Eurovision Song Contest 2016 Grand Final

Host country: Sweden (SVT)
Venue: Globe Arena, Stockholm
Hosts: Petra Mede and Måns Zelmerlöw
Date: Saturday 14 May 2016
Winner: Ukraine - Jamala "1944" (534 points)

N.B. Any use of "tonight" or "this evening" throughout this post means Saturday 14 May 2016. Any use of "Tuesday" means Tuesday 10 May 2016, whereas any reference to "Thursday" means Thursday 12 May 2016.

To make this report easier to read, I've split it into sections. Click the applicable link below to jump to the section you want to read:
The Opening
The Songs
Televoting and Interval Act
Jury Results
Televoting Results
Reprise
And Finally

The Opening

After the usual Eurovision ident accompanied by Charpentier's Te Deum prelude, the Grand Final began with "Parade of Flags", during which all 26 finalists walked on stage, one by one, in the order they were to perform. The participants weren't carrying flags; instead the flags were projected on to white paper costumes. The accompanying music was a mix of Swedish dance tracks. The whole parade was a tribute to Swedish fashion design and dance music. After the parade ended, the hosts Måns Zelmerlöw and Petra Mede appeared on stage to give their opening speech.

The Songs

Twelve minutes after the show began it was time for the first song. Each song was introduced by a postcard film related to the appropriate country. Every postcard film began with floating dandelion seeds in the country's flag colours, and ended with the name being formed in a typeface and animation unique to each country, plus more dandelion seeds. Furthermore BBC One / BBC One HD viewers in the UK had Graham Norton's commentary over the postcard films. I've mentioned a few of Graham's comments at various points hereafter; if you saw the Contest outside the UK you won't have heard his comments.

Please note: once the jury and televoting points were all allocated to the scoreboard at the end, The Netherlands and Malta both finished with a combined total of 153 points, but The Netherlands is said to have finished 11th, and Malta 12th. I have quoted the following points and placings from the official Eurovision Song Contest 2016 Grand Final web page, which I believe and trust as the only official source.

Song 1: Belgium - Laura Tesoro "What's The Pressure" (10th place, 181 points)

It's always tough being first to perform, but someone had to sing first, and that responsibility went to Laura Tesoro representing Belgium with "What's The Pressure". Interestingly this was the final song of the eighteen entries to be performed, and the last of the ten qualifiers to be announced, in the second semi-final on Thursday evening, yet it was the first song in the Grand Final line-up. This disco style pop song was appropriately accompanied by a good dance routine from the backing group. The yellow / orange circles on the stage and the background wall gave it a 1970s look. Altogether this was an entry to be valued more for the dance routine (which was great fun to join in and copy) than the song itself. This finished 6th with 130 points in the jury voting, and 16th with 51 points in the televoting, thereby giving this a final result of 10th place and 181 points. I think this was over-rated by the juries; there's no way this merited the 10th place it finally got, let alone the 6th place the juries gave it. 12th to 15th would have been a better combined placing for this song.

Song 2: Czech Republic - Gabriela Gunčíková "I Stand" (25th place, 41 points)

Now for a much slower-paced song. This was the first time Czech Republic reached the Grand Final with its fifth entry since its 2007 debut. Although I wasn't overly keen on this whilst listening to the album, I quite liked the live performance in the first semi-final Tuesday evening, and I was pleased to see it qualify. During the Grand Final I liked it just as much. In addition I liked the on-stage triangles which changed colour, though I've no idea as to their significance. Going by the live Grand Final performance alone, it was a great ballad, and quite well sung. This finished 21st with 41 points in the jury voting, and last with nul points in the televoting, to give a combined result of 25th place and 41 points. This was under-rated in both the jury and public voting; I think this ought to have finished 11th to 15th in both of those and overall.

Song 3: The Netherlands - Douwe Bob "Slow Down" (11th place, 153 points)

This year's offering from the Netherlands was one of my favourite tracks on the official CD album. During the first semi-final on Tuesday evening, I liked the live performance of "Slow Down" so much it was among the songs I most wanted to qualify, and I was delighted it did. I liked the Grand Final performance just as much. It was great seeing the lead singer playing the guitar, but I'm mystified as to the significance of the on-stage clock. Just when everyone thought it was all over, Douwe Bob started singing again after a 10 second pause. What was the significance of that false end? Going by the Grand Final performance alone, it was an excellent, catchy song. This finished 11th with 114 points in the jury voting, and 17th with 39 points in the televoting, giving a final result of 11th place and 153 points. I think this should have finished top ten in both jury and televoting and top ten overall. Put it this way, I think this was better than Belgium's song.

