"A look back at the songs and performances that didn't quite make it to the Eurovision Song Contest stage in Kyiv.<!--more-->
From national finals to weeks-long selection series, we've seen dozens of Eurovision hopefuls fall short of winning the right to represent their respective countries in Ukraine this May. Here are some of our favorite runners-up from the 2017 Selection Season.
Armenia
Anna Danielyan "Dancing on My Own" -- Armenia's Depi Evratesil process brought out a fascinating mix of singers trying to earn the right to be on the Eurovision stage. Anna strength wasn't in making a strong first impression, instead building up throughout her performance to transfix the audience. Although her cover of "I See Fire" is equally enthralling, this version of Robyn's "Dancing on My Own" might be better than the original. Anna was knocked out in the battle round, as her opponent made a first impression too strong to overcome.
Finland
Lauri Yrjölä “Helppo elämä” -- Finland is always a treat when it comes to Eurovision selections because you never know what is going to be on the table. The guitar and beats combination could turn into Bastille-meets-Avicii instead of a hypnotic toe-tapper-sort-of-dancey pop party. Although it was "mournful ballad's" turn in the rotation, this track could have been a slow-building success as Finland prepared for May.
Georgia
Tornike Kipiani and Giorgi Bolotašvili "You Are My Sunshine" -- Not quite to the level of "We Are the Winners" (Lithuania, 2006), you have to commend this duo for committing to the bit. Had Georgia's national final not been an interminable affair with 25 acts competing, this might have had a chance of giving "Keep the Faith" a run for its money.
Hungary
Gabi Toth "Hosszú idők" -- One of the things that makes Hungary's A Dal process so successful is the repeat exposure to the songs competing. The winning song will be performed for the voting public and the jury four times: preliminary heat, semi-final, jury final, superfinal. This allows for opinion to change and appreciation to grow, as was the case with this entry. Unfortunately, this song missed out on the superfinal despite having support from three of the four judges.
Latvia
Franco Franco "Up" -- One of the defining characteristics of a successful Eurovision entry is the ability to exist as a song outside of the context of the Contest. This song is so outside of what we typically see at Eurovision -- which has been Latvia's direction since switching to the Supernova selection process -- that hearing this performance forces you to stop what you are doing and pay attention. Even though this didn't make it out of the semi-final phase, this song instantly became a Spotify staple for 2017.
Lithuania
Lolita Zero "Get Frighten" -- Admittedly, we didn't pay too much attention to Lithuania's marathon process this year since... marathon (also, the stream was too finicky). However, dipping in between Ukraine and Melfest and Iceland and we would see the occasional recap featuring... whatever the hell just happened with the melon smashing and pyrotechnic horns. Is it a great song? Not really. But definitely adding Lolita Zero to our US performance watchlist.
Norway
Ella "Mama's Boy" -- Norway's field had a lot to choose from this year, as shown by the fact that this didn't even make it into the superfinal. The fact that this live performance is just as banging as the studio track is fan-freakin-tastic and an incredible feat. Norway's here to play, y'all, and we should pay attention.
Slovenia
Raiven "Zažarim" -- At first glance this borrows perhaps too heavily from "Love Injected" -- from the lighting effects to the vocal power fluctuations between the verse and chorus. First, Eurovision could use tons more songs like "Love Injected", so that's not really a criticism. This song's presentation has a point of view, which is more than can be said about what Slovenia ultimately selected.
Which non-winning entries were your favorites this year?"