It's starting ... !

Oooh, it's starting ... it's on!! Ooh!! Europe is watching us! :-D

It's a little weird to watch this now, since we've already seen all of this and know how it'll all play out ... except that guy who crashed Spain's party, WTF was that?? But they wouldn't have done very well anyway, I don't think - that whole toy collection was just way too distracting. Too bad.

Azerbaijan good, as expected - but somehow I don't think they'll win, the betting agencies' favorites don't usually live up to that reputation. :-) I love her dress but wish she'd lose that glove. What's wrong with bracelets??

Norway, alas! Didrik sang much better yesterday. He had a lot of nerves in our national final and last night it looked like he'd gotten over them, but like I said, he knew he wasn't really competing then, but now he knew it was for real. Dagnabbit. But he was good enough, we don't have to be ashamed of this. The reaction from the audience was much better yesterday too though, that was kind of sad ... we went crazy when he managed the first hard t. :-D This audience didn't really get that ... or so it seems, maybe they just sort of edited it out since the rest of Europe wouldn't have gotten the joke. Oh well, what's done is done, but the performance could have been much better, his nerves got the better of him. Again. Alas, poor Didrik!!

Moldova ... lots of color and action, but like us, they're no winner this year. I do like this entry more and more though, every time I hear it. :-) Good luck. :-)

Cyprus - dull as dishwater, I don't know what they're doing here. Sheesh, get lost, I don't want to hear about your feelings. And are winters really that severe in the Mediterranean that life gets so much better in spring?? >:-(

Bosnia & Herzegovina - a totally safe & standard performance, another song that I like more every time I hear it, but just ... nothing special in either song or performance. Not a winner. No potential winner at all so far, in fact.

Belgium ... they are one of only two nations tonight that have the guts to send their performers alone on stage, so kudos for that. Judging by the reaction in the Arena I think this entry may be kind of a dark horse, because people seem to really like it a lot. I was surprised on Tuesday ... and it seemed like something similar happened just now. Hmm ...

Serbia!! Yay yay for Serbia!! Now they are a potential winner. This entry is so much fun to watch and the audience just loves it. We're rocking out to it ... trilltrall is totally into this entry, he's made his own Serbian flag using a fishing rod and a printout that he found outside the Arena last night. :-D He's dancing and we're all singing along - Beograd, Beograd!!! Go Serbia!!

Belarus - now they may do well, I wouldn't be surprised if they do very well. But of course they can't win ... what would we do if they won?? The ESC in Minsk?? Oh noes! KAS hates this song, she's making huge fake yawns. :-D I have to say that while the song is very pretty, the presentation is pretty tacky. Which is what we all expect from the Belarusians ... ;-)

Ireland ... ! She was soo good yesterday. We met a couple of Irishmen on the bus back to the city and they weren't happy with her performance in the semi, but they loved her in the dress rehearsal ... and she really was wonderful then. She is tonight too, so yay! :-) This is pretty unlikely to actually win, but I think they may do quite well, and in any case it's just so wonderful to see Ireland send quality again.

Greece!! Everybody say OPA!!! :-D I don't actually like this song, but I still am totally caught up in it every time I hear it. ;-) They totally rock the house, they've done that every time. This song is definitely one of the potential winners this year. But poor Greeks, what will they do if they win? They'll be ruined! :-D Good luck to Greece, anyway ... they've made a real effort this year and I love that they're proving that politics really don't matter in the ESC. :-)

Now for this year's shittiest entry - the United Kingdom, who have sent trash. I mean literally trash. This is something Pete Waterman must have found on the bottom of his garbage can. This song is SO BAD that I don't even have words to describe it. The lyrics are just offensive, the music is incredibly boring and the performance is lousy, and the singer, sheesh, go back to your karaoke. TRASH. The UK should just drop out of the ESC entirely if they don't care enough about it to do more than this. This entry is insulting to us as the host and to all of Europe who have all tried so much harder. >:-( I wish they would get nil points ... but they probably won't, since Ireland and Malta usually give them a few pity points out of reflex. But they don't deserve a single vote. Fuck you guys. I mean, I love you, Britain is my favorite country to travel in and Britons are wonderful people, but seriously, fuck you right now. >:-(

Georgia ... an entry that Hanne Sørvaag is probably happier with than My Heart Is Yours, but of course she can't say so. ;-) Good song, good performance - I really like this performance - ought to do well. They deserve it. Not a winner, I don't think, but ought to place high. But I'm not sure it'll get a lot of votes from Norway - KAS sent off a vote for it, and she got the reply back almost immediately. Not a good sign, maybe?