Song 4: Azerbaijan - Samra "Miracle" (17th place, 117 points)

Azerbaijan has an excellent track record since its debut entry in 2008. This is one of the songs I felt borderline about on the album, but I quite liked the live performance Tuesday evening, to the extent it ended up on my "Wouldn't mind qualifying" list. I'm glad it qualified; going by the live Grand Final performance alone it was an excellent song, and very well sung. Although the first verse is a bit slow, the chorus is quite catchy. I also liked the dance actions from the backing group, but couldn't see the significance of the lines on the stage and back wall. This finished 19th with 44 points in the jury voting and 12th with 73 points in the televoting, giving a final result of 17th place and 117 points. As far as I'm concerned, this was under-rated by the juries; the public placing is a more appropriate indication of where this should have finished overall, but this wasn't good enough for top ten.

Song 5: Hungary - Freddie "Pioneer" (19th place, 108 points)

Now for a song I wasn't overly keen on whilst listening to the CD album, and which was one of three songs I least wanted to qualify from the first semi-final on Tuesday evening. The start of the song is, in my opinion, a bit depressing, and the chorus isn't much better. Thank goodness it wasn't the Eurovision Dress Contest, because I thought the lead singer's ripped jeans looked scruffy. Undeniably it's a powerful song, accompanied, by drum beats, but it's not to my liking. Altogether, I've seen better efforts from Hungary (e.g. András Kállay-Saunders "Running" in 2014). Anyway Freddie's "Pioneer" finished 18th with 52 points in the jury voting and 14th with 56 points in the televoting, giving a combined result of 19th place and 108 points. I think this was over-rated, particularly by the public; as far as I'm concerned it ought to have been in the bottom five in the jury voting, televoting and overall. Better still this shouldn't have even been in the Grand Final; Iceland or Bosnia & Herzegovina deserved the place Hungary took.

Song 6: Italy - Francesca Michielin "No Degree Of Separation" (16th place, 124 points)

The first Big Five entry of the night was from Italy, with Francesca Michielin singing "No Degree Of Separation". As expected, the song was performed mostly in Italian; however one chorus was in English. The set was really impressive; it looked as though Francesca was on a small circular island surrounded by water, with a tree on the back wall. The flowers on stage looked as though they were physically there, rather than just computer images. At the end Francesca said "We are precious, grazie". Going solely by the live Grand Final performance, I don't think "No Degree Of Separation" was as good as "Grande Amore" last year. Nonetheless it was still quite a good song, to the extent it was one of the songs I voted for. It scored 13th with 90 points in the jury voting and 18th place with 34 points in the televoting, giving a combined result of 16th place and 124 points. I think this deserved a top ten place in the jury, public and overall result, but it wasn't good enough for top five.

Song 7: Israel - Hovi Star "Made Of Stars" (14th place, 135 points)

I quite liked Israel's "Made Of Stars" on the CD album, and it was one of the songs I most wanted to qualify in the second semi-final Thursday evening. I'm glad it qualified, and I enjoyed the live Grand Final performance just as much as the semi-final performance. "Made Of Stars" is an excellent ballad; although it has a slow start, the chorus is powerful and memorable. In addition, I liked the person in the hoop, and the falling pyrotechnics at the end. Having finished 8th with 124 points in the jury voting, which was about right for this song, this was grossly under-rated by the public at just 22nd place with just 11 points in the televoting. Consequently its combined result was 14th place and 135 points. This ought to have been rated 8th to 10th in the televoting, so it could have still finished 8th to 10th overall.

Song 8: Bulgaria - Poli Genova "If Love Was A Crime" (4th place, 307 points)

Another song I was somewhat swayed towards whilst listening to the CD. Although I felt borderline about it during the live performance in the second semi-final Thursday evening, by the end of that semi-final I was glad it qualified. Going by the Grand Final performance alone, this lively, catchy pop song was worthy of a top ten result. This finished 7th with 127 points in the jury voting and 5th with 180 points in the televoting, giving an overall result of 4th place and 307 points. Although the jury placing was reasonable, I think the public placing was a little too high. In my opinion, this ought to have finished 6th to 10th overall; I don't think it was good enough for top five.

