My Top 34 entries from Turkey in Eurovision (1975-2012)

Here's my Top 34 of the Turkish entries in Eurovision.
Turkey looking back was one of my absolute favourite countries in Eurovision. It took them a long time to finally start being successful which lead to a lot of underrated songs. Much like Greece it's the songs that feel authentic to the country that really captivate me the most.

Hope you enjoy!

[ronweasley]

as a Turkish eurofan, i really need to thank you because you definetely didn’t underrate some of our entries. i agree that our debut entry is the best by far. Turkey was not a jury-friendly country at all. we only got succes with televotes. because of that, there are so many underrated great entries before 1996. in Turkey, we still love our old entries which got bottom 5 for many years. i hope one day we will come. this video really made me smile even if i don’t agree many of your points, especially our modern entries :) but still thank you so much, keep going! congrats you got 1 k subscribers

[tzoreehandler]

My top 34 🇹🇷:

10/10:
1. Deli (2008)
2. Dinle (1997)
3. For Real (2004)

9/10:
4. Love Me Back (2012)
5. Gölzerinin hapsindeyim (1990)
6. Beşinci mevsim (1996)
7. Sufi (1988)
8. Everyway That I Can (2003)
9. Yorgunum anla (2000)

8/10:
10. Sev! (1995)
11. We Could Be the Same (2010)
12. Seninle bir dakika (1975)

7/10:
13. Esmer yarim (1993)
14. Süperstar (2006)
15. Halley (1986)
16. Petr' oil (1980)
17. Düm tek tek (2009)
18. Didai didai dai (1985)

6/10:
19. Bana bana (1989)
20. Halay (1984)

5/10:
21. Hani? (1982)
22. Dön artık (1999)
23. Shake It Up Şekerim (2007)

4/10:
24. Dönme dolap (1981)
25. Unutamazsın (1998)
26. Sevince (1978)
27. Şarkım sevgi üstüne (1987)
28. Iki dakika (1991)
29. Leylakar soldu kalbinde (2002)

3/10:
30. Yaz bitti (1992)
31. Rimi rimi ley (2005)

2/10:
32. Sevgiliye son (2001)
33. Live It Up (2011)

1/10:
34. Opera (1983)

[EldaMengisto]

I definitely agree with you on how great Turkey/Turkiye is in the contest! They've had their best entries on this side of the millennium, but their 20th century stuff isn't that bad either! I hope they do come back soon.
(I also agree with you on Halley--such a good song in a horribly dull year).
My favorite is Deli though--dark and cerebal, with a pulsating arc. But Dinle is not far behind.

[klarinetta]

My top 10

1. Klips ve onlar- Halley

2. Mor ve ötesi-Deli

3. Pan-Bana bana

4. Sertab Erener-Everyway that I can

5. Sebnem Paker- Dinle

6. Pinar Ayhan & the SOS- Yorgunum anla

7. Modern Folk Trio & Aysegül- Dönme Dolap

8. İzel Çeliköz, Reyhan Karaca & Can Ugurluer- Iki Dakika

9. Sebnem Paker- Besinci Mevsim

10. Tüzmen- Unutamazsin

[thecupheadfan]

My top 34:

34- Sevgiliye Son (2001)
33- Unutamazsın (1998)
32- Dönme Dolap (1981)
31- Opera (1983)
30- Gözlerinin Hapsindeyim (1990)
29- Yaz Bitti (1992)
28- Live it Up (2011)
27- Sevince (1978)
26- Shake it Up Şekerim (2007)
25- Yorgunum Anla (2000)
24- Bana Bana (1989)
23- Love me Back (2012)
22- Beşinci Mevsim (1996)
21- Şarkim Sevgi Üstüne (1987)
20- Sev (1995)
19- Deli (2008)
18- Hani (1982)
17- Rimi Rimi Ley (2005)
16- Leylaklar Soldu Kalbinde (2002)
15- Dön Artik (1999)
14- Pet'r Oil (1980)
13- Halay (1984)
12- Süperstar (2006)
11- Halley (1986)
10- Didai Didai Dai (1985)
9- İki Dakika (1991)
8- We Could be the Same (2010)
7- Seninle Bir Dakika (1975)
6- Esmer Yarim (1993)
5- Dinle (1997)
4- Sufi (1988)
3- Everyway that I can (2003)
2- For Real (2004)
1- Düm Tek Tek (2009)

[erenaygun]

Can't wait for our return, winning & hosting the contest again 🤩❤️🇹🇷

[starESC]

Nice appreciation for 1975...my second that year and a truly great debut.
My Turkish winners are 2008 and 2010.
"We Could Be The Same" is also in my top 5 of alltime
Lyrics, vocals, staging, performance, instumentation...even the rapping which I am usually not a big fan of works well here with the song message. Song is quite original and creative too, ethnic Turkish sound fused with Nu-metal, so I truly can't find any major flaws in it.

