Vienna 2015 - final!!

Be still, my heart ... !

We finished our dinner just in time - wienerschnitzel in Austria's honor :-) - and now we are SO ready for the show ... ! :-) Great opening with the orchestra. Flashes from Copenhagen, and now from Vienna ... and then to the Stadthalle. I am atremble ... !!

A tribute to Udo Jürgens, very fitting. Merci, chérie morping into Rise Like A Phoenix, clever ... and now, Conchita!! In hot pink sequins! :-D Ooh, and they're doing the same thing the Danes did last year, they have a theme song. But even better than Copenhagen, the song has the same title as their slogan. The hosts are singing too. Conchita flies! Children on stage are singing the theme song! Fantastic. :-)

An Austrian rapper, and more from the children singing ... and the hosts welcome us all. Whee!!

Now all the performers on stage with their flags. I LOVE this way of presenting all the contestants. I'm trying to listen for who gets the biggest cheers, but that doesn't really mean much in this context ... because that's all down to who's got the biggest delegation in the audience, and that's rather too much down to location and other non-related things.

Aww, fans all over the world! Wonderful! So adorable. :-)

A little chitchat and, omg, we are on!! :-o

Slovenia - Here For You. One of my absolutely top faves this year. I love this!! The melody is fantastic, such a fantastic beat ... and her voice is so cool. Great performance. Yay! Ljubljana 2016!! :-D Calyx is not a fan of the voice ... :-)

France - N'oubliez pas. What will this look like? Huh. A city in ruins ... and white doves taking flight. So we shouldn't forget ... the horrors of war? Ooh, and they've found a way to get around the rules about only six people on stage. Hm. The presentation is kind of interesting, but the song is too ... boring. Nope, no way. We will all forget this.

Israel - Golden Boy. Another of my favorites. Such a great beat, a wonderful entry. And I love the lyrics. Just cheesy enough. :-) The kind of fun lyrics that you tend to get at Eurovision - English-language lyrics written by non-English speakers. I love it. And the performance is significantly better than on Thursday. My hopes are rising ... !!

Estonia - Goodbye to Yesterday. Not among my favorites as such, but I really like this entry. A very good melody. I really like her voice. And a good presentation, simple. They won't get that far, I don't think. But they can hold their heads up.

United Kingdom - Still In Love With You. Still scratching my head over this one. I really don't know what they were thinking. I think it's a fun melody, but it's just so incredibly wrong for Eurovision. The presentation make it even more annoying, if that was possible. Another no-hoper for Britain! Our commentator was inspired to make a couple of really funny jokes, though.

Armenia - Face the Shadow. A beautiful song, and I like their presentation and their outfits. And the backstory is of course powerful and important. But the song is just too bland for it to really have potential.

Lithuania - This Time. My mystery contestant. But this is growing on me a little bit. Not that I would vote for it myself, but I can kind of see why other people would. It's a fun entry. They're really getting the arena going. No wonder after the last couple of entries, I guess ...

Serbia - Beauty Never Lies. Ooh, my favorite ... !! I love this entry, it's soo beautiful ... I love this melody, and her voice ... ! Her performance is much better than on Tuesday too. Awesomesauce!! Go Bojana!! The audience is going crazy for her. YAY Serbia!! Belgrade 2016! :-D

Norway - A Monster Like Me. A beautiful song, excellent singers, a very good presentation ... and the audience is really into it ... but it just may be too depressing. But they don't think so in the Stadthalle ... hm. N. really likes this, he hadn't heard it before, he thinks it's very interesting. And that a lot of the other entries aren't capturing his interest. Hm. Yes, We will definitely be getting quite a few votes from the Balkans ... :-)

Sweden - Heroes. Very catchy, a great beat, and I do like Zelmerlöv. I just feel so strongly that he should have represented Sweden in 2007. :-( The one thing I don't like about this is that the presentation has absolutely nothing to do with the subject of the song. Whatever that may be, I guess. Also, hummingbirds, as far as I know, don't actually sing. Anyway ... I like this, and I won't be sad if it wins ... except that I would LOVE for us to do better than them just to shove their arrogant faces in it.

