We publish a second article from Matt MaDonald from the United States of America who are quite new to Eurovision and will attend his first Eurovision this year in Lisbon.

 

Much is made of which song performs second at Eurovision. Whether that is bad luck or otherwise, most contestants and their fans want to avoid that second position, similar to what some superstitious people believe about the number 13. Does that spot in the running order deserve this fear and trepidation?

Maybe.

However, a caveat needs to be considered. Since 2012, the exact running order has been determined by the host television producers, not by a draw. In those more recent contests, the participants simply selected which half they would participate in. Since this change was made, it seems like those in charge of the exact running order are purposefully selecting relatively poor acts for this spot. Of the six songs that have performed in the second position of the final since 2012, only one has finished in the top 20: Belarus’ 16th-place showing at the 2014 contest thanks to Teo and “Cheesecake.”

It’s important to note that the most recent Eurovision to hold a draw for the complete running order, the 2011 contest, resulted in a solid showing by the country that drew the second position. Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Dino Merlin sang, “Love in Rewind,” and received 125 points, good enough for sixth place.

But it does have to be said that the preceding seven Eurovisions, from 2004-10, resulted in pretty dire performances by songs that were performed second. In chronological order, they finished 21st, 22nd, 20th, 20th, 25th, 16th and 15th. However, in the two shows prior to that rough stretch, a third-place finish in 2002 (United Kingdom) and a sixth-place showing in 2003 (Austria) were earned by those in the second spot.

Interestingly, what may have really sparked this talk of the second position being a curse occurred in 1995. Three years earlier, Ireland performed 17th and won the competition. The next year, the Irish were the 14th to perform and proceeded to claim Eurovision 1993. Ireland then sang from the third spot in 1994 and won again, stretching its winning streak to three, a record that has yet to be equaled. However, at Eurovision 1995, Ireland selected that now-dreaded second position, and the winning streak came to an end when the Irish finished 14th.

Now, the second position may have never propelled an entry to a Eurovision win, but songs from that spot did finish quite highly in the final tables of the song contest’s early years. In Eurovision’s first 22 contests, from 1956-77, songs performed second finished in the top five nine times (41 percent of the time). Of course, there were fewer total entries those years, no more than 18, but that many top-five showings are still greater than what random selection would provide given the average number of entries in those years (15.7).

So what were the most successful finishes for songs placed second in the running order?

Kathy Kirby was up second and sang, “I Belong,” while representing the United Kingdom at Eurovision 1965 and was rewarded with 26 points and a second-place finish for her efforts, putting her just six tallies shy of Luxembourg’s France Gall, who won with her entry, “Poupée de cire, poupée de son.”

At the first contest in 1956, Switzerland’s Lys Assia had the second song of the show, “Das alte Karussell.” It finished in a 13-way tie for second place as no results other than who the winner was had been recorded. However, Assia did still leave with the trophy as she performed in the ninth position as well, and “Refrain” became the first Eurovision-winning song in history.

It should also be noted that, even though songs being performed second have received nul points on three occasions, two of those came in 1962 and 1963 when a full quarter of both of those fields had zero tallies. The only other time a song being performed second ended the night with nul points was in 1978, when Norway finished 20th.

Of course, there is no such thing as a curse. (Right?) But it does appear that being placed second in the running order will continue to be the death kneel that it’s purported to be now that those responsible for the running order have, ever since 2012, placed songs that are very unlikely to win in that position.