Turkey ... one of the favorites, and I can totally see why, this is a cool song and a good performance. I would maybe have lost the robot, but hey, that's me. They really get the audience going and I think they'll get a lot of votes pouring in right now. Keep an eye on Turkey. ;-)

Albania, yay, go Albania!! I love the Albanian entry this year, it's their best ever, it's fantastic. Love her performance. Top ten for Albania this year, at least. Fingers crossed!! :-)

Iceland. YAY for Iceland!! Hera Björk is just so fantastic. She was absolutely amazing last night , and she is amazing tonight too ... and she gets a fantastic response from the audience. Wonderful Iceland!! :-) I think they may do very very well tonight, and I hope they will ... they really need some happy news now. Although not too happy, of course. ;-) They'll probably get a lot of sympathy votes. But hey, points are points. :-) And this is such a totally ESC entry ... it's just perfect. We're all loving it, except KAS, she doesn't dig this entry. But the rest of us love it, so it's three against one. :-) Go Iceland!!

Now Ukraine ... which is kind of a downer after this great mood that Iceland struck. She's all alone on stage, I'm impressed with that. But this song is kind of depressive. Bad luck of the draw. And again, it's rather unmelodious and hard to get into. It'll probably have to rely more on jury votes than on the televote ... but it may get quite a few points from the professionals, I'd imagine.

France!! We're digging France here. trilltrall's loving it. :-) It's a total football song though, and I don't know if there are that many football fans watching right now ... ? ;-) But hopefully their girlsfriends are forcing them to watch. Let's hope they'll stave off the boredom by sending a few votes France's way. I like the outfits they're wearing ... I hope the French will do well this year, they deserve to for sending such a good entry. They really have the audience going in the Arena. We were on our feet dancing too last night. :-)

La Roumanie, douze pointes!! Romania is one of my favorite countries, they've sent some seriously cool songs, some of my favorites ... and their song this year is so cool, I love it. They'll do really well, I'm sure of that. Fingers crossed for Romania, they rock!! Go Ovi! :-D

Russia are Lost and Forgotten ... but I don't think they will be. This song is total weirdness, but at the same time it's got something, I don't know. We're all singing along here. :-D Good results for Russia, not impossible ... !! :-o

But now - Armenia!!! Go Armenia!!! I love this song, have you noticed?? ;-) I've got my flag ready, and get this, we grilled apricots for dinner tonight to support Armenia! :-D Along with lots of pieces of dead animals, of course. But also apricots. :-) Vote Armenia, come on, Europe!! Yerevan 2011!! But alas, I'm not at all convinced that they will manage to go all the way ... I think they'll do well, hopefully very well, but will it be enough ... ?? Fingers crossed. They've got my vote, anyway ... about nine of them, I think. :-) Good luck Armenia! :-D

Germany, alright. Didrik ought to have talked to Lena a bit more. She's got no nerves, she's fantastic. This song is soo good ... I'm thinking they may win the whole shebang. I love this song ... but more than that, it really is fantastic, her performance is wonderful, she's so adorable and charming, and it really comes through the TV screen. The audience loves her ... we did too, last night. And it would be so cool if they won, the Germans would go absolutely crazy. Good luck to Germany. I am so impressed with them this year. Good luck. :-)

Portugal. Pretty but boring. The Portuguese keep soldiering on, year after year, and we love them for it ... but they'll have to keep at it for a while longer, I'm afraid. Kind of a mystery what this is doing here. o_O Not a winner.

