List of the top ranking countries of the Eurovision Song Contest

This is a list of the top performing countries in the Eurovision Song Contest based on most placings in the top five.

The table shows that although Ireland has the most victories, the United Kingdom is the top placed nation with 28 placings in the top five, as follows: 5 times finishing in 1st place, 14 times finishing in 2nd place, 3 times finishing in 3rd place, 5 times finishing in 4th place and never finishing in 5th place.

The decade tables show the shifting tastes over the history of the contest with an early lead by French-language countries, giving way to the United Kingdom, Ireland and Sweden clocking up many victories between them. The current decade shows the shift to Eastern bloc countries, which currently hold dominance.

Ranking table

Where countries have the same number of top five positions, they are ranked according to most wins, most 2nd places etc.

The 1960s show that the French-language songs were dominating the contest, with three of the five top countries (although Belgium was way behind wih only one top five placing during the decade). The United Kingdom was the only other country showing dominance with 7 placings in the top two. This was the best decade that France, United Kingdom and Luxembourg experienced.

1970s

The 1990s was Ireland's decade more than any country had shown before with more than half the decade spent in the top two. Sweden also enjoyed a good decade with two wins, while the United Kingdom managed to stem its decline with another win and clocked up their 15th 2nd place. France improved on its poor showing in the 1980s, while Norway, having been popularly seen as the eternal loser's parade, was one of the top countries. Its win and runner-up place in 1995 and 1996 began a brief trend with Ireland winning in 1996 and finishing 2nd in 1997 and the United Kingdom doing the same again in 1997 and 1998.

2000s

With the emergence of the Eastern Bloc countries in the 1990s, the gates were open for the contest to change dramatically in the 2000s. Russia placed five times in the top three, although (so far) no country has won the contest more than once this decade. Former heavyweights, the United Kingdom and Ireland, dropped significantly as did most of Western Europe. Scandanavian countries, however, managed to keep their heads up with Sweden's 3 top five placings, 2 for Norway and wins for Denmark and Finland - the latter's first time ever in the top five.

References

* http://www.eurovision.tv/
* The Eurovision Song Contest - The Official History. O'Connor, John Kennedy. Carlton Books 2007 ISBN 978-1844429943