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The Eurovision Song Contest 2019 is almost upon us, with less than a week to go until the Grand Final. And as your friendly neighborhood Eurovision fan, to me this time of year is basically better than Christmas. Okay, so my home country, the UK, probably won’t do too well, but who cares? Eurovision is so much better when you don’t take it too seriously, and just embrace it for the fun and craziness that it is. And, with that in mind, I thought I’d honor the world’s biggest live TU music spectacle by seeing which UK universities match up with this year’s songs…
(There being 41 songs in the contest this year, I’m afraid I didn’t do a pairing for every single song and uni. Soz).
Bangor University – Georgia – The Patriotic One
Out of all the songs I mention in this article, this one is unfortunately probably the least likely to qualify, so you likely won’t see it in the Grand Final on Saturday night. But, like Bangor and its Welsh pride, it’s very patriotic – ‘Keep on Going’ expresses Georgian strength and encourages peace (huh, never seen peace expressed in a Eurovision song before…).
The University of Manchester – United Kingdom – The BIGGER One
Thought I’d join in with the bants - IT’S BIGGER!!!!
One of the prevailing memes Eurofans will all look back on from this year’s Eurovision is the BIGGER meme surrounding UK representative Michael Rice’s song ‘Bigger Than Us’. What is bigger than us? What is bigger than everything we see? No one knows, although he’s presumably singing about love (this is Eurovision after all). And which university is bigger than all the others in the UK? The University of Manchester, which is the UK’s biggest single-site university and has the biggest student community at 40,140.
And, as a side note, if Eurovision was a personality contest rather than a singing contest Michael would win hands down. The lad from Hartlepool is an absolute sweetheart and is embracing his Eurovision experience for the fun that it is, including being a great sport about the BIGGER meme. He’s humble, genuinely good-natured, and an absolute credit to the UK. No matter what the result on Saturday, he should be extremely proud.
The University of Newcastle – Spain – The Fun One
Ask anyone where the most fun place to study in the UK is, and they’re likely to say Newcastle. The city frequently features in lists of the best student cities in the UK, including the QS Best Student Cities index, with high praise for its eclectic nightlife. Basically, Newcastle students know how to have a good time.
Its overall fun vibe aligns it most to Spain’s song ‘La Venda’, an absolute banger which is reminiscent of a football anthem and is guaranteed to get you singing along, whether or not you know a word of Spanish. If this song doesn’t put a smile on your face, you are DEAD INSIDE.
Bournemouth University – Moldova - The Sandy One
You’ve got to hand it to Moldova – they’ve managed to make a dated, clichéd ballad a lot more interesting with the addition of sand art on the LED screen behind singer Anna Odobescu. In true Eurovision style, this has caused a bit of drama, since Ukraine already brought this innovative idea to life in their performance back in 2011, as we all remember well. Obviously.
London Metropolitan University – Belarus – The Baby
Watch Zena draw her self-portrait! Do you like it?
London Metropolitan University was founded in 2002, and this also happens to be the year the Belarusian representative, Zena, was born. Yes, really. Feel old yet?
The University of Nottingham – Belgium – The Green One
Eliot from Belgium’s song ‘Wake Up’ isn’t directly about climate change, but subtly encourages us to ‘wake up’ and do something about it – much like the University of Nottingham, one of the greenest universities in the UK, which rewards Ben & Jerry’s to the most energy-saving student hall in its ‘Student SwitchOffs’. Hey, you don’t need to tell me twice to save energy if there’s ice cream involved.
Queen’s University of Belfast – Azerbaijan - The Ridiculously Good Looking One
Okay, so in this case I’m talking more about the singer than the song itself (although the song is…good sounding? whatever) but seriously, obviously without intending to objectify Azerbaijani singer Chingiz in any way, there are no prizes for guessing that if he doesn’t win Eurovision itself, he can at least take comfort in the fact he’ll likely win the unofficial Eurovision's Next Top Male Model Award on fan site Wiwibloggs.com.
Meanwhile, Queen’s University of Belfast, Northern Ireland’s highest-ranked university, is a very good looking entrant in the QS World University Rankings®, and honorable mentions go out to these universities.
The University of Sussex – Iceland – The Surprising One
How do you win Eurovision? By sending a song about peace and/or love of course! While fellow Nordic nations Sweden and Denmark have done just that, sending sickeningly-sweet songs about love, Iceland have surprised us all by sending something a little unexpected – and a total contrast to its cheesefest from last year. ‘Hatrið mun sigra’ (Hate Will Prevail) is dark, yet absolutely inspired. It’s surprised me, in a good way – and also positively surprising is the lesser-known University of Sussex, which comes number one in the world for development studies in the current QS World University Rankings by Subject.
This one is going to be divisive though, so who knows how it will go down with the viewing public?
