| Universong 84 "Break the ice" | |
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Date |
2 - 22 January 2016 |
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Host city |
Dublin, |
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Participants |
47 |
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Debuting countries |
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Returning countries |
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Withdrawing countries |
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Winner |
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Timeline |
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Universong 84 was the 84th staging of the Universong Contest, that was held in Dublin, capital city of Ireland, from January 2nd to 22nd, 2016. This was the second time Ireland hosts USC, providing a record for the longest gap ever between one staging and another for a country, since its last staging was USC 10 in Cork. The Northern European country earned the right to bring back USC to it thanks to the winning of Markus Feehily, with the song "Love is a drug" on the previous edition held in Thorshavn, Faroe Islands.
47 countries took part in this competition, with the debut of Honduras, and the returns of Argentina, Cyprus, Ecuador, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Russia, Switzerland and Vietnam. This edition also marked the sixth anniversary of the Universong Contest.
On an exciting voting sequence, where the winner was revealed during the middle to last voting rounds, The Netherlands got its sixth USC title. The band Within Temptation, in its seventh USC participation, got eventually the winning with a total of 178 points for the song "Shot in the dark". Netherlands was also one of the previous favourites to win the contest, and with its winning became the country with most wins in tie with Italy. Hosts Ireland got second place with 164 points, with the song "Speeding cars" by the band Walking on Cars, being this the second time a host earns runner-up position after having won the previous edition (the first was Russia, who won USC 73 in New York with Sergey Lazarev's "7 tsifr", and in USC 74, in home turf it got second place with Nika's "Sing Hallelujah"). The third position went to Italy, represented by lyric trio Il Volo, with the song "L'amore si muove", with 159 points. It is important to remark that the top 3 countries were managed by three historical players that have the three most winnings and the most top-10 places as well.
The top 5 was completed by the songs of Austria (represented by Israel's The Young Professionals ft. Anna F. - in her second USC appearance after coming 5th in USC 66) and Norway (represented by Aurora Aksnes).
Semifinal 1[]
The countries from this semifinal plus Sweden must vote here. The other countries can vote, but their votes will be counted as Rest of the World. Host Ireland also voted here.
| Draw | Country | Artist | Song | Place | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 |  Cyprus
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Minus One | "Brainwash" | 16 | 45 |
| 02 |  Iceland
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Thorstein Einarsson | "Aurora" | 5 | 94 |
| 03 |  Bulgaria
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Preyah | "Vsichki nashi mesta" | 10 | 69 |
| 04 |  Poland
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Cleo | "Zabiorę nas" | 14 | 57 |
| 05 |  Luxembourg
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Sarah Riani | "Comme toi" | 3 | 133 |
| 06 |  Serbia
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Ivana Jordan | "Pridji mi ti" | 15 | 46 |
| 07 |  Norway
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Aurora Aksnes | "Runaway" | 1 | 148 |
| 08 |  Monaco
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Damien Sargue | "Un jour" | 4 | 94 |
| 09 |  Lithuania
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Edgaras Lubys | "Pasakyk kazka grazaus" | 22 | 14 |
| 10 |  France
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Mylène Farmer | "City of love" | 11 | 68 |
| 11 |  Northern Ireland
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Loris | "Crazy" | 18 | 40 |
| 12 |  Croatia
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Gibboni | "Zedam" | 19 | 26 |
| 13 |  Spain
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Albert Solà | "Rellotges" | 20 | 20 |
| 14 |  Greece
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Playmen | "Stand by me now" | 3 | 101 |
| 15 |  Latvia
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DJ Dwen & Ivo Fomins | "Radio aktīvs" | 21 | 19 |
| 16 |  Israel
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Keren Peles | "Rak elohim yishpot oti" | 13 | 62 |
| 17 |  Faroe Islands
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Eivør Pálsdóttir | "True love" | 7 | 77 |
| 18 |  Australia
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Guy Sebastian | "Black & blue" | 9 | 72 |
| 19 |  Honduras
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Empress Of | "Icon" | 12 | 65 |
| 20 |  Nigeria
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Seyi Shay | "Right now" | 6 | 83 |
| 21 |  Ecuador
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Mirella Cesa | "La buena fortuna" | 8 | 76 |
| 22 |  Brazil
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Rodrigo Marim | "Foi ficando sério" | 17 | 41 |
Semifinal 2[]
The countries from this semifinal plus Vatican City must vote here. The other countries can vote, but their votes will be counted as Rest of the World. Host Ireland also voted here.
