Foreign languages at Eurovision are always a topic of much debate in forums, across the fandom and the media – and even occasionally in academic writing. Year after year, dedicated Eurofans like me as the same important questions: Who will be singing in a foreign language? Which languages are making a comeback? And will Azerbaijan ever sing in Azeri? (No, lol.)
But why are national languages at Eurovision so important? Eurovision is a great opportunity for all countries in Europe to showcase their unique culture, traditions and language – no matter how big, populous or powerful. In recent years, more and more countries have switched to English-language songs in Eurovision to improve their chances of winning and so a lot of respect is usually dished out to those countries ‘brave‘ enough to sing in their own national tongue.
For the same analysis of Eurovision 2021, click here.
*Please note: in this post, I will occasionally use the phrase ‘foreign language’ to denote non-English languages. This is purely because re-using the phrase ‘songs performed at-least partly in a language other than English’ is just boring and awkward. I am aware that French is not a foreign language in France, obviously.
Ok first of all, let’s get the basic facts out of the way. Eurofans will probably want to skip ahead to the good stuff.
For more facts on Eurovision 2019, click here.
How many songs in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 feature a foreign language?
At Eurovision 2019, 14 out of 41 entries will feature a language other than English – that’s around 34% of entries. Of these songs, eight do not feature any English. Three songs feature multiple non-English languages (Denmark, Italy and Georgia).
Which countries are singing in their national language at Eurovision 2019?
This year the countries singing at least partly in a local or national language are: Albania, Croatia, Denmark, France, Georgia, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain.
The UK, Ireland, Malta and Australia are also singing in their national languages: English.
This year’s entry from Denmark features English, French, Danish and one line of German, making it the most multi-lingual song this year.
Which languages will be heard at Eurovision 2019?
There are songs fully sung in Albanian, Georgian, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Portuguese, Serbian, Slovene and Spain.
The contest features songs partially sung in Croatian, Danish, French, and Polish. While some songs feature just one or two lines or repeated phrases in Arabic, Abkhaz, Northern Saami and German.
Ok, now we have the basic trivia questions (and SEO content) out of the way, let’s move on to the juicy stuff. Eurofans, this is where you will want to start reading.
How does Eurovision 2019 compare to previous years?
Firstly, let’s compare to 2018. Both years of the contest had 14 songs which were at least partly sung in a language other than English. (The proportion of these songs has increased slightly in 2019 versus 2018, because there are 41 entrants this year, compared to 43 last year.) However, the number of languages has increased: 13 languages other than English were featured last year, versus 15 this year.
For more on the rise of English at Eurovision in recent years, click here.
Overall, we can see that 2019 has not brought an increase in songs sung in a foreign language. However, some countries are singing in a national language for the first time in years. Iceland, for example, have not brought Icelandic to the Eurovision stage since 2013, Norway haven’t featured a non-English language since 2011 and Denmark have sung solely in English since 1998.
Which languages are making a comeback this year?
Languages featured in the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest
While Denmark’s Leonora wasn’t necessarily the fandom’s favourite to win Dansk Melodi Grand Prix, (Denmark’s national selection), there was a nice surprise instore – the first use of Danish on the Eurovision stage in 21 years! Leonora’s entry is the first for Denmark since 1998 to not be sung entirely in English. The song, Love is Forever, is sung mostly in English but also features two verses in French, a verse in Danish and a line in German. (I also think it’s absolutely lovely.)
Arabic will also be performed on the Eurovision stage in 2019 – the first time since 2009. Italy’s Mahmood is Milan-born of half-Egyptian origin and his song about his absent Egyptian father features several references to his upbringing, including Ramadan and an Arabic saying his father used to say to him.
German will also be heard at Eurovision for the first time since Austria’s entry in 2012. However, Germany’s televised national selection did not feature a single word in German this year and the language is instead being brought to the stage by Denmark. (I am incredibly bitter about this.) Ukraine’s almost-entry by MARUV (more on the Ukrainian non-participation here) also featured a line in German – this would have been the second time the Slavic country have sent an entry partly in German.
The only language making its debut this year is Abkhaz – a phrase of which is heard in Georgia’s entry.
Could a non-English entry win Eurovision 2019?
Portugal’s win in 2017 was the last for a non-English entry
If there’s one sure-fire way to encourage more countries to sing in their own national language at Eurovision, it’s to have a non-English language winner (as the contests in 2008 and 2018 showed). But how likely is that this year?
According to Oddschecker on 17 March 2019, Italy is the most-likely candidate for a non-English language champion, although the country is currently only the 5th highest in the current odds, after the Netherlands, Russia, Sweden and Switzerland. Iceland and their BDSM-rockers Hatari are the next most-likely, sitting 7th in the odds.
However, stranger things have happened: odds are known to fluctuate wildly after rehearsals begin and the bookies are often wrong.
The biggest obstacle to a non-English winner at Eurovision this year is probably the semi-final draw. Half of the songs featuring a national language are competing against each other in the first semi-final – this includes five of the eight songs sung completely not in English. This means that we are likely to have fewer national languages in the final (although three of the six automatic finalists are partly or fully performed in a language other than English).
Looking to the future: can we hope for more foreign languages at Eurovision 2020?
While we didn’t see an increase in the number of songs in a national language this year, we also didn’t see a decline, which is a positive thing for all foreign-language-loving Eurofans.
But can we be hopeful for Eurovision 2020? It’s definitely too early to say, but there are some positive signs.
One of the most successful national finals right now is A Dal in Hungary. It hasn’t produced a Eurovision winner (yet), but it has secured Hungary a place at the final every year since it started in 2012. And despite having no language rule, the vast majority of entries are sung in Hungarian. In this year’s final, only one out of eight songs was performed in English. Hungary’s last three Eurovision entries have all been in Hungarian (2017, 2018, 2019).
Albania is another country which seems to be embracing its national heritage. For many years, the country underwent the dreaded Albanian revamp, which saw beautiful Albanian songs butchered into English-language Frankensteins (I found 2014 particularly heart-breaking). Last year, Eugent Bushpepa’s passionate rock-ballad Mall scored highly with the juries, coming 7th (the second highest non-English entry) and it looks like the Albanian delegation is keen to repeat this success with 2019’s entry Ktheju tokës. Proof that a language little spoke outside of its national borders can still strike a chord with fans across Europe.
Serbia’s Marija Šerifović performing Molitva in 2007
Elsewhere in the Balkans, Serbia is one country that should feel confident singing in their national tongue, having won the contest in 2007 with a beautiful Serbian-ballad. After dabbling in English from 2015-2017, the past two entries from Serbia have been in Serbian. Likewise, Slovenia are sending their second consecutive entry in Slovene to the contest in 2019.
It might not be conclusive evidence, it but looks like some countries could be relied upon to send entries in their national location for the next few years to come – however this probably all hinges on how their entries perform this coming May…
How do you feel about national languages at Eurovision?
Comment below!