Song 9: Sweden - Frans "If I Were Sorry" (5th place, 261 points)

The second direct qualifier of the night was the home team Sweden. During its opening postcard, Graham Norton said "Tonight's Eurovision is a bitter sweet one for many of us, because of course it's the first contest since the death of Sir Terry Wogan". So while the crowd here in the Globe Arena cheer on their home boy, I would urge you back in the UK at home to raise a cup, a mug, a glass or whatever you have in front of you and give thanks for the man who was, and always will be, the voice of Eurovision, Sir Terry Wogan. Sir Terry, this is song 9." Anyway, when I heard this song on the CD album, this sounded like what I call a "suicide song"; in other words an entry deliberately chosen not to win (and face the cost of hosting) again. On the day of the Grand Final, one well-known UK bookmaker had this as one of the songs most likely to win, which puzzled me. Judging this by the live Grand Final performance alone, it's quite a good ballad, and Frans did a good job of performing it on the night, but it lacks the winning edge that "Heroes" had last year. This finished 9th with 122 points in the jury voting and 6th with 139 points in the televoting, giving a combined result of 5th place and 261 points. Although quite a good song, I'm surprised it placed that high; 9th or 10th would have been a more appropriate final placing for this.

Song 10: Germany - Jamie-Lee "Ghost" (26th place, 11 points)

The third direct qualifier, and second Big Five entry of the night was Jamie-Lee Kriewitz singing "Ghost" for Germany. She certainly had an impressive costume, including flowers and bows on her head, and a beautiful sapphire blue dress. The set was quite good as well, including trees on stage (which had green lasers showing for part of the song) and a moon on the back wall. However the song itself did little to impress me; in fact I thought it was one of the weakest songs of the Grand Final. I'm hardly surprised it finished last with just 1 point in the jury voting, and little better in the televoting (24th with just 10 points), thereby finishing last overall with just 11 points.

Song 11: France - Amir "J'ai cherché" (6th place, 257 points)

Now for the fourth direct qualifier, and third Big Five entry. How amazing to get three direct qualifiers (host country and two Big Five countries) in succession. This year France went for an upbeat song with a really catchy chorus. France normally perform entirely in French, but this year Amir sang "J'ai cherché" in a mixture of French and English. Within the French lyrics, I spotted the word "univers" (universe), which presumably explains the relevance of the planet images on the back wall early on. To me this sounded like a possible winner whilst listening to the CD album in advance, but when I saw the live Grand Final performance on the night I wasn't so sure it merited a win. Anyway, this finished 3rd with 148 points in the jury voting, and 9th with 109 points in the televoting, to give a combined score of 6th place and 257 points. This gave France its best placing since 2002. Maybe this could have merited a final placing of 4th or 5th, but it wasn't good enough to win.

Song 12: Poland - Michał Szpak "Color Of Your Life" (8th place, 229 points)

Having been slightly swayed towards Poland's entry on the CD album, I quite liked this sung live in the second semi-final Thursday evening. Although this ended up on my "Wouldn't mind qualifying" list that night, I was pleased to see it qualify, and I liked the Grand Final performance just as much as Thursday's semi-final performance. For some reason the first verse reminds me of Donny Montell's "Love Is Blind" from Lithuania in 2012. It's a rather sad sounding song, but I liked the arm movements at various times, and the way some of the words lit up in the background. Going by the Grand Final performance alone, it was one of the better ballads, and very well sung, but it wasn't good enough to win. Bizarrely it finished 25th with just 7 points in the jury voting, but 3rd with a colossal 222 points in the televoting. It's unbelievable how that could happen, but anyway I feel it was grossly under-rated by the juries, yet over-rated by the public. Never mind, the combined result of 8th place and 229 points was about right for this song; although it deserved its top ten placing it wasn't good enough for top five.

A short break followed at this point. During this time Måns Zelmerlöw spoke to two previous Swedish winners, Carola Häggkvist (1991 winner) and Loreen (2012 winner).

Song 13: Australia - Dami Im "Sound Of Silence" (2nd place, 511 points)

Last year Australia was a guest participant to mark the 60th Eurovision Song Contest. For some reason, Australia was allowed to participate for the second year running, but unlike last year (when they were guaranteed a place in the final), this time they had to go through the second semi-final on Thursday evening. This was one of the songs I most wanted to qualify on Thursday evening, to the extent I voted for it that night and I was delighted it qualified. Going by the live Grand Final performance alone, this was one of the best songs of the night. Although the verses are rather slow, the chorus is really powerful and memorable. I liked the way Dami Im sang seated on a block for much of the song, and the curved lines on the stage. Having deservedly won the jury vote with 320 points, this was, in my opinion, under-rated by the public at 4th place and 191 in the televoting. Hence its combined result ended up being 2nd place with 511 points; I think this ought to have won outright.

