To highlight the art of writing song lyrics, www.eurostory.nl hands out the Eurostory Best Lyrics Award – an award for the best song lyrics from this year’s Eurovision-songs.

This year’s award is won by Italy: song writers Mahmood and Dardust, for the lyrics of their song Soldi.

Who came second and third?
Second was Portugal (Conan Osíris) for his song Telemóveis.
Third: Czech Republic (Lake Malawi, lyrics: Jan Steinsdoerfer, Maciej Mikolaj Trybulec, Albert Černý) for their song Friend of a friend.

Who’s in the jury?
The winner was chosen by an international professional jury of sixty five published book writers, journalists, editors, songwriters, translators and ex-Eurovision participants (75% of the votes – list of names: see below) – as well as the readers of www.eurostory.nl (voting through the website, 25% of the votes).

Who are the previous winners?
2018: France
2017: France
2016: Ukraine

Jury report
Italy – Soldi (Mahmood, lyricists: Dardust, Mahmood)

Read the full song lyrics, as well as an English translation here.

The lyrics of ‘Soldi’ are painful and beautiful at the same time. A boy reflects upon his relationship with his father. He talks about the sweet things that the father used to say: (‘waladi habibi’, ‘my son, my love’). And about how he always used to ask his son: ‘How are you doing?’ (‘Come va?’) But the father went his own way, leaving his wife and his young son and, years later, that ‘How are you doing?’ has become an empty question. Because what the father actually wants is ‘soldi’. Money. The lyrics touch in brief upon all kinds of nuances of anger and sadness. The writers, Dardust and Mahmood, have introduced a great deal of variety to the words. There are cinematic sentences that could have come straight out of a short story, such as the beginning with the shisha and with Jackie Chan on the TV. In other sentences, which are more like rap, the father is addressed directly (‘Dimmi se ti manco o te ne fotti, fotti’, ‘Tell me if you miss me or if you just don’t give a damn’). Another strong point is the little differences in the ‘come va’ lines, which mean that the story is told in a slightly different way every time. ‘Soldi’ gives us an insight into the lives of three people (father, mother, son) and is very real, powerful and full of despair, but even in the midst of all that rage maybe there is just a little hope too.

Professional jury 2019:
(From The Netherlands)Hanna Bervoets, author, Mark Boog, poet, Anne Broeksma, poet, Tsead Bruinja, poet laureate The Netherlands, Bibi Dumon Tak, author, Jaap Friso, journalist/reviewer, Karin Giphart, author, Floor de Goede, graphic novelist/comic artist, Marinus de Goederen, singer/songwriter, Steef van Gorkum, author, Saskia Halfmouw, illustrator, Hanneke Hendrix, author, Esther Hart, singer/ex-Eurovision participant (The Netherlands, 2003), Sandra C. Hessels, translator, Ingmar Heytze, poet, Raoul de Jong, author, Annelies Jorna, translator, Getty Kaspers, singer, winner Eurovision Song Contest 1975 (Teach In), Greetje Kauffeld, singer, ex-Eurovision participant (The Netherlands, 1961), Lotte Kok, author, Koonian, author/singer-songwriter, Inge van der Krabben, author, Antoinette Laan, member of parliament, Hind Laroussi, singer/ex-particpant Eurovision Song Contest (The Netherlands, 2008), Ted van Lieshout, author/illustrator, Cornald Maas, author/presenter/Dutch Eurovision commentator, Ralf Mackenbach, singer, winner Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2009, Alma Mathijsen, author, Koos Meinderts, author, Mathijs Meinema, author, Thomas Möhlmann, poet, Roelof ten Napel, author/poet, Eddy Ouwens, producer/songwriter, Iduna Paalman, author, Justine Pelmelay, singer/ex-participant (The Netherlands, 1989), Ester Naomi Perquin, poet, Milja Praagman, illustrator/author, Kim Putters, director of the Netherlands Institute for Social Research, Mark Robinson, editor, Alexis de Roode, poet, Anouk Saleming, author, Mariëlle van Sauers, author, Jan Paul Schutten, author, Hijlco Span, journalist/radiomaker, Kees Spiering, poet, Bas Steman, author, Stany Van Wymeersch, author, Thomas de Veen, journalist/reviewer , Lucas de Waard, author, Laura Watkinson, translator, Elsbeth Witt, author/translator, Anna Woltz, author.(From other countries)
Ami Aspelund, singer/ex-Eurovision participant (Finland, 1983), Biljana Cvrenkovska, author (North-Macedonia), Kristien Dieltiens, author (Belgium), Fazla, singer/ex-Eurovision participant (Bosnia and Hercegovina, 1993), Steven Herrick, author (Australia), Sara Lövestam, author (Sweden), Gary Northfield, author (United Kingdom), José Luis Serrano, author (Spain), Liliane St. Pierre, singer/ex-Eurovision participant (Belgium, 1987), Erik Titusson, publisher (Sweden), Walter Verdin, video artist/ex-Eurovision participant (Pas de deux, Belgium, 1983), Kaat Vrancken, author (Belgium), Joakim With Steen, composer/producer/ex-Eurovision participant (Norway, 2017).