Cyprus - One Thing I Should Have Done.  This is so sweet! Absolutely charming. I like this so much. Probably too low key to really get anywhere, but it would be hilarious if it did. :-) Totally charming and deserves every vote it'll get. :-)

Australia - Tonight Again. Oh, the uniqueness!! So cool that Australia is here this year. They'll get a bunch of votes just for being new and exotic. But this really is a fantastic song. Such a great beat, wonderful singer and a very good performance ...the presentation is weird, and the female backing dancer's outfit is hideous, but you can't win 'em all. Wonderful entry for Australia. Definitely a potential winner.

Belgium - Rhythm Inside. I really like this entry too. And I dig their presentation too. Experimental. :-) I think this is too weird for the audience in general, but I love the fact that it's here. Kudos to the Belgians for sending something so ... outside the box. The only innovative entry so far this year, says Calyx.

Austria - I Am Yours. I really like this entry. Lovely melody, great rhythm, wonderful lyrics. Totally charming entry. Yay for the host!! But of course nobody wants them to actually win ... :-D

To the green room and Conchita ... and some bad jokes. Aah, traditions ... !! :-)

Greece - One Last Breath. One of my least favorites this year. OMG she looks exactly like Cat Deeley, I never noticed that before. Her singing is so annoying ... all those breaths and pants. Annoying. Calyx says she must be very badly trained as that is one of the first things you learn to avoid in voice lessons. I don't know, I just know I don't think it sounds good. And the song itself, regardless of the singer, is just bland. Meh.

Montenegro - Adio. One of the most beautiful entries this year. I love this. Absolutely beautiful melody. A lovely Balkan ballad. N. is unimpressed ... and he's Serbian, so I'm willing to take his opinion into consideration. But I think this is beautiful. And major kudos for singing in their own language.

Germany - Black Smoke. I like this song a lot, but the others aren't fans. Calyx loathes the presentation. I'm not a big fan of it either. It's very choreographed and ... sort of calculated. I like this less tonight than I ever have before, actually. Hm. And what the hell is she smiling for, this is supposed to be sad??

Poland - In the Name of Love. A beautiful but not very memorable entry. Very cutesy presentation, A lovely song, and a beautiful singer with a good voice, but what's going to make us remember it? The wheelchair? Another entry that's just too bland.

Latvia - Love Injected. Like Belgium, this may be too weird, but I'm so thrilled to have it in the final. Creative and original. Wonderful! I love the chorus. And the presentation is fantastic. Major kudos to Latvia. N. thinks this is the winner. o_O I'm not entirely convinced ... :-)

Romania - De la capat. N. likes the singer's jewellery. :-) I like it too, plus I also really like the song. A very good melody, but too ... even, if that makes sense. A good band and a very good performance, plus the presentation is good, interesting. And I really like their subject matter. An topic that's actually important. Kudos. But a little too bland, alas.

Spain - Amanecer. Another of these powerful ballads that are lovely to listen to but very quickly forgotten. That thing with the cloak and the dress is the most memorable thing about this entry. Nothing wrong with this entry, but I'm pretty sure we won't be tuning in to Madrid next year.

Hungary - Wars for Nothing. N. thought Cyprus was dull, so I guess he may fall asleep during this one. :-) I like it a lot, though. Lovely melody, beautiful presentation, lovely singer with a beautiful voice. Important message, of course. But is it too low key? Probably. N. is still awake but not impressed. :-)

Georgia - Warrior. Now he's awake ... !! :-D So is the Stadthalle, by the sound of it. This entry certainly has a memorable presentation. Striking. Cool that she's alone on stage even with a song that seems to just beg for a crazy dance routine. It has crazy lyrics instead! A powerful entry.