Song 14: Cyprus - Minus One "Alter Ego" (21st place, 96 points)

Another song I quite liked when listening to the album, and I also liked the live performance in the first semi-final Tuesday evening. This lively rock song has a very catchy chorus. The pyrotechnics at the end added to the impact, but was the strobe lighting during each chorus really necessary? This finished 20th with 43 points in the jury voting and 15th with 53 points in the televoting, thereby giving a combined result of 21st place and 96 points.

Song 15: Serbia - Sanja Vučić ZAA "Goodbye (Shelter)" (18th place, 115 points)

Now for a song I felt less swayed towards on the CD, and I wasn't impressed by the live performance in the second semi-final Thursday evening. This song had quite a catchy chorus and I liked the background dancer. However did the vertical light beams have any significance, and was the brief stroboscopic moment really necessary? Going by the Grand Final performance alone, not bad, but I still wasn't particularly impressed with it. Interestingly this finished 23rd with 35 points in the jury vote, but a much higher 11th with 80 points in the televote, thereby giving an overall result of 18th place and 115 points. In my opinion this below par song was over-rated by the public; I think the juries' placing was a more accurate indication of where this should have finished overall. Better still I'd rather this hadn't even qualified, I think Ireland or Slovenia deserved the Grand Final place Serbia took.

Song 16: Lithuania - Donny Montell "I've Been Waiting for This Night" (9th place, 200 points)

Having previously represented Lithuania with "Love Is Blind" in 2012, Donny Montell was back in 2016 to represent Lithuania again, this time singing "I've Been Waiting for This Night". I was swayed towards this song on the CD, liked it even more during the second semi-final Thursday evening, and was glad it qualified. I liked the Grand Final performance of this song just as much as the semi-final performance. The verses are a bit on the slow side, but the chorus is powerful and memorable. Donny's arm movements whilst singing and the on-stage visual effects enhanced the song. Going solely by the Grand Final performance, this was quite a strong song, but not good enough to win. It finished 12th with 104 points in the jury voting and 10th with 96 points in the televoting, thereby giving an overall result 9th place and 200 points, which was just about right for this song.

Song 17: Croatia - Kraljić "Lighthouse" (23rd place, 73 points)

Croatia failed to qualify from the semi-finals 2010 to 2013 inclusive, and avoided the Contest altogether in 2014 and 2015. This year Croatia returned with Nina Kraljić singing "Lighthouse". Whilst listening to the album I was unsure about whether or not this ought to qualify to the final. During the first semi-final on Tuesday evening, I still felt borderline about this song, and it ended up on my "Wouldn't mind qualifying" list. Going by the Grand Final performance, it was quite a good ballad and well sung; I liked Nina arm movements, and the use of light beams. For some mysterious reason, parts of her dress were removed part way through the song. This finished 22nd with 40 points in the jury voting and 19th with 33 points in the televoting, giving an overall result of 23rd place and 73 points. Maybe this could have merited being a few places higher, but not much above 20th.

Song 18: Russia - Sergey Lazarev "You Are The Only One" (3rd place, 491 points)

Now for a song that was among my favourites on the CD and in the first semi-final on Tuesday evening. This was one of the songs I most wanted to qualify Tuesday evening, and am glad it did, because I enjoyed the Grand Final performance even more than the semi-final performance. It's a really powerful, lively and catchy song. I particularly liked Sergey's arm movements, images on the screen (e.g. eagle wings, etc.) and Sergey climbing to the top of the wall whilst singing. It's hardly surprising UK bookmakers had this as the favourite to win. Surprisingly this finished 5th with just 130 points in the jury voting, yet it won the televoting with a colossal 361 points. Combined together this finished 3rd overall with 491 points. Although this song and performance was impressive, I think this ought to have finished second overall, and Australia ought to have won outright.

Song 19: Spain - Barei "Say Yay!" (22nd place, 77 points)

The fifth direct qualifier, and fourth Big Five entry of the night was Barei singing "Say Yay!" for Spain. It was certainly a lively song, accompanied by spectacular lighting effects and some dance actions, but on the whole, this failed to impress me. This finished 16th with 67 points in the jury voting, and 23rd with just 10 points in the televoting. The combined result of 22nd place and 77 points was, in my opinion, about as much as this deserved.

