Home Composed Song Contest 2011

Contest overview

Following londonvision's victory the previous year, the 2011 Home Composed Song Contest was organised by Andy Brook from the United Kingdom.

To mark the 20th anniversary of the first edition of the contest back in 1991, Andy created a comprehensive and dedicated website with features including interviews with past entrants, video clips, specially prepared "postcards" for each song, and even a few words with none other than 2000 UK Eurovision representative Nicki French.

The effort involved clearly paid off, as 2011 proved to be the biggest ever contest, with an impressive 38 songs from no fewer than 34 participants. A far cry from the nine songs that took part in the inaugural event in 1991! There were debut entries from Romania and Albania, while Israel and Finland featured in the competition for the first time in many years, their last appearances having come in 1999 and 2002 respectively. Meanwhile, Morten Boldt Hansen returned to the contest he originated for the first time since 2004 - a nice way to mark the anniversary of his creation.

In order to make the final scoreboard a more manageable size, a semi-final system was implemented for the first (and so far only) time in Home Composed history. All of the entrants submitted a full ranking of all entries in order of preference. This was converted into ESC-style (12-10-8...) votes in order to determine the 24 finalists, which were announced without revealing their positions. The same rankings were then recalculated to remove the eliminated entries, and these ESC-style points were used for the final voting and the accompanying video presentation. This explains why the semi-final and final scoreboards below are similar but different.

There were a few complications among the way. Janusz Stefaniak from Poland failed to vote in time and was duly disqualified, while one of the contestants informed the organiser that two of the entries - "I Knew You Could Be (Something Special To Me)" from Israel and "Traumland" representing Austria I - were available for commercial paid download. Strictly speaking, this was still against HCSC rules at the time; after some consultation, the decision was taken to disqualify both songs from the contest but with the acknowledgement that the rules would eventually have to be altered to reflect the new realities of the digital music era. Doro from Israel remained in the competition with his other entry "Peter Pan", while the votes from the Austria I jury were allowed to remain on the scoreboard as they had been submitted in good faith (and, in any case, removing them would not have changed the identity of the winner or the finalists).

After all that, it was HCSC veteran Tony Olsen from Denmark who took a fairly comfortable victory with "Visne roser" - his fourth win in all. Meanwhile, the nature of the voting system (with all of the 24 finalists having demonstrated some kind of jury support in order to be in the final in the first place) meant there were no particularly low totals even at the bottom of the final scoreboard.

As in several recent editions, the voting was supplemented by an online public vote () and a jury from Radio International (), who provided their customary support for the competition once again.

Semi-final entries and results

Draw	Country	Song Title	Performer	Composer	Lyricist	Position	Points
02	Denmark I	Visne roser	Tony Olsen	Tony Olsen	Tony Olsen	1	170
03	Italy I	Ambria	John Grisafi	John Grisafi	n/a	31	7
05	United Kingdom I	Let Me See The Impossible	londonvision	Andy Brook	Andy Brook	5	118
06	Estonia	Elu on vaid üks	Christa	Christa	Triinu Laos	11	76
07	Germany I	The One Before	Holger Bürgel	Holger Bürgel	Holger Bürgel	13	67
08	Greece I	Rainy Day	Constantino Dilupo	Constantino Dilupo	n/a	8	83
09	Israel	Peter Pan	Doro Doron Eitan	Doro Doron Eitan	Doro Doron Eitan	10	77
10	Spain II	Gracias	Mel	Samuel Bugia	Samuel Bugia	22	49
11	Portugal I	Amanhecer	José Abreu	Rogério Afonso	Márcio Silva	15	61
12	France I	De temps en temps	Laurent Hell	Laurent Hell	Laurent Hell	14	65
13	Albania	Hëna buzëqesh mua	Rya Neptlight	Ainhoa Feal	Ainhoa Feal	33	0
15	Greece II	I Didn't Know (Til It Was Too Late)	Eduard Alexogiannopoulos & Alex Alexogiannopoulos	Eduard Alexogiannopoulos	Eduard Alexogiannopoulos	3	132
16	Portugal II	I Didn't Expect	Heitor	Heitor	Heitor	18	57
17	United Kingdom II	Weltschmerz	Vulnerable	Ray Holt, Martin Faulkner	Ray Holt	20	51
18	France II	I	Insane Puppy	Gaël Corna	Gaël Corna	28	13
19	France II	Because Of You	Insane Puppy	Gaël Corna	Gaël Corna	24	29
20	Germany II	Free	Aaron	Marcus Seiler	Stefan Engel	4	128
21	Austria II	Can't Stop	Sara Koell	Sara Koell	Clemens Herzog	2	138
22	Albania	Pa arsyet	Rya Neptlight	Ainhoa Feal	Ainhoa Feal	28	13
23	United Kingdom III	In The Control Room	The Cynical Thieves	Bob Brook, Steve Morris	Bob Brook	30	12
24	United Kingdom IV	Can't You Feel?	Janine Hales	Eddie De Souza	Eddie De Souza	17	58
25	Romania	Bleeding For You	Gabriel Wilson & Lavi	Gabriel Wilson, Lavi	Gabriel Wilson, Lavi	9	79
26	Malta I	Prodigal Son	Mauro Kitcher	Clinton Paul	Rita Pace	16	60
27	Malta II	Heartbreaker	Sherise Bugeja & Oguz Karademir	Sherise Bugeja, Oguz Karademir	Sherise Bugeja	19	54
28	Italy II	Senza te	Alberto Flego	Alberto Flego	n/a	26	19
29	Germany III	Seven Days	Felix Penk	Felix Penk	Felix Penk	25	28
30	Spain II	Back To Past	Alfonso Daniel Fernández	Alfonso Daniel Fernández	Alfonso Daniel Fernández	27	16
31	Finland I	Oh?	Snowclone	Tero Aalto	Tero Aalto	12	68
32	Finland II	Sometimes We Are Strangers	Bo Söderholm	Bo Söderholm	Bo Söderholm	6	117
33	Italy I	Ramblin' On	John Grisafi	John Grisafi	n/a	32	4
34	Germany IV	Wir brauchen Menschen	Matthias Pohl	Matthias Pohl	Matthias Pohl	33	0
35	Serbia	Orange Ways	NIDEJ	Nikola Radunović, Dejan Nikodijević	n/a	23	40
36	Germany V	Niemandsland	Nadia	Timon Birkhofer	Michael Bauer	7	91
37	Portugal III	These People Are Very Crazy	Manel da Silva	Manel da Silva	n/a	33	0
38	Denmark II	Don't Leave Me Like This	Morten Boldt Hansen	Morten Boldt Hansen	Morten Boldt Hansen	21	50

Songs disqualified before the voting was complete:

Draw	Country	Song Title	Performer	Composer	Lyricist
01	Austria I	Traumland	Marina Razumovskaja & Cecilio Perera	Marina Razumovskaja	Marina Razumovskaja
04	Poland	Sex And Fire	JAS	Janusz Artur Stefaniak	Janusz Artur Stefaniak
14	Israel	I Knew You Could Be (Something Special To Me)	Doro Doron Eitan	Doro Doron Eitan	Doro Doron Eitan

Semi-final scoreboard

	Juries
																																				Total
Visne roser	8				10	7	4	7	6		12	8		5	5		10	12	1	3		12	10		8	3	5	10		5	12	3			4	170
Ambria											6															1										7
Let Me See The Impossible		10	5	7	3		1		7	5	10	3	6	2	8				7		12		8	5		4			7	7					1	118
Elu on vaid üks				5	12					7		4	5				5	3	3	4		7				2		7		4	8					76
The One Before		12				2							7					2		12	10	8			1						5		8			67
Rainy Day	12	2			2			3		2		6	12									10		12		12									10	83
Peter Pan	6	1						1		10				8	1		8					1						8		8	6	4	7		8	77
Gracias					6								10				6								12					12					3	49
Amanhecer	10	4	4	1										7						5		2		2			12		2						12	61
De temps en temps	5				7			12						4			12							1	6			12							6	65
Hëna buzëqesh mua																																				0
I Didn't Know...		8	12			4	7		12	12			4		12	7		8	12		4	3		6						3			10	8		132
I Didn't Expect	7		10				6	5					8												5			6			10					57
Weltschmerz		7							10	3					4		7				3	4						1			4	2	6			51
I		3																		2												8				13
Because Of You	1													3	3	2		7		1							7					5				29
Free			3	10			12	8		8	7	7				10		1	8	7		5	12				3	5	8	1		6	5	2		128
Can't Stop			2	12		8	10		8			5		6	10	8			10	6	5					8			10			7	4	12	7	138
Pa arsyet													1									6								6						13
In The Control Room											1														7									4		12
Can't You Feel?			8	6		3			2			2		12		3	1				8		6				4				3					58
Bleeding For You						6	8	10			8				2	12	2	4			2		7				1		5				12			79
Prodigal Son			1		8			4		1			2	10		4			5		1		4	3	2		6						3	6		60
Heartbreaker			7	8			5		3			1		1							6		5	4					1			1		7	5	54
Senza te																								7						10					2	19
Seven Days						5					2				7										3	7			4							28
Back To Past									1		3															10		2								16
Oh?					1	12						12	3			1		6	6		7		2	10				4			1			3		68
Sometimes We Are Strangers	2		6	2		10	2	6	4	6		10				6			2	8			3		4	5	2		6	2	7	12	2	10		117
Ramblin' On											4																									4
Wir brauchen Menschen																																				0
Orange Ways	4	6		3							5													8		6	8									40
Niemandsland		5			4	1		2	5						6	5	4	10	4	10					10		10		3			10	1	1		91
These People Are Very Crazy																																				0
Don't Leave Me Like This	3			4	5		3			4							3	5					1					3	12		2			5		50

