Eurovision 2015 - 60th Anniversary Edition

.... and Sweden have just been drawn in the first half of the Final.

They seem to be favourites pretty much every year but I thought tonight the staging was much more impressive than the performance. I'd quite like to see it go to Italy considering they've not that long returned and would offer something quite different I think.

How many countries actually air the contest without ads now - I'm sure at one point it was just the BBC but I know France has restrictions on primetime ads now and I think Russia have just introduced them too.

It would be quite ironic if it was just the BBC... Filler produced for their benefit then they go and pre-empt it.

Italy is a fanw**k as they say in ESC fan circles. It's not in English and with the exception of Molitva, you've got to go back to Dana International to get your next non-English winner. Then you've got Nocturne with barely any words in the middle of a ton of Irish wins. As an anorak I love how interesting it makes the subtitles sometimes, but you're just putting yourself at a disadvantage not singing in English these days IMO.

Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Australia (?), I think Germany, possibly Finland (?!), and unless they're still doing their daft breaks with nothing but programme promotions then Spain as well.

Here are the results, which were announced in a random order at 21:55 BST. Any use of "tonight" still means Thursday 21 May 2015.

My desired qualifiers: Lithuania , Ireland, San Marino, Montenegro , Sweden , Switzerland, Cyprus ; plus three (and no more) of Norway , Czech Republic, Israel , Azerbaijan , Slovenia , Poland .

Actual qualifiers (in order of announcement): Lithuania , Poland , Slovenia , Sweden , Norway , Montenegro , Cyprus , Azerbaijan , Latvia, Israel .

Bold entries represent the actual qualifiers that match my preferences.

OUT: Ireland, San Marino, Malta, Portugal, Czech Republic, Iceland, Switzerland.

I'm overjoyed Montenegro and Cyprus qualified as I thought both are excellent songs. Also I'm glad Lithuania and Sweden are through as they were among my most liked songs this evening. I'm appalled and disgusted Latvia are through, I thought their entry was tonight's worst song of all. Thank goodness Portugal are out, their rather disappointing entry was another one I definitely didn't want in the final.

More of my comments on the results here

And here's the final running order:

1 Slovenia
2 France
3 Israel
4 Estonia
5 United Kingdom
6 Armenia
7 Lithuania
8 Serbia
9 Norway
10 Sweden
11 Cyprus
12 Australia
13 Belgium
14 Austria
15 Greece
16 Montenegro
17 Germany
18 Poland
19 Latvia
20 Romania
21 Spain
22 Hungary
23 Georgia
24 Azerbaijan
25 Russia
26 Albania
27 Italy

I think Italy could do very well from that - they're amidst a sea of power ballads in the bottom third (and yes I know the Italian Il Divo rip off is far from upbeat, it's different and stand-out compared to the rest IMO). UK's placing is far from ideal but could be worse (cough Humperdinck cough). It'd be nice not to be at the bottom of the table again. Norway going next to Sweden could work in the Swede's favour, the Norwegian song takes far too long to really get going and the female's vocals were a bit weak IMO on Thursday.

But hey, as Wogan used to say, I have never ever picked a winner! I think Poland is also one to watch...

Semi final 2 was more shocking results-wise than semi final 1. Did not expect Lithuania or Poland to qualify, or Israel.

As for the final running order, I am very disappointed.

The following countries have suffered disappointing draws because of it: Slovenia, France, Estonia, United Kingdom, Norway, Italy.
The following countries have gained good draws because of it: Sweden, Albania, Georgia.

The favourites Estonia are 4th, not seen that high since 2003 when Turkey won. They may struggle now since most of the other big songs are either near the end of the first half or the end of the second.

I'm also doubting Italy, they would have to have a excellent performance to win now. I also think, however, that the end of the contest is great, we have 5 great songs one after the other from Georgia to Italy. Russia can't win due to politics, that means Albania has a slight advantage in that group if Italy does not reach momentum. It will certainly not be like last year, where San Marino did so boringly, it put people off the UK's entry at the end.

Overall, I think Sweden are now favourites to win. Estonia will do well though.

Going last does you no favours, as we found out when Molly crashed and burned last year. Going by that running order, Russia have this in the bag.

Molly's song and performance was rubbish last year, simple as that. A song with a very out dated message and a very meh performance on the night, no matter what rumours there were about her Jury Final performance. The Italian song is absolutely amazing, although I love Mans and want him to win I think the song is highly derivative. Still think Italy will win, though not by a mile. But don't discount Australia. There's the novelty factor, a good performer and by far the most contemporary song Eurovision has this year and it will stand out aginst the bland ballads.

I guess if Australia win it, then next year SBS will co-Produce the event along with a European broadcaster.
Will it be an open pitch with EBU members, or will the BBC be the most likely co-producers?

Apparently there is already an understanding between Australia and Germany, which has upset lots of people.

The fairest solution IMHO would be to offer it to the second placed country first, and then have a bidding session if a deal can't be negotiated.