KAS is bored now ... she thinks Portugal is boring and Israel is too. :-D I kind of like this, at least while I'm listening to it, but, well, I can see where she's coming from. His voice is very good though. Didrik should have talked to him too ... Not to Johnny Logan, sheesh. I mean, I know he's Mr Eurovision and all, but as a kind of general rule one should be careful about taking advice from alcoholics. I think this will get middling results. Hopefully. :-) But nothing wrong with it as such. :-)

And Denmark closes the show with a song that I kind of hope will do well, because the Swedes were offered it first and rejected it, and now Sweden's out and the Danes are still here. But the song isn't very original and is a pretty safe choice. Ooh, look, they're slipping apart ... !! :-D Hah, fun. But there is so much else to choose from this year that is so much more creative and original, I don't expect anything special from Denmark. Still, good luck.

A review, and another review ... LOL, every time Serbia comes on we all sing along to as much of the lyrics as we know: BEOGRAD, BEOGRAD!! LOL! :-D

And the voting's over, and we're getting the interval entertainment, which we've already seen, but it's fun anyway. The world's biggest flash mob dance. And Madcon!! Fun and games. As Anne Ida said, it's not Riverdance, but I like it, I think it's fun and creative. And no fjords and trolls, that is a plus, in fact, in my book.

Ooh, time for the results. I'm not as nervous as I usually would be ... maybe because I haven't been able to pick a winner this year? Just a reminder, for any non-Europeans who may be reading this (hello Bill! and maybe Gare? :-) the points are tallied by 50% televote and 50% of professional jury votes. Each country has the following points to award: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 and 12. In the event of a tie, the winner is whoever gets the most 12s.

Let's see, I can't pick one winner, but I have a shortlist. Potential winners. Let's see ... in order of performance, Serbia, Greece, Turkey, Albania, Iceland maybe, Romania, Armenia, Germany.

Sheesh, Denmark got the first three twelves!! :-o Maybe I should have added them to my list. Their song just seems like such a safe choice. But then again, the last time they won it was also with a semi-boring and safe song, so who knows ... ? Nah, I can't believe that. Although it might be a fun party in Copenhagen. ;-) And it would be SO much fun if they won with a song the Swedes rejected ... !! :-D

It looks like it'll be an even heat, that is so cool ... that's the best way, when there's excitement about who will win right up to the end. Although Germany does seem to be pulling ahead. Three twelves in a row! Awesome! Berlin 2011 ... !? :-D

But Armenia's doing just middling. Sob. But what can I say, I've been rooting for them, but haven't really been believing it. Look at us though, we're bombing. :-D Gotta love it. Stupid Brits are actually getting some points though, damn them. I hope we can beat them, at least. :-D

Belgium is really surprising me tonight. And Iceland's doing so badly, boo. :-( But what is definitely clear here is that Europe's in no mood for ballads tonight. Yes, the Belgian song is doing very well, but that's a different kind of ballad, not the kind of OTT power ballad that so many countries have sent this year. Bad choice. And the Belarusians are completely bombing ... :-D

It's so sad that Ireland is doing so badly. :-( Even worse than the UK, which is, to quote my mother on a different but related issue, deeply shocking. Ooh, they got some points from Switzerland, yay. :-) Serbia and Albania aren't doing as well as I'd hoped either. But Germany just got past 200, and they're a pretty good bit ahead now. Berlin 2011. Yees ... !! :-D

Armenia aren't doing as well as I'd hoped, but they are getting some twelves here and there - thank you to Israel. :-) Germany's getting points from pretty much everyone, not the Israelis, but that's hardly to be expected. Ahem. They've gotten points from 32 countries out of 36 who have voted so far. They're the winners, no question.

BERLIN 2011!!! :-D

Poor Lena, she's completely out of it. And the Germans are going crazy! :-D Too funny. She is so sweet and charming. Aww. Congratulations to Germany, you so deserve it!!! :-)

Well, it ended like Alexander Rybak said - the best song won. Happiness for all!!

Do I have to sing now??
OMG, this is soo crazy!!

Another reason to be very happy with this result: The UK came last. Excellent. >:-)