Btw, all songs in my top 10 of alltime you rated 8+ so far...so thanks for that <3
They are:
10. Ukraine 2010 🇺🇦
9. France 2009 🇨🇵
8. Switzerland 2005 🇨🇭
7. Georgia 2007 🇬🇪
6. Iceland 2012 🇮🇸
5. Turkey 2010 🇹🇷
4. Norway 1995 🇧🇻
3. Georgia 2016 🇬🇪
2. Iceland 2007 🇮🇸
1. Slovenia 2005 🇸🇮

Only 3 left for you to rate, so curious whether some will fall below an 8...knowing your taste, the one I am afraid the most for is France 2009 xD

[aijamberisabel]

My top 10 of Turkey 🇹🇷 in Eurovision:
10: 1975: undeserved flop. Great melody and vocal. The instrumentation is amazing. But a tad forgettable. 9/10.
9: 2008: hits different, really like it. Amazing vibe and vocals. 9/10.
8: 1997: such a great vibe. Great vocal. 9/10.
7: 1989: such an iconic song and performance, deserved better. 9.5/10.
6: 1991: amazing song and such a great performance. 9.5/10.
5: 2012: amazing ethno-pop vibe. Iconic staging. 10/10.
4: 2010: such a great vibe and really hits different. 10/10.
3: 2003: amazing song and iconic performance. 10/10.
2: 2004: amazing performance and song. 10/10
1: 2009: amazing vibe and a great performance. 10/10.
Honourable mentions: 1983, 2001, 1998, 1981, 1985, 1988 and 1996.
Overall Turkey is a great country in Eurovision. Although they were not my faves in the early years they have definitely been good, for the most part since 1997. I hope they return someday.

[tomsakmens]

I must admit, that for the first 20+ years since their participation, I would gloss over most of Turkey's entries, but they did bring some much needed energy and a different angle. I guess the juries were just like me - it isn't entirelly easy to register what's going on here on the first listen. My favourites from those first couple decades would be "Opera" for the lol and "Bana Bana" for WTH.

It all changed when "Dinle" happened. There's just something magical going on there, with Şebnem's voice and backround instrumentals almost taking me to a trance like state. It's rare to get a feeling like that for any song, much less a Eurovision song.

After that, a mixed bag, honestly. Low lows, but very, VERY high highs. I hate "Dum Tek Tek" with passion. I don't get entries like 2002 and 2005. I've also checked some of Kenan's other songs back in 2007 for some reason, and they were much better than "Shekerim". And even if the song is good, "We Could Be The Same" is shadowed by disgusting behaviour of Turkish fans on youtube comments on Lena and 2010 contest. Do you have any valid reason to say her victory was unfair, apart from "our song simply is better"? No? Then get over it, ffs! Reasons like that are why I'm on the fence about wishing for Turkey to come back.

On the plus side - the very high highs. "Everyway That I Can" is a top 5 winner in 21st century easily. "For Real" is a top 10 Eurovision entry for me all time and a good argument to bring ska back to Eurovision. Seriously, ons of the best I've heard in that genre eveh outside Eurovision. And the energy on stage just adds to it. And then "Deli" - no kidding, a top 3 all time Eurovision entry for me. As close to perfection as a Eurovision rock song can get. 1997, 2004 and 2008 are my elusive 10/10 entries (last I counted about 30ish in total). It coukd compete with France with having the most of those for a country.

[arvinroidoatienza]

Yaz bitti, petr oil (my winner for that year), didai didai dai, iki dakika, we could be the same, for real dinle are my fave Turish entries.

[eurovisioncyan]

their debut entry has always been my favorite as well!

[samanthajones]

we have almost the same top 5! my favorites are probably 1975, 1986, 1996, 1997 and 2000. greetings from turkey ❤️

[umuteker]

My favorite song by Turkey... We could be the same. MANGA

[jonnyvandenbruel]

I love these three beautiful Turkish songs: Sevgilije son (01), Unutamazsin (98), Dum tek tek (09)

[gwentheperfectqueen]

Tukey's best song is 1991. So underrated by many people including you.

[JeSuisRene]

I’m not the biggest fan of Turkey at Eurovision. That said, they did do pop very well. My favourites from them are 1985 and 1991, and 1998 and 2000 are rather good too.

[nikola]

Yorgunum Anla is truly an underrated gem among Turkish entries. I think one of the reasons no one really cares about it is that this entry gets unjustly grouped with other, relatively bad Turkish entries from 1998-2002.

[ThinkAboutVic]

Hey, Turkish Eurofan here. Here are some of my thoughts:

1 - WHY IS DELİ SO LOW????
Seriously. It's by far our favourite entry, and my second favourite Turkish song of all time (only behind another song by Mor ve Ötesi) so it baffles me that it's below 2005. Speaking of that,

2 - 2005 isn't authentic to Turkey
What I suspect they tried to do is that they saw the success of Wild Dances emulating Eastern culture and decided to try it out. The problem? Turkey's traditional culture is already very Eastern, so the performance of Rimi Rimi Ley is just a bunch of Turkish stereotypes about Arab and Indian people strung together. It showcases someone's culture, but that someone definitely isn't Turkey.

3 - WHY IS OPERA SO HIGH????
This song is the reverse of Rimi Rimi Ley, where they took Turkish stereotypes about Europe and Britain and strung them together for the one entry from Turkey I hate so much that it feels like I'm allergic to the song.

Overall though, amazing video as always! Your favourite Turkish ESC entry is one of our best and THE most undeserving last placer ever in my opinion.

Here's my top 5:
1 - mor ve ötesi - Deli | 2008
2 - Semiha Yankı - Seninle Bir Dakika | 1975
3 - maNga - We Could Be The Same | 2010
4 - Can Bonomo - Love Me Back | 2012
5 - Seyyal Taner & Grup Lokomotif - Şarkım Sevgi Üstüne | 1987

[sannev]

I always loved Sebnem's song 1996 more than her song from 1997 that came 3rd. 1996 was just pure beauty. Also 2004, 2009 and 2010 are big favorites. Obviously i like way more entries but i cant mention them all :p

[tsarvic]

2010 for me. It's my favourite ESC song. I also really like 1997.