This probably won't concern anyone outside of the UK (it probably won't even concern many of the Brits!) but I feel compelled to share my disappointment about the usual block voting of the Eurovision Song Contest.
The winner - Serbia - didn't deserve to win in my opinion. And would not have, if FIVE of its eight neighbours hadn't awarded it the maximum 12 points. Honestly, if the Balkans had been allowed to vote like this in 1974 I doubt Abba would have won, and the world would have been a poorer place without their music. Okay the Scandinavians keep their votes within their region too, but they seem to spread them out more.
I'm not saying we deserved to win, but we received votes from TWO countries in total - Malta and Ireland. The song was definitely better than that.
Political voting and the old pals network is making the competition a farce. Between the Baltic vote, the Balkan vote, the Russian vote and the Scandinavian vote, there isn't much chance for a Western European nation these days. I think we should withdraw, taking our money with us - the only reason we get to compete these days is because of the support we give after all. If we're not being given a fair chance at winning I say the support isn't worth it. Bah humbug.
Ah well, on a lighter note, I did have a conversation with a colleague a couple of years ago. She couldn't understand why people referred to trouble in Israel as being part of the conflict in the Middle East when Israel was part of Europe. Turns out she was basing this entirely on their participation in the Eurovision Song Contest.
Some pictures from the night in case anyone missed it.