When the Cheshire emerges...

10.34pm: So there were a few surprises... but it's sinking in, there is a Eurovision final coming!

And so begins my media blackout, I will try to write tomorrow but there will be no live blog - I'll be too busy enjoying myself at a Eurovision party. Good night!

10.33pm: And of course Conchita was the last announcement. But they're our finalists! So from my picks Israel and Macedonia miss out.

10.32pm: Belarus are in - CHEESECAKE! And the kids from Finland. Yes, they're high schoolers. My bad.

10.31pm: Greece had some bromance there... Malta DOES seem like so long ago but they're in.

10.30pm: Oh wow, Slovenia. Oh no, and Poland too... But Romania and Norway are good.

10.28pm: About time... Switzerland the first to go through.

10.20pm: What just happened there with Macedonia? Should I be confused?

And the host is wearing pants. Since when does a female host not wear a gown?

10.18pm: And we've just seen an octogenarian take centre stage and tear it apart. Great work.

10.16pm: Bring back the hot Norwegian guys...

10.14pm: Oh, I was going to do this video thing, but I ran out of time. Go the girl from Ireland. Aw.

Meanwhile, I just wish Nikolaj could somehow be kept on the screen. He's a little amazing.

10.10pm: My pick of who might go through: Malta, Israel, Norway, Austria, Finland, Belarus, Macedonia, Switzerland, Greece, Romania.

10.02pm: Jessica Mauboy. Strutting her stuff to 180 million. Sounded a bit nervous at first, and it's a hard song to belt out. But she did great. Go girl. Darwin represent.

9.59pm: Bahaha, we knocked the UK out of that graphic of Europe. And we have Swans players and koalas. Excellent.

9.56pm: Alright, Romania are bringing it. THERE'S A CIRCULAR KEYBOARD. But really, Paula Seling and OVI are giving us a great end. Good song!

9.53pm: Slovenia's Round and Round is OK, but again not huge. Tinkara Kovac's shoulder pads are, mean dress.

9.50pm: WOW. Greece brought that - and I'm not biased, we needed something big. Totally sold with Freaky Fortune and RiskyKidd.

9.49pm: YEEEEESSSSS! Rise Up!



9.46pm: Who came up with revealing these records? And how is the most amount of licks even managed to be known? Fuck me, I love Eurovision.

And now I finally get to see Greece. Represent!

9.44pm: Down Under on the flute from Slovenia's entrant. Love.

9.39pm: Need to make violins a key point of note for future contests. As relevant as silver, white and key changes...

9.38pm: Folk again from Switzerland with Sebalter's Hunter Of Stars. But more good-looking males never hurts.

I'm waiting for that standout Eurotrash number though. And Greece's song is finally next.

9.35pm: To The Sky would probably be one to grow on you. But it's not a song that really prompts some boob-shaking, sorry Tijana. FYROM is hit and miss but this is one of their better songs...

9.30pm: OK, so the song's not really about cheesecake. But the beat is good.

9.29pm: Belarus! (Some) hot men in suits dancing. Singing about Cheesecake. Teo, I'm sold.




9.26pm: Ireland always manage to put something about their culture, even when it's a DJing turkey... Celtic motifs are cool, but the song is average. Can-Linn and Kasey Smith don't make my Heartbeat.

9.23pm: OMG. There's a song called Cheesecake. Loving the culinary theme this year.

9.17pm: The only rock band for this year comes from Finland... Something Better by Softengine wasn't too bad a song. But I was slightly distracted.

9.15pm: And finally a good-looking young male. In a shiny suit jacket no less. Swoon.

9.13pm: Glitter. Futuristic ballerinas. Light rapping... and a wink to the camera. Lithuania had it all, Vilija commanding Attention. Could have going a bit harder on the vocal though I reckon.

9.10pm: Well that got our ATTENTION!!!

9.09pm: "If this is your first time watching Eurovision, welcome." Couldn't have said it better Sam Pang.

9.08pm: Conchita Wurst. This year's Romania for sheer spectacle? Well, Rise Like A Phoenix has lyrics that are rather fitting for her. She looks great, the song's pretty good and the crowd love it.

9.02pm: It's time. Waiting for the revolution that is Conchita Wurst...



8.58pm: So that was Donatan & Cleo's My Słowianie - We Are Slavic... well, Poland singing about a different culture was one part of it.

8.55pm: Aaaaand we get folk outfits. Fabulous. Ooh, but trying to sex things up a bit. And looking tacky as hell for it. Excellent.

8.53pm: Three Minutes To Earth? Georgia, what is this? The Shin and Mariko are not floating anyone's boat. Or skydiving anyone back to safety...

8.52pm: There is a man playing drums with a parachute. Must have a big balance problem. Oh no, he managed a big jump.

8.50pm: Carl Espen's Silent Storm from Norway - really nice ballad, was wondering if there's a really big key change coming... but it was gradual. Like it.

8.46pm: Song two is Israel's Mei Finegold with Same Heart. Her voice is very... deep. Though I'm not sure if it suits the song, which is actually OK.




8.41pm: Firelight's Coming Home from Malta opens. This is a very Mumford and Sons song, but with traditional instruments. And a female element. It's a good opener.

8.38pm: Oh man, Greece is 13th... bit of a wait. Meanwhile, Pilou and Lisa looked a bit touchy feely. No, she's just hands-on...

8.35pm: A dance act to start us off paying homage to the former shipyard the hall once was and famous Danish compositions. But we're ready now.

8.33pm: I'm doing a live blog again (in Central Standard Time) so if you have something to say during the night say it. I will be voicing my own opinions of course, so there's room for more

The Jessica Mauboy doco was lovely. Looking forward to seeing the performance in full. But first let's hear the rest of this year's contenders!