| Draw | Country | Artist | Song | Place | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 |  Canada
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Coleman Hell | "2 heads" | 15 | 46 |
| 02 |  Netherlands
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Within Temptation | "Shot in the dark" | 1 | 138 |
| 03 |  Finland
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Paula Vesala | "Tequila" | 4 | 104 |
| 04 |  Wales
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Lewis & Leigh | "Heart don't want" | 20 | 29 |
| 05 |  Georgia
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Tamta | "Unloved" | 7 | 77 |
| 06 |  Russia
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Alex Sparrow | "She's crazy but she's mine" | 13 | 59 |
| 07 |  San Marino
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Giusy Ferreri | "Volevo te" | 5 | 103 |
| 08 |  Switzerland
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Sinplus | "Tieniti forte" | 9 | 69 |
| 09 |  Portugal
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Diogo Piçarra | "Tu e eu" | 8 | 70 |
| 10 |  Hungary
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Omega | "Gyöngyhajú lány" | 21 | 29 |
| 11 |  Lebanon
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Amar | "Maa náfsi" | 14 | 56 |
| 12 |  England
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Whinnie Williams | "Too strong" | 18 | 33 |
| 13 |  Austria
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The Young Professionals ft. Anna F | "All of it but me" | 3 | 110 |
| 14 |  Argentina
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La Mosca Tse-Tse | "Te quiero comer la boca" | 22 | 25 |
| 15 |  Moldova
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Stela Botan & Paralela 47 | "Mai sus" | 10 | 62 |
| 16 |  Türkiye
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Edis | "Olmamış mı?" | 6 | 93 |
| 17 |  United States
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Carrie Underwood | "Heartbeat" | 12 | 59 |
| 18 |  Estonia
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Agust Hunt | "Kus on EXIT?" | 19 | 33 |
| 19 |  Vietnam
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Noo Phước Thịnh | "Hold me tonight" | 17 | 35 |
| 20 |  Czechia
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Sebastian | "Záchranný bod" | 11 | 61 |
| 21 |  Italy
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Il Volo | "L'amore si muove" | 2 | 121 |
| 22 |  Germany
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Sido ft. Andreas Bourani | "Astronaut" | 16 | 38 |
Grand Final[]
| Draw | Country | Artist | Song | Place | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Italy
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Il Volo | "L'amore si mouve" | 3 | 159 |
| 02 | France
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Mylène Farmer | "City of love" | 25 | 52 |
| 03 | Norway
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Aurora Aksnes | "Runaway" | 5 | 143 |
| 04 | Faroe Islands
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Eivør Pálsdóttir | "True love" | 13 | 93 |
| 05 | Nigeria
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Seyi Shay | "Right now" | 10 | 107 |
| 06 | Georgia
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Tamta | "Unloved" | 20 | 69 |
| 07 | Moldova
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Stela Botan & Paralela 47 | "Mai sus" | 23 | 61 |
| 08 | Netherlands
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Within Temptation | "Shot in the dark" | 1 | 178 |
| 09 | Switzerland
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Sinplus | "Tieniti forte" | 24 | 54 |
| 10 | Finland
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Paula Vesala | "Tequila" | 11 | 106 |
| 11 | Bulgaria
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Preyah | "Vsichki nashi mesta" | 16 | 79 |
| 12 | United States
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Carrie Underwood | "Heartbeat" | 22 | 65 |
| 13 |  Vatican City
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Giorgia | "Io fra tanti" | 26 | 43 |
| 14 | San Marino
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Giusy Ferreri | "Volevo te" | 8 | 111 |
| 15 | Portugal
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Diogo Piçarra | "Tu e eu" | 6 | 135 |
| 16 | Honduras
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Empress Of | "Icon" | 18 | 70 |
