Eurovision

Pleasantly surprised by Eurovision this year. Not because of its music, that was about as shit as ever. Hell, in fact it may have been one of the blandest Eurovisions in recent memory with no obvious extroverted piss-takers save Moldova. No. But what did surprise me was that voting seemed to, largely, reflect the quality of the musical performance rather than the political voting which has plagued the contest in recent years. Yes, there was an element of that, with Denmark giving Sweden 12 points and vice-versa, and also quite amusingly the former Soviet states all bestowing upon Georgia high scores in some thinly veiled showing of solidarity against the Russians. Regardless, the right song won in the end, Azerbaijan's 'Running Scared', by far the most innocuous and pleasant song of the bunch. Although I have to say I was quite surprised at how badly France did, who actually had a very good entry and were one of the bookie's favourites. Somehow, however, tenor Amaury Vassili didn't quite belong in the circus ring with the rest of the animals and was perhaps too good to be there. Spain's cheery and upbeat entry also undeservedly finished lower than perhaps it should have, containing all the elements usually present for a Eurovision winner. Plus, the girls were fucking fit. Anyway, a mildly more interesting contest this year. Here's the winner.