Well, I watched Humperdink and he, mmm, let's say wasn't good. The Irish idiots didn't do too bad and seemed to fit the very strange theme that Eurovision has. I did like the winning song.

The voting - well those three songs plus those that were on after Jedward were the only ones I saw and heard - was it's usual predictable farce.

Me thinks the Brits are not liked very much abroad

It's not really that, it's more a case of people in these undeveloped countries who vote on phone just don't know about UK, they've never been taught any geography in school, they have no contact with anyone other than their local neighbours, and they certainly don't speak English, they may know about neighbouring countries, and a few might even have gone on holiday there, but the vast majority have never been on holiday to UK or France or anywhere (outside their own country.) and many are so poor that they don't go on holiday anyway

I never used to watch this - not a fan of 'popsy' music.

But it has apparently become 'cult' viewing - students at my daughter's Uni held Eurovision party nights and all got together to have a bluddy good laugh!

My daughter in law is with me. She asked if I could find it on TV somewhere as she and my son watch it and do their own voting and generally have a laugh with mates and he would be on Skype to us so....

We got out a bottle of bubbly, armed ourselves with pads and pens, I eventually found it being shown on PIK1 - we'd missed the first 3 so we caught up with those on YT in the breaks.

I am so GLAD I missed Humperdinck. Gawd - it might be a bit of a joke but they could at least give some young hopefuls a chance - not wheel out this old hasbeen. Why not bring Sir Cliff back if that's what they wanted?

In the end, son and his pal could not cyber join us because his house sprang a ceiling leak and he was busy with that!

I was very smug that the only 3 I gave any more than 1 vote to came in 1st, 2nd and 3rd (DiL actually had chosen the same ones too!)

It was all well worth it just to see the Russian Babooshkas! Oh lordy how we laughed when they brought out the tray of cookies! We were dancing round the living room to them and got them up to watch them on YT again!

I'd explained to my dear Polish daughter in law that the official voting was always just a POLITICAL FARCE - and by the time it ended she could sort of see what I meant - I'd told her to watch out for Greece giving full marks to Cyprus and Cyprus giving full marks to Greece!

I think it's a bit sad that so many foreign entries sing in English and not their own language.

Anyway we had a good evening - only disrupted when an over excited Monika knocked a glass of baileys over the notepad laptop and her iPhone lol!

the reverse is the same, too many people in the Uk have never heard of these small newer east euro states either, or even places like denmark, which gets confused with holland.

however, the show explains what and where the countries are before each song, so that shouldnt be a problem. they probably just vote for their neighbours just as they are their neighbours, and also have pet hate countries they dont vote for.

actually i think the general view was that Uk had picked a proper artist with some actual merit and credibility and proven talent this year (he is regarded similar to tom jones), instead of the useful identikit youthful plastic superficial act.

I agree with all of that. I doubt there are many countries who haven't heard of England or the UK.

I mean you'd hardly expect a small country that spent years being oppressed by a bigger one to give their main vote to the 'bully' would you! Or a country that another country considers itself to still be at war with (like Cyprus and Turkey) to throw bouquets at one another! All those FYR countries tend to stick together.

But I really do think it would be nice if the entries were to reflect more of the traditional popular music in their own countries (not EVERY country listens to US or UK pop) and were to sing in their own language.

I didn't actually recognise some of them were singing in English til partway through their numbers.

Anyway the winner seems delighted and those Russian grannies have made me laugh again today here on the news - saying coming 2nd was best - if they'd won they'd have had to do a gruelling non stop European tour singing and dancing from morn 'til night lol!

Shouldn't that be 'Greece giving full marks to their half of Cyprus and half of Cyprus giving full marks to Greece'

Or have they patched up their differences now

I like the song, his rendition of it on the night wasn't good.

To the honest, the whole 'concert' from what I saw makes the X-Factor look like a real talent show

I thought the Turkish entry was the funniest thing I`ve seen for ages. And I bet the Greek finance minister was sweating when it looked like Greece was doing well. Hosting that would have been the last nail in the coffin.
As for the UK entry - a 76 year old hasn`t got much of a voice left, let`s face it. I`m sure he`s a lovely man, but the vocal lacked power. Mind you - do we really want to win this?

Sorry Pat I think you're taking a 'Western' approach to communism, people in UK must realise that for millions life under the 'bully' was the only life, the 'bully' made sure that they were well and truly brain washed to the extent that even after twenty years the populations of Eastern Europe who are over 35 are still unablle to look beyond the blinkered life they had under communism.

Here in Czechland the remnants of communism linger on, people complain because companies are slimming down their work force, that prices rise, that the public transport is not virtually free anymore, and in shops any assistant over about 40 will look at you in horror if you say you want something in a different colour, take it or leave it is still the attitude in many shops.

These people were never taught much about UK apart from propoganda which we might think is easy to recognise but to them it was the truth and believe me it takes a long time for people who have lived all their lives under one regime to change their mental approach.

As an example, we have one weekender who comes here, he was a communist member all his life and probably still is, he thinks he has power because of that, and up to 20 years ago he did have such power. He thought he could remove part of our fence because we had erected another different fence two foot inside our boundary, he had no idea about property ownership, in the communist mantra 'all property is theft'

These newer East European states will always vote for their neighbours because historically that is where their 'tribes' came from, it will take at least another 20 years, maybe more, before this thinking is changed.

Your DiL is probably a younger generation, one who has made the effort to get out and see the world, she probably had forward looking parents, their were some even under communism, but the fact she has choosen a different life is in part because the life in Poland was pretty grimm, ask her and see if I'm right.