Central Saint Martins University – Portugal - The Bizarre But Artsy One
Another possibly divisive entry this year, Portugal’s song ‘Telemóveis’ is the kind of weird you expect from Eurovision. Personally, I like it, though it’s a shame the rehearsal footage we’ve seen doesn’t quite replicate the great performance of the Portuguese national final, complete with strange facial jewelry (though they did at least keep the death drop). Also a little weird (but please don’t sue) is Central Saint Martins University, but it’s also ~~art~~.
Sergey Lazarev is back to represent Russia once again (having come third in 2016) and this time he really means business, wearing a similar all-white outfit as previous Russian Eurovision winner Dima Bilan and putting on a delightfully over the top stage show, with mirrors and much screaming in the shower (which I feel on a spiritual level). The song itself isn’t bad, but to me seems like a factory-produced song, designed to be a Eurovision winner. However, it does work a lot better when brought to life on stage, compared to simply listening to the studio version. This try-hard-ness links it to Durham University, which longs to be as eminent as Oxbridge. You’ll make it, guys. Heck, you might even win this year, and then I’m going to look very stupid.
The University of Cambridge – Italy – The Consistently Great One
Honestly, Italy is putting us all to shame song-wise. Italian representative Mahmood’s song ‘Soldi’ has achieved the number one spot out of all of this year’s Eurovision songs in streaming charts such as Spotify, making it a very possible winner (it’s currently in sixth place in the betting odds, which to me is too low). And then you have Cambridge, which is ranked sixth in the world at the moment, and comes in the top 10 for the vast majority of subjects in the rankings by subject.
The One Who’s Definitely/Probably Going to Win
*drumroll please…*
The University of Oxford - the Netherlands
Yes, I realize how stupid I’m going to look if the Netherlands somehow don’t win, but for now, if I was going to bet on it, I’d absolutely bet on them. Dutch representative Duncan Laurence’s song ‘Arcade’ is extremely powerful and moving, and will definitely give you goosebumps. And when it comes to the World University Rankings, Oxford will more than likely come first in the UK – unless Cambridge manages to sneak through to the top…
Who are you supporting in this year’s Eurovision? Let us know in the comments below!
The former Assistant Editor of TopUniversities.com, Sabrina wrote and edited articles to guide students from around the world on a wide range of topics. She has a bachelor's degree in English Literature and Creative Writing from Aberystwyth University and grew up in Staffordshire, UK.
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Which Eurovision 2019 Song is Your University?
Sabrina Collier
Updated May 28, 2019Save
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The Eurovision Song Contest 2019 is almost upon us, with less than a week to go until the Grand Final. And as your friendly neighborhood Eurovision fan, to me this time of year is basically better than Christmas. Okay, so my home country, the UK, probably won’t do too well, but who cares? Eurovision is so much better when you don’t take it too seriously, and just embrace it for the fun and craziness that it is. And, with that in mind, I thought I’d honor the world’s biggest live TU music spectacle by seeing which UK universities match up with this year’s songs…
(There being 41 songs in the contest this year, I’m afraid I didn’t do a pairing for every single song and uni. Soz).
Bangor University – Georgia – The Patriotic One
Out of all the songs I mention in this article, this one is unfortunately probably the least likely to qualify, so you likely won’t see it in the Grand Final on Saturday night. But, like Bangor and its Welsh pride, it’s very patriotic – ‘Keep on Going’ expresses Georgian strength and encourages peace (huh, never seen peace expressed in a Eurovision song before…).
The University of Manchester – United Kingdom – The BIGGER One
For added bants, check out the replies.
One of the prevailing memes Eurofans will all look back on from this year’s Eurovision is the BIGGER meme surrounding UK representative Michael Rice’s song ‘Bigger Than Us’. What is bigger than us? What is bigger than everything we see? No one knows, although he’s presumably singing about love (this is Eurovision after all). And which university is bigger than all the others in the UK? The University of Manchester, which is the UK’s biggest single-site university and has the biggest student community at 40,140.
And, as a side note, if Eurovision was a personality contest rather than a singing contest Michael would win hands down. The lad from Hartlepool is an absolute sweetheart and is embracing his Eurovision experience for the fun that it is, including being a great sport about the BIGGER meme. He’s humble, genuinely good-natured, and an absolute credit to the UK. No matter what the result on Saturday, he should be extremely proud.
The University of Newcastle – Spain – The Fun One
Ask anyone where the most fun place to study in the UK is, and they’re likely to say Newcastle. The city frequently features in lists of the best student cities in the UK, including the QS Best Student Cities index, with high praise for its eclectic nightlife. Basically, Newcastle students know how to have a good time.
Its overall fun vibe aligns it most to Spain’s song ‘La Venda’, an absolute banger which is reminiscent of a football anthem and is guaranteed to get you singing along, whether or not you know a word of Spanish. If this song doesn’t put a smile on your face, you are DEAD INSIDE.