Final entries and results

Draw	Country	Song Title	Performer	Composer	Lyricist	Position	Points
01	Denmark I	Visne roser	Tony Olsen	Tony Olsen	Tony Olsen	1	177
02	United Kingdom I	Let Me See The Impossible	londonvision	Andy Brook	Andy Brook	5	123
03	Estonia	Elu on vaid üks	Christa	Christa	Triinu Laos	10	82
04	Germany I	The One Before	Holger Bürgel	Holger Bürgel	Holger Bürgel	12	78
05	Greece I	Rainy Day	Constantino Dilupo	Constantino Dilupo	n/a	8	85
06	Israel	Peter Pan	Doro Doron Eitan	Doro Doron Eitan	Doro Doron Eitan	9	83
07	Spain II	Gracias	Mel	Samuel Bugia	Samuel Bugia	22	50
08	Portugal I	Amanhecer	José Abreu	Rogério Afonso	Márcio Silva	16	64
09	France I	De temps en temps	Laurent Hell	Laurent Hell	Laurent Hell	14	68
10	Greece II	I Didn't Know (Til It Was Too Late)	Eduard Alexogiannopoulos & Alex Alexogiannopoulos	Eduard Alexogiannopoulos	Eduard Alexogiannopoulos	3	137
11	Portugal II	I Didn't Expect	Heitor	Heitor	Heitor	16	64
12	United Kingdom II	Weltschmerz	Vulnerable	Ray Holt, Martin Faulkner	Ray Holt	20	55
13	France II	Because Of You	Insane Puppy	Gaël Corna	Gaël Corna	24	34
14	Germany II	Free	Aaron	Marcus Seiler	Stefan Engel	4	133
15	Austria II	Can't Stop	Sara Koell	Sara Koell	Clemens Herzog	2	141
16	United Kingdom IV	Can't You Feel?	Janine Hales	Eddie De Souza	Eddie De Souza	18	60
17	Romania	Bleeding For You	Gabriel Wilson & Lavi	Gabriel Wilson, Lavi	Gabriel Wilson, Lavi	11	81
18	Malta I	Prodigal Son	Mauro Kitcher	Clinton Paul	Rita Pace	15	66
19	Malta II	Heartbreaker	Sherise Bugeja & Oguz Karademir	Sherise Bugeja, Oguz Karademir	Sherise Bugeja	19	57
20	Finland I	Oh?	Snowclone	Tero Aalto	Tero Aalto	13	72
21	Finland II	Sometimes We Are Strangers	Bo Söderholm	Bo Söderholm	Bo Söderholm	5	123
22	Serbia	Orange Ways	NIDEJ	Nikola Radunović, Dejan Nikodijević	n/a	23	46
23	Germany V	Niemandsland	Nadia	Timon Birkhofer	Michael Bauer	7	99
24	Denmark II	Don't Leave Me Like This	Morten Boldt Hansen	Morten Boldt Hansen	Morten Boldt Hansen	21	52

Final scoreboard

	Juries
																																				Total
Visne roser	4	8	1				10	7	4	7	6			8		5	6		10	12	1	3		12	10		8	5	5	10	12		7	12	4	177
Let Me See The Impossible	2		10	5	7		3		1		7	5		3	6	2	8				7		12		8	6		6			10	7	8			123
Elu on vaid üks					5		12					7		4	5				5	3	3	4		7			2	4		7			6	8		82
The One Before			12					3					8		7					2		12	10	8			3	3			5			5		78
Rainy Day	10	12	3				2			3		2		6	12									10		12		12				1				85
Peter Pan	8	6	2							1		10	7			8	2		8					2						8			10	6	5	83
Gracias	3						6								10				6								12			1			12			50
Amanhecer	12	10	4	4	1											7						5		3		3			12			3				64
De temps en temps	6	5					7			12	1					4			12							2	7			12						68
I Didn't Know...			8	12		8		5	7		12	12	10		4		12	7		8	12		4	4		7							5			137
I Didn't Expect		7		10		1			6	5					8		1										6			6	3		1	10		64
Weltschmerz			7								10	3	6				5		7				3	5						2				4	3	55
Because Of You		1														3	4	2		7		2							7		2				6	34
Free				3	10	3			12	8		8	5	7				10		1	8	7		6	12				3	5	7	8	3		7	133
Can't Stop	7			2	12	12		8	10		8		4	5		6	10	8			10	6	5					10				10			8	141
Can't You Feel?				8	6			4			2			2		12		3	1				8	1	6				4					3		60
Bleeding For You								6	8	10			12				3	12	2	4			2		7				1		8	5			1	81
Prodigal Son				1		6	8	1		4		1	3		2	10		4			5		1		4	4	4	1	6		1					66
Heartbreaker	5			7	8	7			5		3			1		1							6		5	5						2			2	57
Oh?						4	1	12						12	3			1		6	6	1	7		2	10		2		4				1		72
Sometimes We Are Strangers	1	2		6	2	10		10	2	6	4	6	2	10				6			2	8			3		5	7	2			6	4	7	12	123
Orange Ways		4	6		3										1											8		8	8		6		2			46
Niemandsland			5			2	4	2		2	5		1				7	5	4	10	4	10					10		10		4	4			10	99
Don't Leave Me Like This		3			4	5	5		3			4							3	5					1	1	1			3		12		2		52

Media

HCSC 2011 winner: Tony Olsen - Visne roser
Song removed at composer's request

Recap of all HCSC 2011 songs in draw order
The host