| 17 | Czechia
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Sebastian | "Záchranný bod" | 27 | 35 |
| 18 |  Sweden
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Axwell & Ingrosso | "Sun is shining" | 21 | 68 |
| 19 | Ecuador
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Mirella Cesa | "La buena fortuna" | 15 | 90 |
| 20 | Iceland
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Thorsteinn Einarsson | "Aurora" | 14 | 91 |
| 21 |  Ireland
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Walking on Cars | "Speeding cars" | 2 | 164 |
| 22 | Greece
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Playmen | "Stand by me now" | 12 | 105 |
| 23 | Australia
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Guy Sebastian | "Black & blue" | 19 | 70 |
| 24 | Türkiye
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Edis | "Olmamış mı?" | 9 | 107 |
| 25 | Luxembourg
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Sarah Riani | "Comme toi" | 7 | 133 |
| 26 | Monaco
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Damien Sargue | "Un jour" | 17 | 76 |
| 27 | Austria
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The Young Professionals & Anna F. | "All of it but me" | 4 | 146 |
Returning artists[]
| Artist | Country | Previous participation |
|---|---|---|
| Guy Sebastian | Australia
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USC 35, USC 50, USC 62, USC 67 (for  Tuvalu, with Lupe Fiasco)
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| Anna F | Austria
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USC 66 |
| Eivør Pálsdóttir | Faroe Islands
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USC 35, USC 44 |
| Mylène Farmer | France
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USC 26, USC 45, USC 51 (for Luxembourg), USC 79
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| Tamta | Georgia
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USC 29 (for Greece), USC 35 (with Playmen and Claydee)
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| Edgaras Lubys | Lithuania
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USC 73 |
| Within Temptation | Netherlands
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USC 07, USC 35, USC 41, USC 50, USC 57 (for Finland, with Tarja Turunen), USC 62 (with David Pirner)
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| Cleo | Poland
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USC 82 |
| Diogo Piçarra | Portugal
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USC 81 |
| Giusy Ferreri | San Marino
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USC 23 (for Italy), USC 41 (for Italy), USC 58 (for Italy), USC 80 (for Italy, with Baby K)
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| Carrie Underwood | United States
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USC 72 |
| Giorgia | Vatican City
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USC 26 (for Italy), USC 31 (for Italy), USC 59 (for San Marino), USC 75 (for San Marino)
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| Noo Phước Thịnh | Vietnam
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USC 48 (with Hồ Ngọc Hà), USC 59 |
Special Awards[]
Bartek Award[]
| Country | Artist | Song | Place | Situation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Argentina
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La Mosca Tse-tse | "Te quiero comer la boca" | 22nd (SF2) | Winner |
| Ecuador
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Mirella Cesa | "La buena fortuna" | 15th | Nominée (2nd) |
Best Non-English Award[]
| Country | Artist | Song | Place | Situation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monaco
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Damien Sargue | "Un jour" | 17th | Winner |
| Ecuador
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Mirella Cesa | "La buena fortuna" | 15th | Nominée (2nd) |
| Germany
|
Sido ft. Andreas Bourani | "Astronaut" | 16th (SF2) | Nominée (3rd) |
hph01 Award[]
| Country | Artist | Song | Place | Situation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poland
|
Cleo | "Zaborie nas" | 14th (SF1) | Winner |
| Israel
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Keren Peles | "Rak elohim yishpot oti" | 13th (SF1) | Nominée (2nd) |
| Russia
|
Alexey Vorobyov | "She's crazy but she's mine" | 13th (SF2) | Nominée (3rd) |