Recently the members of Eurovision fan clubs around the world have been voting in the OGAE Song Contest 2023. This year it was hosted by OGAE Australia. Now they have revealed it is the United Kingdom and Harry Styles with ‘As It Was’ that has reclaimed victory for the most successful nation on the OGAE Song Contest!
Harry Styles returns United Kingdom to winning ways
After a slight dip in form, the United Kingdom reclaims the OGAE Song Contest crown with victory for Harry Styles – ‘As It Was’. Thus, the UK extends their lead as the most successful nation in the OGAE Song Contest with a total of eight wins.
After becoming a household name as part of One Direction, Harry Styles found solo fame in 2017. Already with 3 chart topping studio albums on both sides of the Atlantic under his belt and a debut UK number one as a solo artist, with ‘Sign of the Times’, Harry has established as one of the leading male artists in British music.
However, for this contest it was ‘As It Was’ that proved to be the sound of everyone’s year. Overall it amassed 255 points from the other 30 participating OGAE clubs, narrowly beating Kylie Minogue’s ‘Padam Padam’. ‘As It Was’ is the lead single from Harry’s third album Harry’s House. The song peaked at number 1 in the UK charts, spending a total of 10 weeks at the top. As well as this, Harry broke the Guinness World Record for the most Spotify streams for a male artist in 24hrs and over the whole year of 2022. Last year, ‘As It Was’ also won two MTV VMAs and a BRIT Award.
What is the OGAE Song Contest?
Beginning in 1986, the OGAE Song Contest is the oldest OGAE contest, uniting all the national OGAE clubs in a music fan contest. Each club puts forward their favourite original song from their country. After which, fans from every club judge and vote for their favourite track. This year, the contest combines the former OGAE Video Contest into the current format.
The rules, (courtesy of OGAE):
- Have been released on an album or as a single on vinyl, CD or as a digital download, or as a video, no earlier than the start of the year prior to the contest (i.e. for the 2023 contest, songs must have been released on or after 1 January 2022).
- Be an original version (not a remix).
- Not include samples of any other song.
- Not have competed in the Eurovision Song Contest, Junior Eurovision Song Contest, OGAE Second Chance Contest or any related public pre-selections.
- If a music video exists, the video must have been released by the relevant artist.
- Be a studio version, not a live recording or part of a film, etc.
- Be performed by an artist with the nationality/residency of the nominating OGAE national club. For groups, at least one performer must be of the nationality/residency of the nominating OGAE national club.
- Be of a maximum duration of 5 minutes.
Last year, due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the optics of a particular entry submitted, forced OGAE Australia to cancel the 2022 contest. Therefore, the club were able to continue hosting duties for this year following their victory in 2021 with Tones and I.
OGAE Song Contest 2023 results
Below are the complete list of results and participants of the OGAE Song Contest 2023, as announced by OGAE Australia. Among the line-up there are many Eurovision names, such as: Aidan, Aitana, Annalisa, Citi Zēni, Eva Boto, KEiiNO, KUUMAA, Malena, Margaret, Michael Schulte, Mikolas Josef, Pia Maria, Slimane, Stefan.
1. 🇬🇧 United Kingdom: Harry Styles – ‘As It Was’ (255 points)
2. 🇦🇺 Australia: Kylie Minogue – ‘Padam Padam’ (237 points)
3. 🇮🇹 Italy: Annalisa – ‘Mon Amour’ (177 points)
4. 🇸🇪 Sweden: Zara Larsson – ‘Can’t Tame Her’ (138 points)
5. 🇦🇩 Andorra: Triquell – ‘Jugular’ (116 points)
6. 🇳🇴 Norway: KEiiNO – ‘Nights of Thunder’ (106 points)
7. 🇪🇸 Spain: Aitana – ‘Los Ángeles’ (93 points)
8. 🇨🇿 Czechia: Mikolas Josef – ‘Boys Don’t Cry’ (81 points)
9. 🇩🇪 Germany: Michael Schulte – ‘With You’ (76 points)
10. 🇦🇲 Armenia: Malena – ‘Flashing Lights’ (71 points)
11. 🇬🇷 Greece: Kostantinos Argiros – ‘Elpida’ (67 points)
12. 🇺🇳 Rest of the World: Two Hearts – ‘Eurovusion (Open Up)’ (60 points)
13. 🇫🇷 France: Slimane – ‘Des millers de je t’aime’ (54 points)
14. 🇵🇹 Portugal: Calema, Nuno Ribeiro & Mariza – ‘Maria Joana’ (52 points)
15. 🇷🇸 Serbia: Teya Dora – ‘Džanum’ (30 points)
16. 🇮🇪 Ireland: Niall Horan – ‘The Show’ (29 points)
17. 🇪🇪 Estonia: Stefan – ‘Kiri külmkapi peal’ (29 points)
18. 🇺🇦 Ukraine: Artem Pivovarov – ‘Manifest’ (26 points)
19. 🇭🇷 Croatia: Eni Jurišić & Matija Cvek – ‘Trebaš li me’ (25 points)
20. 🇲🇰 North Macedonia: Pajak ft. Antonia Gigovska – ‘Habibi’ (20 points)
21. 🇧🇪 Belgium: Oscar and the Wolf – ‘Warrior’ (15 points)
22. 🇵🇱 Poland: Margaret – ‘Tańcz głupia’ (13 points)
23. 🇲🇹 Malta: Aidan – ‘Madam’ (9 points)
24. 🇫🇮 Finland: KUUMAA – ‘Tulipalo’ (7 points)
25. 🇨🇾 Cyprus: Loukas Yorkas – ‘Mehri ton Ourano’ (6 points)
26. 🇩🇰 Denmark: Tobias Rahim – ‘Når Mænd Græder’ (5 points)
27. 🇦🇹 Austria: Pia Maria – ‘White Noise’ (2 points)
28. 🇸🇮 Slovenia: Eva Boto – ‘Nočem, da greš’ (1 point)
29. 🇭🇺 Hungary: Azahriah – ‘Four Moods’ (0 points)
30. 🇱🇻 Latvia: Citi Zēni ft. Labvēlīgais Tips – ‘Baļļīte’ (0 points)
31. 🇹🇷 Türkiye: Güneş – ‘NKBİ’ (0 points)
Did your favourite to win the OGAE Song Contest 2023? Be sure to stay updated by following @ESCXTRA on Twitter, @escxtra on Instagram, @escxtra on TikTok and liking our Facebook page for the latest updates! Also, be sure to follow us on Spotify for the latest music from your favourite Eurovision acts. As well as YouTube to see our reactions to the news in the run up to the 2024 Eurovision season.
