Top 10 Eurovision Songs That Were BANNED

Denmark
Heres the first thing you need to know about songs submitted to the Eurovision Song Contest: they must be 100% original and unreleased before a set datebut thats getting harder to enforce and less favorable in the digital age. In 2012, Denmarks entry almost slipped through, even though it had already been making the rounds. Songwriter Tine Lynggaard had posted it months earlier, way before Eurovision was even on her radar. At first, the Danish broadcaster tried to let it slide but fans came armed with receipts. Not wanting the EBU to swoop in and ban it later, Denmark made the call themselves and disqualified it first.

Germany
In 1976, Germany had a rough night at Eurovision, ending up near the bottom of the scoreboard with their second choice entry, Sing, Sang, Song. It wasnt necessarily their most crowd-pleasing pick, but it got bumped up after Der Star, the original winner of their national contest, was disqualified. It won by about 20,000 votes, but it turns out it had already been released by another singer. Since Germanys part of the Big Five, they couldnt just sit it out they needed a backup. Unfortunately, Sing, Sang, Song didnt exactly set the stage on fire. Germany placed 15th out of 18, while viewers happily threw their kisses (and votes) at the United Kingdom instead.

Italy
This ones a little different because seemingly the only ones who took issue with the song were Italy. Around the time of the contest, the country was holding a referendum on divorce prohibition. A vote yes would ban divorce, and a vote no would keep it legal. Italian officials got nervous that a song literally called Si (meaning Yes) could sway voters and be used as propaganda. So, they heavily censored it across their media and even delayed broadcasting the event until after the referendum. Some say this hurt Italys chances, but they still came in second, after ABBAs Waterloo. Oh, and by the way, almost 60% of voters said no to banning divorce.

Cyprus
As weve established, every country undergoes its own selection process before submitting its song. In 1988, Cyprus picked Thimame, performed by Yiannis Dimitrou. It wasnt even close the song crushed the competition, winning 14 out of 16 votes from the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation. Seems like a solid choice, right? Well, there was just one teensy problem: this wasnt the songs first rodeo. Thimame, with Dimitrou still attached, had already made it through three out of four voting rounds in 1984. And apparently, that wasnt the only time it had

F.Y.R Macedonia
Wed argue that step one to picking a strong Eurovision song is choosing one that doesnt instantly irritate your own population. Macedonia seemingly went the other direction in 2013 with Imperija. Now, sure, the EBU has rules against political content even though they dont always quite follow them but Imperija hit a nerve back home. The song was linked to Skopje 2014, a highly controversial urban development plan that was accused of being wasteful, nationalist, and politically motivated. So, naturally, when audiences got even a whiff of that, alarm bells went off. The song was swapped out for Pred da se razdeni, which missed out on a spot in the final.

Demark
If you thought broadcasters were strict before, buckle up. In 1962, Denmark had six songs in the running for their Eurovision entry. One of them was a swing-style tune performed by 16-year-old Gitte Hænning. It was catchy maybe a little too catchy. After attending rehearsals, a producer was heard whistling the melody in the canteen. And believe it or not, that counted as a public performance. The song was disqualified before poor Gitte even got her chance. Many believed it would have done better than Vuggevise, the song Denmark ended up sending instead, which finished joint 10th out of the 16 countries competing that year.

Malta
One challenge of multilingual events like this is that a totally innocent word in one language might mean something different in another. Take Maltas 2025 entry Kant, which means to sing in Maltese. However, thanks to a certain phrase popularized by RuPauls Drag Race starting with serving and ending with a word that sounds rather similar it caught the BBCs ire. Interestingly, it wasnt even the most explicit-sounding song that year! With just a weeks deadline, Maltas Miriana Conte changed the lyrics, although her queen energy and positive message stayed. The title is now Serving, and the Kant part is replaced with some ahhhs. Whatever its called, it still slays. Go off, Queen!

Ukraine
Eurovision loves to say its all about love, love, peace, peace, and no politics whatsoever. Ukraines 2005 entry said, Yeah, about that... Hip-hop duo GreenJolly wrote Razom Nas Bahato during the Orange Revolution a huge protest after a presidential election that was widely seen as fixed. The song didnt just hint at it either; it apparently even name-dropped opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko right in the lyrics. Razom Nas Bahato, meaning Together We Are Many, became the unofficial anthem of the movement. Eurovision rules forced the duo to rewrite the song to make it a little less... obvious. Still, the title stayed, and they even sang it in multiple languages during their performance.

Belarus
Belarus really went two for two trying to sidestep the no politics rule in 2021. Their first entry, I Will Teach You, got blasted for mocking anti-government protests. People were so mad by this seemingly pro-political oppression stance that a petition to boot them from the contest racked up over a thousand signatures in half a day. The EBU gave them a second chance to submit a new song. But their follow-up, Pesnya pro zaytsev (Song About Hares), managed to break the rules, too. At that point, the EBU just pulled the plug and disqualified them altogether. Belarusian broadcaster BTRCs boss, Ivan Eismont, did not take it well. He claimed the decision was politically motivated.

Georgia
In 2009, Eurovision was held in Moscow; remember that, its relevant. Georgia held a national selection like many countries often do, and the group Stephane and 3G won with their song We Dont Wanna Put In. Yeah, you heard that right: Put In. It didnt take a genius to connect the dots, especially with the Russo-Georgian War just a year earlier. The EBU stepped in and told Georgia they had to either change the lyrics or pick a new song. Georgia refused to budge, denying the political undertones of their song and accusing the EBU of caving to pressure from the host country. In the end, they decided to pull out of the contest altogether.


Do you think any of these songs deserved douze points? Let us know in the comments