Whilst we now know the winner of the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest, it’s time to find who are the 3 stand out winners at this year’s Marcel Bezençon Awards, the awards which honour the best competing entries at the Eurovision Song Contest.

The Marcel Bezençon Awards makes its return to 2018 for the seventeenth year running, in which awards are presented to the entries of the 3 categories which feature in the annual awards.

The awards were founded by Swedish Head of Delegation Christer Björkman, together with Sweden’s 1984 winner Richard Herrey, with the awards named after the creator of the Eurovision Song Contest, Marcel Bezençon.

Each year, 3 songs are presented awards which are divided into the following categories:

• Press Award: Presented to the best entry as voted for by accredited media and press during the event;
• Artistic Award: Presented to the best artist as voted for by the commentators;
• Composer Award: Presented to the best and most original composition as voted for by a jury of participating composers.

The 2018 winners

Hours before the Grand Final of the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest, the Marcel Bezençon Award winners were unveiled and presented with their prizes in a special ceremony in Lisbon.

Check out the winners being presented their awards!

Press award

The first award, the Press Award, was this year awarded to France with Madame Monsieur and their entry Mercy, whose song is about a girl named Mercy who was born to Nigerian refugees on a boat, travelling across the Mediterranean Sea in the midst of the European migrant crisis.

Madame Monsieur received a total of 173 points at the Grand Final of the competition, finishing in 13th position overall.

Artistic Award

The Artistic Award, as voted for by the commentators, was presented to Cyprus’s representative – Eleni Foureira – and their entry Fuego. Despite being the betting odd favourite on the night of the Grand Final, Cyprus just missed out on the Eurovision victory, finishing in 2nd position with 436 points.

Composer Award

The final award of the day, the Composer Award, was presented to Bulgaria with the song Bones, performed by the group Equinox. Equinox was formed especially for the Eurovision Song Contest, consisting of a total of 5 members. The award winner was determined by the participating composers.

Qualifying from the first semi-final, Bulgaria finished in 14th position on the night of the Grand Final, receiving a total of 166 points.