Three nights after the incredible Eurovision final and I’m just now getting around to posting about it---how neglectful. I won’t write too much, since most of you reading this probably watched the show on TV or the internet and you don’t need my rehash of the event. I mean, you all watched the contest, right? Who would miss it??

Here is Nina Caroban of Serbia, who SHOULD HAVE WON, DAMMIT! Isn’t she delightful? I defy you to listen to this song and not dance!



If not Nina, than certainly Italy’s Raphael Gualazzi and his swinging, sultry piano jazz-pop artistry deserved to take the top prize. This song is so beautiful and fun, I listen to it over and over again.



Unfortunately, neither Nina nor Raphael won Eurovision 2011. Neither did my other favorites, Finland and Romania. No, the song that somehow---how, Europe, how???---won my cherished annual song contest was a fluffy, predictable pop ballad---I hate pop ballads---from Eldar & Nigar of Azerbaijan. This song got 221 points, which is a lot (although not nearly the record-breaking 387 points Norway got in 2009, just sayin’). Italy came in second with 189, and Sweden (with a ridiculous teeny-bopper anthem I’ve already forgotten, thank goodness) next with 185. Poor Serbia ended the night with a shockingly paltry 100 points, which I feel says much, much less about Nina’s performance than it does about Europe’s attitude toward her country. Memories are long in Europe…

Here is Azerbaijan’s entry, if you’re curious…



No matter that I don’t like the winning song, I still enjoyed the night. I watched it at home with Husband (who continues to tolerate my Eurovision fanaticism) but also with half a dozen Facebook friends, whose witty banter and spot-on sarcasm made my EV experience something magical indeed. We’ve all promised to meet back on our Facebook Eurovision page next year, unless any of us decide to fly to Baku for the show. It could happen!

One final little bit of news I must share about Finland’s Paradise Oskar, aka Axel Ehnström, who sang one of the most special songs of the night, Da Da Dam. I heard Norway’s EV representative, Stella Mwangi, interviewed on the radio Sunday morning and I’m pretty sure she said (my Norwegian is still bad) that Axel traveled to Düsseldorf by himself, no entourage or handlers or anybody, and that he is really nice, really down-to-earth, and just a super guy. Ahhhh, sweet! Here he is singing his song: