I found it strangely difficult to get into Eurovision this year. Maybe it was the boycotts, Israel’s continued attempts to gerrymander the voting or just not having the whole family around to watch it with. However, there was still plenty to enjoy, and I even predicted two of the top three!

Let start with the UK entry – Not our worst effort and the staging was fun. I thought his call and response audience participation was very good. Deserved a lot more than a single point which suggests we are still not that loved on the continent.

Part of the problem is that not once did I hear the song played on the radio or TV before the contest and if the UK media don’t think it’s worth playing then that has to influence other countries. Some songs are huge hits in their own countries beforehand and so popularity breeds popularity. We tend to think only in terms of whether our song is ‘good enough for Eurovision’ rather than thinking bigger and choosing something the average Brit would like to hear on the radio.

Anyway, some observations on a few of the other entries:

Serbia went the furthest into metal territory with swords, black leather and a rather guttural scream. 

Weirdest act of the night was Greece. A man partially dressed as a cat, riding a scooter to a song made up of computer games noises was very Eurovision (even though the song was awful). He then danced with a statue and slid down a fireman’s pole.

In terms of vocals, the 28 second note held by the Ukrainian singer was very impressive and the best of the ballads.

Malta hadn’t appeared to notice that it was no longer the 1950’s but maybe it was a deliberate nod to the competition being 70 years old.

Bulgaria won and I rather enjoyed it. The premise appeared to be a zombie version of AA – “Hi, it’s been three weeks since my last brains”. A twitchy dance tune full of tempo changes as it slowed and sped up at various points. A deserved winner.

I was absolutely knackered watching Moldova. They just bounced incessantly for three minutes shouting “Viva Moldova”.

Finally, Romania went big guitar riffs, a singer who clearly enjoys Wednesday Addams fashion sense and a controversy courting title of ‘Choke Me’. A nice blend of Evanescence and Lady Gaga meant it did very well.  

Highlight of the night though? Had to be Lordi covering Brotherhood of Man’s Save All Your Kisses For Me in the interval!