Bournemouth University – Moldova - The Sandy One
You’ve got to hand it to Moldova – they’ve managed to make a dated, clichéd ballad a lot more interesting with the addition of sand art on the LED screen behind singer Anna Odobescu. In true Eurovision style, this has caused a bit of drama, since Ukraine already brought this innovative idea to life in their performance back in 2011, as we all remember well. Obviously.
London Metropolitan University – Belarus – The Baby
London Metropolitan University was founded in 2002, and this also happens to be the year the Belarusian representative, Zena, was born. Yes, really. Feel old yet?
The University of Nottingham – Belgium – The Green One
Eliot from Belgium’s song ‘Wake Up’ isn’t directly about climate change, but subtly encourages us to ‘wake up’ and do something about it – much like the University of Nottingham, one of the greenest universities in the UK, which rewards Ben & Jerry’s to the most energy-saving student hall in its ‘Student SwitchOffs’. Hey, you don’t need to tell me twice to save energy if there’s ice cream involved.
Queen’s University of Belfast – Azerbaijan - The Ridiculously Good Looking One
Okay, so in this case I’m talking more about the singer than the song itself (although the song is…good sounding? whatever) but seriously, obviously without intending to objectify Azerbaijani singer Chingiz in any way, there are no prizes for guessing that if he doesn’t win Eurovision itself, he can at least take comfort in the fact he’ll likely win the unofficial Eurovision's Next Top Male Model Award on fan site Wiwibloggs.com.
Meanwhile, Queen’s University of Belfast, Northern Ireland’s highest-ranked university, is a very good looking entrant in the QS World University Rankings®, and honorable mentions go out to these universities.
The University of Sussex – Iceland – The Surprising One
How do you win Eurovision? By sending a song about peace and/or love of course! While fellow Nordic nations Sweden and Denmark have done just that, sending sickeningly-sweet songs about love, Iceland have surprised us all by sending something a little unexpected – and a total contrast to its cheesefest from last year. ‘Hatrið mun sigra’ (Hate Will Prevail) is dark, yet absolutely inspired. It’s surprised me, in a good way – and also positively surprising is the lesser-known University of Sussex, which comes number one in the world for development studies in the current QS World University Rankings by Subject.
This one is going to be divisive though, so who knows how it will go down with the viewing public?
Central Saint Martins University – Portugal - The Bizarre But Artsy One
Another possibly divisive entry this year, Portugal’s song ‘Telemóveis’ is the kind of weird you expect from Eurovision. Personally, I like it, though it’s a shame the rehearsal footage we’ve seen doesn’t quite replicate the great performance of the Portuguese national final, complete with strange facial jewelry (though they did at least keep the death drop). Also a little weird (but please don’t sue) is Central Saint Martins University, but it’s also ~~art~~.
Testimonials
Durham University – Russia – The Try Hard
Sergey Lazarev is back to represent Russia once again (having come third in 2016) and this time he really means business, wearing a similar all-white outfit as previous Russian Eurovision winner Dima Bilan and putting on a delightfully over the top stage show, with mirrors and much screaming in the shower (which I feel on a spiritual level). The song itself isn’t bad, but to me seems like a factory-produced song, designed to be a Eurovision winner. However, it does work a lot better when brought to life on stage, compared to simply listening to the studio version. This try-hard-ness links it to Durham University, which longs to be as eminent as Oxbridge. You’ll make it, guys. Heck, you might even win this year, and then I’m going to look very stupid.
The University of Cambridge – Italy – The Consistently Great One
Honestly, Italy is putting us all to shame song-wise. Italian representative Mahmood’s song ‘Soldi’ has achieved the number one spot out of all of this year’s Eurovision songs in streaming charts such as Spotify, making it a very possible winner (it’s currently in sixth place in the betting odds, which to me is too low). And then you have Cambridge, which is ranked sixth in the world at the moment, and comes in the top 10 for the vast majority of subjects in the rankings by subject.
The One Who’s Definitely/Probably Going to Win
*drumroll please…*
The University of Oxford - the Netherlands
Yes, I realize how stupid I’m going to look if the Netherlands somehow don’t win, but for now, if I was going to bet on it, I’d absolutely bet on them. Dutch representative Duncan Laurence’s song ‘Arcade’ is extremely powerful and moving, and will definitely give you goosebumps. And when it comes to the World University Rankings, Oxford will more than likely come first in the UK – unless Cambridge manages to sneak through to the top…
Who are you supporting in this year’s Eurovision? Let us know in the comments below!
The former Assistant Editor of TopUniversities.com, Sabrina wrote and edited articles to guide students from around the world on a wide range of topics. She has a bachelor's degree in English Literature and Creative Writing from Aberystwyth University and grew up in Staffordshire, UK.