The 13th esctoday.com TOP TEN list continues today with the places 3 and 2 being announced. As revealed on Saturday, this week's topic are the TOP TEN surprising winners.

The list features Eurovision Song Contest winning performers or songs that were not consideredf favourites for first place before the contest. As reliable information on pre-contest media reports is only available since the introduction of the preview videos in 1971, only entries of the last 39 years are considered. It is regarded how much an entry was of a favourite at the time it took part, so "retrospective" surprises are not considered. The following criteria were included in the ranking:

1. Betting odds
2. Media predictions
3. Reactions by the audience in the hall and the commentators
4. Reactions after the victory
5. Commercial success of an entry compared to the success of other songs that year

So we continue…

No. 3 – Olsen Brothers with Fly on the wings of love (Denmark 2000)

Brødrene Olsen took part in the Danish national final for the Eurovision Song Contest 2000 for the fifth time since their first attempt in 1978. With Smuk som et stjenerskud they could win by a clear margin and therefore went to Stockholm, where they would appear as Olsen Brothers performing the English version of the song called Fly on the wings of love. At the beginning, Denmark was definitely not seen as a contender for victory with betting odds around 1-80, although they did improve after the first rehearsal had been held. During the live performance, the song was recevied very well by the audience, which led to the spontaneous change in the camera work.

Denmark got the first 12 points of the night and stayed on top of the scoreboard throughout the whole voting. The Olsen Brothers got 12 points from more than one third of the other countries voting and eventually scored 195 points in total. The only countries that gave no points to Denmark were Croatia and FYR Macedonia.

After a surprising victory, Fly on the wings of love became a surprise hit in some countries. In Sweden, it reached the top of the charts and in Germany it was the highest charting Eurovision Song Contest winning song since 1987. The single was also a top five hit in Norway and reached the top twenty of the charts in Switzerland (staying in the top 100 for more than three months) and Belgium. More impressively, some dance cover versions of the song were very successful in Spain, the United Kingdom and Ireland. In Ireland, the XTM cover reached no. 1 on the charts. The Olsen Brothers returned to the Danish national final in 2005 finishing second.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEwlSyd7DH4

No. 2 – Tanel Padar, Dave Benton & 2XL with Everybody (Estonia 2001)

After four top ten placings in five years, Estonia went on to choose a winning song in their 2001 national final. Everybody was the clear winner in the national selection and Dave Benton & Tanel Padar therefore went to Copenhagen with their funky party song. It was not expected to do too well according to the bookmakers, the media and other predictions. The actual favourite was Greece (for the first of many times) along with Denmark and France.

Estonia went on top of the scoreboard after the first country had voted later losing the leading position to Greece and Denmark. After Turkey had voted, Everybody went on top for good and eventually scored remarkable 198 points. About one third of the countries voting gave Estonia a top three mark including nine sets of 12.

Despite a very clear victory, Everybody was a commercial flop. The only decent chart position was no. 12 in Sweden. In other countries it was way out of the top fifty, most notably in Germany, where the song entered the top 100 at no. 99 for one week. Remarkably, the Greek entry (I would) die for you was a much bigger hit reaching the top ten in some countries.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOQhUSeup2k

Tomorrow, we will show the no. 1 on the list.