EBU grants broadcasters the right to host national finals in order to select their representatives. Many countries organise a selection process – only in 2020 25 countries organise a national final for the artist, the song or both of them. In this series of posts, we analyse the results of the past decade.

Today, we analyse the two hundred qualified entries and the Top-10 placed countries of the past ten years. How many of them were selected with the help of an international jury? Does the international jurors guarantee a better placing?

Qualification & National Final

From all the qualified songs of the past decade, only 17 entries were selected through a national final, where international jurors voted.

In 2010 and 2016, there is no country that qualified and in its national final used international juries. In 2010, Sweden which used for the first time international juries in Melodifestivalen – national final – was eliminated in the semis. In 2016, Sweden which once again used international juries was a pre-qualified country, being the host nation.

TOP-10 & International Juries

Since 2010, from all the top-10 placed songs, only 16 songs were chosen with the help of an international jury or a combination of juries – national and international.

The only constant throughout the years is Sweden, which since 2010 has replaced the national jury with an international one. The year with the most international juries that used – among the Top-10 placers – is 2019!

Note: The data were collected through the official site of the contest. Despite our best efforts, there might be some mistakes.

What do you think about the existence of an international juries on national finals? Write your thoughts on the comment box below.