Last year I missed this in favour of seeing Harold Budd and John Foxx in Brighton.
It's the first one for ten years that I haven't watched, so it was great to be back from the farm in time to watch the whole event yesterday.
Probably my only TV must-see night of the year.

I adore Eurovision, and it just seems to get better!!
This years was one of the best.

I love the glitzty kitsch, the patriotism, the silliness, the humour, the drama, the spectacle - the whole thing. Even the voting, which is always fadscinating, even if the new format this year was very badly handled by the Greeks and did really drag on too too long.
Except the music. That does little for me, but seems strangely incidental.
There are some good ones though, btu I can't define what I like.
The countries that take themselves and the show seriously always make me cringe (France, Ireland, Malta...) but this is more than made up for by the sheer bloody-mindnedness of the Baltic countries, for instance, who just get up there and have a laugh in the true spirit of the games.
My vote last night went to Lithuania for the chant "We Are The Winners" which had its tongue firmly in its cheek and was amazing to watch. I enjoyed the German country twang, the Danes twist (and the singer and Finland were, as usual so far off the wall I didn't think they had a chance. I had Croatia down too for their patriotic folk song.
The trouble with us entering as the "United Kingdom" means that we don't have that national identity to celebrate and our entries are invariably neither one thing nor another.

I remember a few years ago the Finnish entry was a guy rather like a young Gary Numan, with huge keyboards, dry ice and robot dancers. They've always been barking mad and its wonderful to see them getting their first win.

And it reinforces what I've felt for a while now that Scandinavian music is definitley int he ascendency. I'm into all their DJs and techno stuff especially, but Biosphere from Norway has just put out a stunning new album (not as good as Substarta, but still excellent) and the Finns do have some wonderful electronic rock bands.
I know the song thast won Eurovision was a piss-take, but how well they did it.

One of my life's ambitions is to go live to Eurovision.
One of my life's ambitions is to go to Finland.

Maybe I can wish for this in 2007?

Eurovison Rock - Alleluia!