"Anyway, you never win. And then the countries of the former USSR vote among themselves. Every year, it's the same story. The France, which still has five victories to its name, does not win Eurovision and European countries are accused of cronyism with their neighbors.
As the Eurovision final takes place this Saturday in Liverpool (UK), let's take a closer look at the statistics. Because France, represented this year by La Zarra, is far from being the only country waiting for a (new) coronation.
Spain has been hoping since 1969
If the France think every year of Marie Myriam's victory in 1977, Spain remembers Salomé's blue fringed jumpsuit, and her song "Vivo cantando". In 1969, the then 29-year-old singer tied for first place with three other countries: France, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.
The four candidates were not decided and were all declared winners of the edition held in Madrid, an exception in the history of Eurovision.
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Spain, which had also won the contest in 1968, never won again. However, she has multiplied the second places in the 1970s, and finished third in the 2022 edition, last year.
Malta, 52 years of participation and still no victory
The prize for the oldest participant without a victory now goes to the island of Malta, since, since its first participation in 1971, the country has never won. After three participations until 1975, the country has returned to the contest since 1991, without managing to win the trophy. This year, The Busker didn't even manage to qualify for the final.
Malta, however, clinched two fine second places in 2002 and 2005, as well as two third places in 1992 and 1998. A Mediterranean island, Cyprus, is experiencing the same fate, since it has to settle for a second place in 2018 as the best ranking, while it has participated since 1981.
The country is much more famous at Junior Eurovision, which it won twice, in 2013 and 2015. Each time, the island hosted the competition the following year.
Iceland, an intruder among the Nordic countries
The Nordic countries, stars of Eurovision? Go tell that to Iceland. Since 1986, the country has been patiently waiting for a victory. Like Malta and Cyprus, the island of cold is content with the silver medal on the trophy shelf.
Selma in 1999 and Yohanna in 2009 were well placed to win, but a neighbor to the north, Sweden for the first and Norway for the second, grilled them politely.
A very meagre record compared to the six Swedish victories (1974, 1984, 1991, 1999, 2012, 2015), three Danish victories (1963, 2000, 2013), three Norwegian victories (1985, 1995, 2009) and the coronation of Lordi for Finland in 2006.
The Eastern bloc is worse off than we think
Contrary to appearances, the countries of the East are not the wealthiest. If several countries have imposed themselves since the implosion of the communist bloc (Russia, Serbia, Estonia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan ...) many of them have remained on the sidelines.
Like Poland. In 1994, Edyta Górniak arrived on the Dublin stage with her song "To nie ja" for the first participation of her country and took second place. A performance never repeated: Poland remains without victory and has only two other top 10 on the clock.
Thirty years after the collapse of the Soviet bloc, other countries are still chasing a victory since their first participation, such as Croatia (1993), Lithuania (1994) and Romania (1994).