Azerbaijan - Hour of the Wolf. One of the best ballads this year. An absolutely beautiful melody. I really like the presentation too. It makes a little bit more sense of the title. :-) I don't think it has what it takes to reach the top - but then I didn't think their 2011 entry had that either, so what do I know? :-) Definitely a very good entry from Azerbaijan, as usual.

Russia - A Million Voices. Another of the very best ballads this year. Beautiful song ... and a beautiful singer. It's so interesting that the Russians keep sending these songs about peace and fellowship across borders ... ! This is definitely memorable enough to make it very far ... maybe even all the way.

Albania - I'm Alive. Another singer who smiles while singing something supposed to be sad. Oh well, at least in this song the sad part passed quickly. Pretty singer, pretty song ... beautiful while you're listening, but by the time the Italians are halfway through their song we won't be able to hum this one to save our lives. And people are calling this a favorite? Nope.

Italy - Grande amore. Now this entry has it all! This is Eurovision! :-D Italian opera-singing hipsters ... and boy, can they sing! The kid with the glasses especially, he's fantastic. Grande amore!! :-D OMG they are SO Italian. And the old ruins ... !! :-D This is fantastic. They just have no shame. They have pulled out absolutely all the stops ... and why not?? :-D So fantastic. I love it. We all love it. This is seriously a contender. A wonderful way to close the performance part of the show.

The hosts start the voting ... ! How should I vote? Tactically or from the heart? :-)

A runthrough of all the songs. I'm thinking, I'm thinking ... !

One vote for Slovenia. Five for Serbia. Three for Israel. One for Italy and one for Australia. My civic duty is done.

The first part of the interval entertainment ... Austrian musicians. Percussionists and horn players. Now singers too. Nice!

Second runthrough ...

The voting is closed ... now!!

Ooh, Conchita on stage! Yay! I haven't heard this song before. I like it!! I think I'll have to buy her album ... What a blouse she's suddenly wearing. o_O A little chat with Conchita ... and then this year's Junior ESC winner. What a voice for such a young boy.

One of the hosts in the green room ... and the others with Conchita and the trophy. Now reactions from winners over the year, Adorable!! Squee!!

Now to Jon Ola Sand and his announcements ... in plural this time.

The first points .... !! Should I make a guess? I think the winner will be ... Serbia, Russia, Sweden? Italy? Australia? No, I have no idea. It's so even this year, and so many good songs. I can't guess. There's actually almost not a single song that I would be horrified to see as the winner this year. Except the UK, but that goes without saying.

Now it's time to eat cake ... !! Calyx's horribly deformed Esterhazy torte. But I'm sure it'll taste good. :-) And it has the Austrian colors since she didn't have any apricot jam and had to use raspberry. :-D

The Belgians are voting now. It's looking a lot like this will be a fight between Russia, Sweden and Italy. Australia's on fourth and the gap between third and fourth is just massive. Huh,

I cannot BELIEVE that Austria hasn't gotten a single point yet ... !! Boo, Europe!!

I'm soo glad that Belgium and Latvia are doing so well ... !!

Halfway through the points ... Conchita's in the green room with the Russian delegation. Aw, I love that she's so protective of the Russian singer. The audience aren't cheering very hard for her. But if you want to follow Conchita's philosophy then you would never dream of penalizing this young woman for the actions of her government ... !!

This is such an exciting scoring this year ... !! I love it! :-D So even and things are changing with every new country giving their points. Nerve-wracking ... !! :-D

Sweden's in the lead and Måns is deliriously happy ... ! :-D

And they've won!! 328 points and they can't be beaten! N. is thrilled, he's wanted them to win since he heard the song for the first time. Ie, about two hours ago. :-D Sweden is the winner! Måns is completely ecstatic ... ! And gets a very warm hug from Conchita. Aw.

Tredje gången gillt!! Congratulations, Sweden!! :-)