#68 (2011)

The 100 Greatest Songs You've (Probably) Never Heard – 2011

#68

Sur les paves
Aliose
Switzerland

For the first time since 2004, Switzerland opted to have a televised competition to select its Eurovision entry. “Sur les paves” (On the Cobblestones) finished 7th of 12 at Die grosse Entscheidungsshow in Kreuzlingen.

#69 (2011)

The 100 Greatest Songs You've (Probably) Never Heard – 2011

#69

Elle merveille
Alexandre Deschamps
Belgium

“Elle merveille” finished 4th in Belgium’s national selection, almost exclusively because of its popularity with the voting public, who split their power to choose with an “expert” jury. While the public thought this was the second best song of the night, the jury placed it 10th of 14. At least both sides agreed on a winner, but we’ll discuss that later.

#70 (2011)

The 100 Greatest Songs You've (Probably) Never Heard – 2011

#70

Running Scared
Ell & Nikki
Azerbaijan

I know what you’re thinking; Yes, this is the song that won Eurovision, and no, it is nowhere near as interesting as the title suggests. With a title like “Running Scared”, it is rather disappointing that the song is not about a zombie apocalypse or serial killer, but instead, is just a typical love song.

The Azerbaijani selection was a three month long process that consisted of 7 heats, a semifinal, and a final. In the heats, each contestant would sing a foreign song on Monday, an Azerbaijani song on Tuesday, a Eurovision entry on Wednesday, and a song of their choice on Thursday, with the results announced each Friday. (You can see Eldar’s Wednesday song here and Nigar’s here.) Both Eldar Qasımov and Nigar Jamal made the final as soloists and were declared joint winners by the jury.



The great thing about this selection procedure is that it produces a lot of train wrecks, like this, this, and especially this.

#71 (2011)

The 100 Greatest Songs You've (Probably) Never Heard – 2011

#71

Lucky You
Linda Sundblad
Sweden

I’d like to imagine that this is what Debbie Gibson or Tiffany would sing if they were still 1980s teenagers, but with a music career in the 2010s.

#72 (2011)

The 100 Greatest Songs You've (Probably) Never Heard – 2011

#72

Sand
Isabella Leroy
Norway

Isabella Leroy is best known in Norway for finishing in 9th place in the 2007 edition of Norwegian Idol, so I guess that means she’s not very well known at all. Perhaps that’s why “Sand”, despite being one of the more lyrically interesting songs of the year, failed to advance to the final of MGP 2011.

#73 (2011)

The 100 Greatest Songs You've (Probably) Never Heard – 2011

#73

Drømmen
Jeffrey
Denmark

Jeffrey is a 25-year-old singer who is relatively new to the Danish music scene. You may be more familiar with the writing team behind “Drømmen” (The Dream), which includes Lasse Lindorff (who sang “Hooked on You” in 2008 and wrote “Kæmper for Kærlighed” for Sukkerchok in 2010) and Svend Gudiksen (who wrote Denmark’s 2008 Eurovision entry “All Night Long”).

#74 (2011)

The 100 Greatest Songs You've (Probably) Never Heard – 2011

#74

Jestem
Magdalena Tul
Poland

“Jestem” (I am) handily won Poland’s Krajowe Eliminacje 2011 on Valentine’s Day, by receiving nearly twice as many votes as the runner-up. The song would go on to open the first semi-final at Eurovision and place 19th out of 19 songs (thus failing to qualify for the final). If you ever needed proof that the world isn’t fair, here it is: Armenia’s “Boom Boom” finished in 12th place.

#75 (2011)

The 100 Greatest Songs You've (Probably) Never Heard – 2011

#75

Good to Be Bad
Charlee
Austria

After a 3 year absence, Austria finally returned to Eurovision (and this list) in 2011. A 30 song semifinal was held online where voters pared the field to 10 competitors to compete in the televised final. “Good to Be Bad” snuck into the final and would go on to finish 8th.
The song sounds like it slithered out of pop’s dark age (2000-2003), where radio stations had to speed up mediocre tracks to make them sound more interesting (well, more than usual). “Good to Be Bad” sounds like the kind of song one would expect to hear from Stacie Orrico or JoJo; remember them? I didn’t think so.

#76 (2011)

The 100 Greatest Songs You've (Probably) Never Heard – 2011

#76

Weelderig Waardeloos
3JS
Netherlands

3JS (as in Three Js because they’re a trio of men named Jan, Jaap, and Jaap-get it?) have racked up quite a few hits in their native Netherlands of the past five years. They were selected to represent their country at Eurovision and presented 5 songs at Nationaal Songfestival 2011. “Weelderig Waardeloos” (Luxuriously Worthless) is a meandering song that, somewhat poetically, muses on the nature of happiness.

#77 (2011)

The 100 Greatest Songs You've (Probably) Never Heard – 2011

#77

Ринг ринг ринг (Ring ring ring)
The Breeze
Serbia

“Ring Ring Ring” was written by Kornelije Kovač (among others), who also wrote and performed Yugoslavia’s 1974 Eurovision entry “Moja generacija” (one of their best). The Serbian selection this year had a very retro feel to it.

#78 (2011)

The 100 Greatest Songs You've (Probably) Never Heard – 2011

#78

25 Hours a Day
Le Freak
Denmark

The proudly pop “25 Hours a Day” is a fun little number that would probably only do minor damage to the official charts. In a year filled with ballads and mid-tempo songs, this countdown needs up-tempo numbers for balance. Also, headbands…we need headbands.

Bonus! 2011-Part 2

The first round of everyone’s favorite guessing game was fairly straight forward and only one reader had problems sorting the songs. This week, we have a difficult one! (It’s difficult because they are all bad!) Can you determine which one of the following 3 songs narrowly missed out on making the top 100, which one narrowly missed out on being the worst of the year, and which one narrowly missed out on being memorable enough to fall on either end of the good/bad spectrum?

Song A.
Boom Boom Yeah
Axel feat. Saša Lendero
Portugal

Boom Boom No!




Song B.
Boom Boom
Emmy
Armenia

A KO would be merciful.




Song C.
Bang Bang
Mihai Alexandru feat. B-Body and Soul
Romania

Thankfully, we ran out of Boom-Booms.

#79 (2011)

The 100 Greatest Songs You've (Probably) Never Heard – 2011

#79

Sleepless
Anne Noa
Denmark

Seventeen-year-old Anne Noa is a rising star in her native Denmark. “Sleepless”, her runner-up at DMPG, would fit in nicely on contemporary pop radio and could easily become a minor hit in the US.

#80 (2011)

The 100 Greatest Songs You've (Probably) Never Heard – 2011

#80

Trenger mer
Sichelle
Norway

There are five kinds of break-up songs:
1. The I’m beginning to think our relationship is over, so I will end it in the near future song
2. The I’m breaking up with you/you’re breaking up with me right now song
3. The I can’t believe you broke up with me, and I miss you so much that it hurts song
4. The I’m very bitter about this and I’m now going to say some hurtful things song
5. The I’m over it and moving on because I am a strong individual song

“Trenger mer” ([I] Need More) falls into the third category.

#81 (2011)

The 100 Greatest Songs You've (Probably) Never Heard – 2011

#81

St. Cabah
Shirubi Ikazuchi
Estonia

The official Estonian title of this song is “Nõialugu”, which translates as “the story of a witch”.



Hopefully by now, you’ve realized that this song is about witches! Witches! WITCHES!

#82 (2011)

The 100 Greatest Songs You've (Probably) Never Heard – 2011

#82

I Like You
Lena
Germany

In 2010, Lena won the right to represent Germany with the song “Satellite”. She achieved Germany’s second victory at Eurovision, as well as Germany’s second number one on our yearly chart. It was then decided that she would be given the chance to defend her title in Düsseldorf, conveniently forgetting that Eurovision is a song contest, not a singer contest. Thus, Germany’s 2011 national selection consisted of Lena preforming 12 songs. That’s 12 eligible entries for this year’s list. How many will crack the top 100? At least one!

#83 (2011)

The 100 Greatest Songs You've (Probably) Never Heard – 2011

#83

Try Again
Dilba
Sweden

Every year, there are a few songs that make this list through a quirk in our top secret formula. Occasionally, songs are rewarded with a spot in the bottom third for being average in every category. This is one of those times. You can listen to Dilba’s first big hit, “I’m Sorry” from 1996, here. (It's much better.)

#84 (2011)

The 100 Greatest Songs You've (Probably) Never Heard – 2011

#84

Love in Rewind
Dino Merlin
Bosnia & Herzegovina

Dino Merlin is one of the best known and most respected Bosnian musicians. He wrote Bosnia & Herzegovina’s first Eurovision entry (“Sva bol svijeta” in 1993) and, in 1999, he represented his homeland as the performer and composer of “Putnici”. He even wrote Bosnia & Herzegovina’s first national anthem following the breakup of Yugoslavia. That’s quite the impressive résumé.

#85 (2011)

The 100 Greatest Songs You've (Probably) Never Heard – 2011

#85

Alive
Linda Pritchard
Sweden

Is this a ballad about love or the ramblings of a crazy woman who, inspired by Frankenstein, decided to build a monster?

#86 (2011)

The 100 Greatest Songs You've (Probably) Never Heard – 2011

#86

Strong
Soma Manuchar
Finland

To be honest, there is a performance video of this song, but I thought I would spare you from its questionable quality. More accurately, the video is fine, it’s the performance that might cause you pain. However, if you are feeling especially brave today, feel free to click here.