man gewöhnt sich so schnell an das Schöne	Germany's first "Nul Points". This marks the third consecutive year that four entries received "Nul Points".
	Portugal	António Calvário	Oração	First time a debut entry receives "Nul Points", and by extension, Portugal's first "Nul Points".
	Yugoslavia	Sabahudin Kurt	Život je sklopio krug	Yugoslavia's first "Nul Points", and marks the only time they finished in last.
	Switzerland	Anita Traversi	I miei pensieri	Switzerland's first "Nul Points". Marks the first time a previous performer receives "Nul Points".
1965	Spain	Conchita Bautista	¡Qué bueno, qué bueno!	Marks the fourth consecutive year that four entries received "Nul Points".
	Germany	Ulla Wiesner	Paradies, wo bist du?
	Belgium	Lize Marke	Als het weer lente is
	Finland	Viktor Klimenko	Aurinko laskee länteen
1966	Monaco	Téréza	Bien plus fort	Monaco's first, and only "Nul Points". Marks the first year since 1961 that less than four countries received "Nul Points".
	Italy	Domenico Modugno	Dio, come ti amo	Italy's first "Nul Points", and marks the first time Italy finishes last.
1967	Switzerland	Géraldine Gaulier	Quel cœur vas-tu briser?
1970	Luxembourg	David Alexandre Winter	Je suis tombé du ciel	Luxembourg's first and only "Nul Points". Marks the last time an entrant received "Nul Points" on the older, pre-"Douze Points" voting system.
1978	Norway	Jahn Teigen	Mil Etter Mil	Marks the first time an entry received "Nul Points" in the "Douze Points" scoring system. Ironically, the song became a huge hit in Norway, dubbing Teigen the most famous "nul pointer" of all time.
1981	Norway	Finn Kalvik	Aldri i livet
1982	Finland	Kojo	Nuku pommiin	Second year in a row and the third time in 4 years a Nordic country receives "Nul Points".
1983	Spain	Remedios Amaya	¿Quién maneja mi barca?	First time in the new voting system where multiple entries receive "Nul Points", and the first time since 1966.
	Türkiye	Çetin Alp & The Short Waves	Opera	Türkiye's first "Nul Points"
1987	Türkiye	Seyyal Taner & Locomotif	Şarkım Sevgi Üstüne
1988	Austria	Wilfried Scheutz	Lisa, Mona Lisa
1989	Iceland	Daníel Ágúst Haraldsson	Það sem enginn sér	Iceland's first "Nul Points".
1991	Austria	Thomas Forstner	Venedig im Regen	Austria receives "Nul Points" for the second time in 3 years. The artist finished in the top 5 only 2 years prior.
1994	Lithuania	Ovidijus Vyšniauskas	Lopšinė mylimai	Second time a country's debut receives "Nul Points".
1997	Norway	Tor Endresen	San Francisco	Most recent time a Nordic country has received "Nul Points", with Norway achieving the feat for a record fourth time.
	Portugal	Célia Lawson	Antes do adeus	The first time since 1983 that two countries received "Nul Points".
1998	Switzerland	Gunvor Guggisberg	Lass' ihn
2003	United Kingdom	Jemini	Cry Baby	The UK's first "Nul Points", and marks the first time the UK finishes last. It is the first English-language song to receive "Nul Points". The duo was extensively mocked by British media, leading to their split.
2015	Austria	The Makemakes	I Am Yours	First time since 2003 that a country received "Nul Points" in the final and became the first host entry to receive "Nul Points". This marks the fourth Austrian entry to receive "Nul Points", tying Norway's record set in 1997.
	Germany	Ann Sophie	Black Smoke	Germany's first "Nul Points" since 1965. It is also the first time since 1997 that two countries received "Nul Points".
2021	United Kingdom	James Newman	Embers	First time an entry receives "Nul Points" under the split-vote scoring system, failing to receive a single point from the televote and jury vote.

Semi-Finals

Year	Country	Singer(s)	Song	Notes
2004	Switzerland	Piero and the MusicStars	Celebrate	First entry to receive Nul Points in the semi-finals.
2009	Czechia	Gipsy.cz	Aven Romale	Czechia's first brush with "Nul Points" prompted them to take a leave of absence from the competition, not returning until 2015.
2023	Romania	Theodor Andrei	D.G.T. (Off and On)	Romania's first brush with "Nul Points" marked the first instance of "Nul Points" since the semi-finals in 2009.
	San Marino	Piqued Jacks	Like an Animal	San Marino's first and currently only brush with "Nul Points". It is also the first time that two countries received "Nul Points" in a semifinal.

50:50 split

Grand Final

• Echo (You and I) (France 2012): 85 points from the jury ("Nul Points" in the televote)
• I Am Yours (Austria 2015): 40 points from the jury ("Nul Points" in the televote).
• I Stand (Czech Republic 2016): 41 points from the jury ("Nul Points" in the televote)
• Running on Air (Austria 2017): 93 points from the jury ("Nul Points" in the televote)
• Do It For Your Lover (Spain 2017): 5 points from the Portuguese televote ("Nul Points" with the jury)
• Sister (Germany 2019): 32 points from the jury ("Nul Points" in the televote)
• Home (Israel 2019): 35 points from the televote ("Nul Points" with the jury)
• I Don't Feel Hate (Germany 2021): 3 points from the jury ("Nul Points" in the televote)
• Voy a quedarme (Spain 2021): 6 points from the jury ("Nul Points" in the televote)
• Birth of a New Age (Netherlands 2021): 11 points from the jury ("Nul Points" in the televote)
• Boys Do Cry (Switzerland 2022): 78 points from the jury ("Nul Points" in the televote)
• Rockstars (Germany 2022): 6 points from the televote ("Nul Points" with the jury)
• Dizzy (United Kingdom 2024): 46 points from the jury ("Nul Points" in the televote)

Semi-Finals

• Breathlessly (Malta 2017): 55 points from the jury ("Nul Points" in the televote)
• Spirit of the Night (San Marino 2017): 1 point from the German televote ("Nul Points" from the jury)
• Our Choice (Iceland 2018): 15 points from the jury ("Nul Points" in the televote)
• Limits (Austria 2019): 21 points from the jury ("Nul Points" in the televote)
• Omaga (Czech Republic 2021): 23 points from the jury ("Nul Points" in the televote)
• Fade to Black (Azerbaijan 2022): 96 points from the jury ("Nul Points" in the televote)

The best of the "worst". When you get points at the Eurovision Song Contest

Trivia

• Nul Points.net is a Eurovision news and archival site
• Nul Points was also the title of a 1993 documentary by the BBC about the contest.
• "Fade to Black" is the first song to get "Nul Points" on one side of the split vote in the semifinal and still manage to qualify for the final.