And the winner is .... Ukraine. Jamela's politically themed song 1944 bagged the last minute victory with an impressive 534 points, thanks the new voting system. Up until that point, it really did look like Australia were going to have this in the bag but in the end Dami Im's Sound Of Silence came in second with 511 points. I have to admit that the Ukraine wasn't one of my favourites of the night and their win did seem a little sudden but saying that we've had worse winners but also better ones too.
Meanwhile Russia in spite of some controversy did manage to come in third place with 491. Sergey Lazarev certainly had the bonafide popstar appeal about him and You're The Only One was a pretty decent number though the visuals had some similarities to the previous winner. I did feel a little sorry for the guy but while his song was one of the strongest of the bunch, we also had some great numbers from France (Amir's J'ai Cherce, 257 points, 6th place), Malta (Ira Losco's Walk On Water, 153 points, 12th place), Sweden (Frans's If I Were Sorry, 261 points, 5th place) and Bulgaria (Poli Genova's If Love Was A Crime, 307 points, 4th place).
To be fair, there were not really any songs that were truly dire (though Georgia's entry left me a little cold) but a part really was hoping for the Australian victory. They've only taken part in the contest twice and they truly know how to play the game and make some good music as well. However with the US now watching and Justin Timberlake popping up to plat his new song as well, could they also be future contenders as well?
However with some pretty great music and a sense of coming together (the overriding theme this year), the actual highlight was the presenters. I found it a little unusual at first that Mans Zelmerlow was on hosting duties (when he wasn't singing both Heroes and Fire In The Rain) but he turned out to be quite a revelation as a presenter and along with the unflappable Petra Mede, they were quite the dream team in terms of hosts. They naturally played off each other brilliant and the skit about what makes a Eurovision record with Love, Love, Peace, Peace was absolutely hysterical to say the least. Those two really should host it every year and next year's hosts are going to have really up the ante as well. One of the best years we've had for the event.
Love, Love, Peace, Peace: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMgW54HBOS0
See you next year for Eurovision 2017.
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