She was looking o.k. again, said a few words that made sense with Stefan Raab standing next to her.

Thanks, logos. Guet Nacht und viel Spass in Hannover.

It's over - and the winner is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIDF2eEcB-Y

>>I mean, who pays should be able to decide who wins, right? <<
In that case, the host country would decide every year: they pay for the ESC. The "Big Four" get places automatically because they pay most to the running costs of the European Broadcasting Union, not the Song Contest shows.

FWIW, this was my (belated) take on it all:

http://autolycus-london.blogspot.com...oke-night.html

I thought she was cute. What do you expect from a 19-year-old who has just been picked up from a talent competition and has no performance experience? She did well.

Patrick, thanks for the link. Excellent article!

So Lena won, but I saw that she had to scratch her head to understand English. Why not have pride in her own national language and sing in German !

The hegemony of English should certainly be opposed. Can I ask anyone who supports the cultural identies of individual nations in the Eurovision Song Contest to vote here

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/28/br...-to-eurovision

The rules should also be changed to enable the introduction of the international language Esperanto.

The use of Esperanto is forbidden at the moment.

I was hoping Father Ted would re-invent himself and try singing another song like "My Lovely Horse"............

I wish we had more programs like this. Europeans might finally get to know each other if we knew more about what interests them culturally.

It is already interesting every year to see which countries dare to sing in their own language rather than English, thereby ensuring defeat.

"I wish we had more programs like this. Europeans might finally get to know each other if we knew more about what interests them culturally."

I've always looked at this program as the vorrunner for all Idol shows.

Am listening to Lena's song again. She sounds like a cat in heat.

>>>The hegemony of English should certainly be opposed. <<<

There is a current thread where a guy from Scotland heavily complaints that the Italians do not speak English.

Europe is a continent with so many languages that we always needed a "lingua franca". It used to be Latin for fifteen centuries, then it was French for four centuries, and after WW II English became the common language.