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The 10 Highest Scoring Eurovision Songs Of All Time

3 hours ago
| BY News Team

A look at the highest scores in Eurovision Song Contest history, with William Hill News rolling back the years and remembering some of the competition’s greatest hits.

Eurovision still has a rare kind of pull. It turns a song contest into a yearly shared memory, the sort people argue over in group chats, relive with friends, and remember long after the glitter has been packed away.

The voting era changed in 2016, so the modern points era naturally dominates the all-time leaderboard, but the fun of the list is exactly that mix of old-school icons and newer blockbusters.

With Eurovision 2026 heading to Vienna, the conversation is already drifting toward who might join the club of all-time giants. Finland is the current bookies’ favourite in early markets, with Greece and Sweden also sitting near the front of the pack in some pricing.

The contest has a habit of rewriting expectations, though, and the songs that end up mattering most are usually the ones that land hardest on the night.

Eurovision 2026: Vienna And The Early Favourites

Vienna will host Eurovision 2026, keeping the contest in Austria after the country’s recent success in 2025. That alone gives next year’s edition a proper sense of occasion, because Eurovision always feels bigger when the host city has the scale to match the show.

Early betting chatter has Finland in front, with Greece and Sweden also appearing among the leading names in the market. That does not settle anything, but it does tell you where attention is going before rehearsals, staging, and the full live picture start moving the market around.

The 10 Highest Scoring Eurovision Songs Of All Time

Eurovision

The all-time points list is more than a ranking of scores. It is a snapshot of the contest’s changing identity, from intimate ballads to genre-bending chaos, from jury darlings to televote magnets, and from national pride to a shared global ritual.

That is the magic of Eurovision: every May, millions tune in for the song, the drama, and the memory they will end up talking about with their mates for years. Here, we look at each of the top 10 performances in more depth:

1. Salvador Sobral – Amar pelos dois

Salvador Sobral tops the list with 758 points, winning Eurovision 2017 for Portugal with a song that chose restraint over spectacle and still cut through everything around it. That contrast is a big part of why it landed so powerfully. In a contest built on big visual moments, Amar pelos dois stood out by making the room go quiet.

Portugal’s first Eurovision win came through a performance that trusted melody, phrasing, and emotion to do the heavy lifting. The result was a score that still sits well clear of the rest of the field, which says a lot about how completely the song connected with both juries and viewers.

2. Kalush Orchestra – Stefania

Kalush Orchestra reached 631 points in 2022 with Stefania, taking Ukraine to another victory and turning a folk-rap hybrid into one of the contest’s defining modern winners. The song’s blend of traditional colour and contemporary energy helped it travel beyond language barriers, which is exactly what Eurovision rewards when a performance feels instantly alive.

Its score also reflects how strongly it landed with televoters, giving it the kind of momentum that can make a song feel bigger than the sum of its parts. When a Eurovision entry sounds distinctive from the first few seconds, it can build a fan base very quickly, and Stefania did that with real force.

3. Kristian Kostov – Beautiful Mess

Kristian Kostov’s Beautiful Mess reached 615 points in 2017 and finished second, giving Bulgaria one of its strongest Eurovision results. The song worked because it was polished without feeling cold, and Kostov sold the emotional tension in a way that made the final climb feel earned rather than manufactured.

That score put him just behind Portugal and well ahead of the rest of the pack at the time. In a year with a lot of noise around it, Beautiful Mess stayed focused on voice, structure, and a clean emotional payoff.

4. Nemo – The Code

Nemo won Eurovision 2024 with 591 points for Switzerland, and The Code arrived with a more theatrical, boundary-pushing identity than many winners manage. The song’s appeal came from its constant movement, stylistic shifts, and the sense that it was trying to say something personal rather than simply chase a neat pop formula.

A high jury score helped drive the total, and the win gave Switzerland a headline moment that felt both modern and memorable. Songs like this thrive when the contest rewards ambition, because they give viewers something to decode as well as something to enjoy.

5. Loreen – Tattoo

Loreen’s Tattoo collected 583 points in 2023 and delivered Sweden another victory, adding to a Eurovision career that already carried huge weight after Euphoria. The song was built for scale, with a vocal performance that could fill the arena and a production that knew exactly when to tighten and release.

What made it so effective was its balance. It sounded radio-ready, but it still felt like a contest song with intent, built to hit hard in a three-minute window. That is a hard balance to strike, and Sweden keeps doing it better than most.

6. Baby Lasagna – Rim Tim Tagi Dim

Baby Lasagna brought Croatia 547 points in 2024 with Rim Tim Tagi Dim, a result that nearly carried the country to its first win. The song had a bigger-than-life personality and a rhythm that made it instantly memorable, which is exactly the kind of energy that can turn a strong favourite into a real phenomenon.

Its second-place finish showed how far a standout hook and a committed performance can go when they connect with the public. Eurovision loves an entry that feels like it is having a bit of a wild night out, and this one absolutely did.

7. Jamala – 1944

Jamala’s 1944 scored 534 points for Ukraine in 2016 and won the contest with a song that carried real historical weight. It was not built to be simple background listening. It asked the audience to sit with its mood, its message, and its intensity, and that made it one of the most striking winners of the modern era.

The performance stood out because it married vocal control with a strong emotional and political undercurrent. Eurovision has always rewarded songs that mean something beyond the scoreboard, and 1944 remains one of the clearest examples of that.

8. Netta – Toy

Netta’s Toy reached 529 points in 2018 and took Israel to victory with a performance that was playful, sharp, and impossible to ignore. The song’s offbeat character was part of the appeal, but the bigger reason it worked was the confidence behind it. Eurovision audiences tend to reward entries that know exactly what they are and commit fully.

The result was a win powered by personality as much as melody. Toy felt like a song built for the contest rather than adapted to it, and that distinction matters when the competition is this crowded.

9. Käärijä – Cha Cha Cha

Käärijä’s Cha Cha Cha finished on 526 points in 2023 and became one of the contest’s most talked-about non-winners. The song’s appeal came from its chaos in the best sense, mixing heavy beats, bright hooks, and a performance that felt like it was on the edge of control without ever losing its grip.

That balance turned it into a public vote monster and a fan favourite far beyond Finland. Eurovision remembers songs that make people grin, shout, and replay the entry straight after the final ends, and Cha Cha Cha ticked all three boxes.

10. Måneskin – Zitti e buoni

Måneskin completed the top ten with 524 points in 2021, giving Italy a win that helped propel the band into a much wider spotlight. Zitti e buoni stood out because it brought rock energy into a contest that too often gets reduced to only one genre at a time.

The performance felt direct, youthful, and totally unbothered by convention, which is a big reason it stuck. Eurovision does not always reward raw attitude, but when it does, it can launch something far beyond the night itself.

*Odds subject to change – prices accurate at the time of writing*

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