With the non-starter that was Eurovision 2020 now a distant memory, it was a welcome return to the world's biggest music competition on Saturday night, as the Ahoy Arena played host to the 65th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest.
As we are now accustomed to, 32 European countries plus Australia, battled in two midweek semi-finals for 20 Grand Final places and were joined by the "Big 5" plus hosts, The Netherlands to make a final line-up of 26 songs...
Where are we going next year...?
(The final score for each country is split into two, the jury vote and the televote making the final number. The returning artists from 2020's non-contest are denoted with a *)
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1) CYPRUS - Elena Tsagrinou* with 'El Diablo' - 16th with 94 points (50/44)
As ever, it is a tough gig to open the show, with Cyprus' Lady Gaga-lite getting the nod. This one had produced controversy with religious groups as the song is about dancing with "El Diablo", aka, the Devil.
It was a good song to kick the show off with, but as you're about to see, this field of 26 songs may be the strongest ever seen. 16th was fair.
For the second contest running, Albania were given the "death slot", as no act has ever won the Contest from 2nd position in the running order.
3) ISRAEL - Eden Alene* with 'Set Me Free' - 17th with 93 points (73/20)
The "it's all political" brigade clearly ignore the fact that Israel not only qualified but picked up 93 points despite being in the middle of a conflict.
4) BELGIUM - Hooverphonic* with 'The Wrong Place' - 19th with 74 points (71/3)
Exactly as the voting suggests, this moody number was always going to do better with the juries than the public; but it provided something different from the pop numbers we are accustomed to.
A huge band in their native Belgium, their performance was very good but it just lacked a bit of oomph.
5) RUSSIA - Manizha with 'Russian Woman' - 9th with 204 points (104/100)
Long gone are the days that the Russians get ceremoniously booed off stage and this one wins my, "I hate it before I see it live" contest. It didn't make much sense as a track, but seeing it live, I absolutely loved it.6) MALTA - Destiny* with 'Je Me Casse' - 7th with 255 points (208/47)
One of the big pre-contest favourites came from Malta, and Destiny - who has already won Junior Eurovision - came to slay. I have to say, I had this down as my winner and to only get 47 points from the public vote was a big shock in the room... Not least to Destiny...
A real dark horse this one, and again, its popularity sky-rocketed as the week went on. It finished 4th in it's semi final and did well on Saturday night, let down again by the public vote who all careered behind a small number of songs (see later in the list...)
Cracking effort from Portugal though, and the old cinematic style really played into its hands. 12th was fair.
8) SERBIA - Hurricane* with 'Loco Loco' - 15th with 102 points (20/82)
Another one of my pre-contest favourites came from Serbia's tribute to Little Mix. The three women, wind machine assisted, really put on a stunning show and I'm surprised it didn't finish higher than it did.
9) UNITED KINGDOM - James Newman* with 'Embers' - 26th with 0 points (0/0)
That's a lot of zeros...
10) GREECE - Stefania* with 'Last Dance' - 10th with 170 points (91/79)
18-year old Stefania was the youngest contestant in the competition, and her effort, 'Last Dance' was a catchy number, ruined by a strange green screen setup and dancers with no faces.11) SWITZERLAND - Gjon's Tears* with 'Tout l'Univers' - 3rd with 432 points (267/165)
Another pre-contest favourite came from the lovely Gjon's Tears who belted out this french language song with great aplomb. I didn't particularly like it when I first heard it, but it has grown on me hugely, to the point I had it in 2nd place, much to the derision of the people I was watching the show with.
12) ICELAND - Dadi o Gagnimagnio* with '10 Years' - 4th with 378 points (198/180)
Do forgive the horribly English typing of their band name, but I do not possess an Icelandic keyboard.13) SPAIN - Blas Canto* with 'Voy a Querdarme' - 24th with 6 points (6/0)
One of four songs to get zero points from the public, this ballad was simply too boring to make it into the psyche of the crowds watching. The huge moon was a bit gimmicky and the song simply passed me by. Only saved from the ignominy felt by the United Kingdom by stealing six points from the juries.14) MOLDOVA - Natalia Gordienko* with 'Sugar' - 13th with 115 points (53/62)
I quite liked this song in the lead up, but Natalia's performances never really stood up. It was very breathy and the dancers were off-putting, and it never really worked.15) GERMANY - Jendrik with 'I Don't Feel Hate' - 25th with 3 points (3/0)
The third song to get nothing from the public, and frankly, deservedly so. This tune is nothing short of irritating and the fact I'm not allowed to say that because the song is about not hating things sends my brain into a spin.
Less said the better.
Finland love sending a rock song and this was no different, with the public absolutely loving it. They were leading at one point as they picked up 218 points alone from the televote, but the jury vote let them down.
Not my usual cup of tea, but it was a cracking performance and it deserves its 6th place.
I never really "got" this unfortunately, and at this stage of the evening, it was just too slow and meandering to really get my attention. It was touted as a potential dark horse, but it fell away after the public vote, along with many others.
11th was fair.
18) LITHUANIA - The Roop* with 'Discoteque' - 8th with 220 points (55/165)
Mightily popular with the public, the odd dance moves and the very bright yellow clothing added to the rising stock that are The Roop.19) UKRAINE - Go_A* with 'Shum' - 5th with 364 points (97/267)
22) NORWAY - Tix with 'Fallen Angel' - 18th with 75 points (15/60)