Across 70 contests, Norway has finished last more often than any other country — 12 times between 1963 and 2024 — and is the only nation to have scored a true nul-points zero on four separate occasions (1963, 1978, 1981, 1997). Finland follows on 11, then Germany and Switzerland on 9 each, with Austria and Belgium tied on 8. Between them these six countries account for over half of the 130-plus last-place finishes in Eurovision history.
Absolute vs. relative — the picture changes. The headline table is absolute count: total times bottom of the scoreboard. Adjusted for participations, the story shifts. Norway has competed roughly 65 times — so a 12 last-place rate is around 18%. Switzerland's 9 lasts over ~65 contests is similar. But Belgium's 8 over ~67 contests, and Luxembourg's 3 over only 38, look very different on a percentage basis. Latvia (5 lasts in 26 appearances) and San Marino (4 in 15) have the highest rate among current participants — both above 20%. See most participations for the denominator.
The nul-points club is smaller than people think. True zero-point finishes — no jury point, no televote point, nothing — number around 40 in contest history, but cluster heavily in the pre-1975 era when the voting system gave fewer countries' juries the chance to score every song. The most famous modern nul-points: Jemini (UK, 2003) — the first British nul in 47 years and arguably the most-replayed disaster in the contest's history. Then Austria (1988) (Wilfried, Lisa Mona Lisa), Norway 1978 and 1981, Switzerland 1964, Italy 1966, Iceland 1989 (Daníel, Það Sem Enginn Sér), Germany 2015 (Ann Sophie, Black Smoke), and most recently UK 2021 (James Newman, Embers). Belgium 1965, Spain 1962 and Austria 1962 round out the early-era zeroes.
The Big-5 last-place cluster. The five pre-qualified countries — UK, Germany, France, Spain and Italy — collectively account for over 25 last places. Germany leads on 9, the UK on 6 (including the 2026 result), Spain on 5, with France on 1 (2014, Moustache) and Italy on 1 (1966). Because Big-5 entries skip the semi-finals, every one of these is a Grand Final last place — which carries more visibility than a semi-final wooden spoon. The Big-5 system was designed to protect the contest's biggest broadcasters from elimination; one consequence is that when those broadcasters underperform, they crash in front of a 160-million audience rather than being filtered out in a Tuesday semi.
Vienna 2026 — the UK's third Grand Final last of the modern era. Look Mum No Computer's Eins, Zwei, Drei finished 25th and last in the Grand Final with 1 point — the UK's sixth bottom-finish overall and third in seven contests after 2021 (nul) and 2019. Combined with the 2003 Jemini zero and the 2008/2010 lasts, the UK now has the worst modern-era Grand Final record of any Big-5 country. In the 2026 semi-finals, Georgia finished bottom of SF1 with 5 points (their fourth last place overall) and Azerbaijan bottom of SF2 with 2 points (their second). For the flip side of the scoreboard see most wins and biggest winning margin; for the consolation podium see most second places.