Song 20: Latvia - Justs "Heartbeat" (15th place, 132 points)

I quite liked Latvia's "Heartbeat" during the second semi-final Thursday evening, and therefore it was among the entries I most wanted to qualify that night. Going by the Grand Final performance alone, this was quite a good power ballad, with a really strong chorus, and very well sung. I liked the way the floor appeared to break up between the middle eight and final chorus. Unfortunately during the Grand Final, I thought several other finalists were better than this. Anyway, "Heartbeat" scored 15th place with 69 points in the jury voting and 13th place with 63 points in the televoting, giving a combined total of 15th place and 132 points. In my opinion, that's about as much as this deserved.

Song 21: Ukraine - Jamala "1944" (Winner, 534 points)

I quite liked this on the CD, and during the second semi-final Thursday evening; in fact it was one of the songs I particularly wanted to qualify Thursday evening. This song has an unusual style of singing which is difficult-to-describe; to me it seemed rather ghostly sounding. The verses were sung in English but the choruses were in the Crimean Tatar language. I particularly liked Jamala's good use of arm movements, and the excellent visual effects, including the impressive patterns on the stage and the tree on the back wall. On the whole, this really stood out and finished 2nd with 211 points in the jury voting and 2nd with 323 points in the televoting. Despite finishing only second in both voting schemes, this became the outright winner when the points were combined to give a final score of 534. I was surprised this won, because I didn't think this style of song could possibly win. Although I didn't mind this winning, I'd ideally have preferred this to have finished 3rd overall, with Russia 2nd and Australia the outright winner.

Song 22: Malta - Ira Losco "Walk On Water" (12th place, 153 points)

I wasn't overly keen on this whilst listening to the album, and felt borderline about it in the first semi-final Tuesday evening. Based solely on the Grand Final performance, "Walk On Water" was quite a good ballad and very well sung. I noticed Ira's companion doing some kind of dance routine and other actions on the stage floor, which had a water rippling effect; presumably that was supposed to represent walking on water. Shockingly this finished 4th with 137 points in the jury vote, but only 21st and 16 points in the televoting. Going by the Grand Final performance, I think this was over-rated by the juries and under-rated by the public, but the combined score of 12th place and 153 points was about what this deserved; I don't think it was good enough for top ten.

Song 23: Georgia - Nika Kocharov and Young Georgian Lolitaz "Midnight Gold" (20th place, 104 points)

One of my least-liked songs on the CD album, and the one song I definitely didn't want to qualify from the second semi-final on Thursday evening. Against my wishes, "Midnight Gold" reached the Grand Final, and I still didn't like the Saturday evening performance. I must admit I don't like this style of singing. Of course that's just my personal taste; I understand some may love it. I did like the double and quadruple images during the first verse, and the chevrons just before the final verse, but was the strobe lighting really necessary during the chorus? This finished 14th with 80 points in the jury vote and 20th with 24 points in the televoting, giving an overall result of 20th place and 104 points. I think this should have finished last in both voting regimes, and overall. Better still this shouldn't have even been in the final; Ireland or Slovenia deserved the place Georgia took. In fact, when the song ended, Graham Norton said "To think Nicky Byrne isn't in the final and that was" (Nicky Byrne represented Ireland with "Sunlight" in the second semi-final Thursday evening).

Song 24: Austria - ZOË "Loin d'ici" (13th place, 151 points)

This year Austria went for a beautiful ballad "Loin d'ici". This was one of my favourite songs on the CD album from my very first listen, and one of the songs I most wanted to qualify from the first semi-final on Tuesday evening. Interestingly Austria included French in its song, which seemed odd as I always thought Austria is predominantly a German speaking country. I liked the Grand Final performance just as much as the semi-final performance, it was very well sung. The graphics were also impressive, including flowers and trees on the back wall and the path on the stage. This was grossly under-rated by the juries, at just 24th place and 31 points. Surprisingly but thankfully it did considerably better in the public vote, 8th place and 120 points, thereby giving an overall result of 13th place and 151 points. I think this should have been 4th or 5th in the jury voting, televoting and overall, but it wasn't good enough to win.

Song 25: United Kingdom - Joe and Jake "You're Not Alone" (24th place, 62 points)

The fifth and final Big Five entry, and final direct qualifier of the night, United Kingdom, was the penultimate song of the night. Going solely by the Grand Final performance, the choruses were quite catchy and memorable, but I thought the verses (particularly the first one) were a bit flat. The song was enhanced by numerous faces on the back wall, and a few pyrotechnics during the final chorus. This finished 17th with 54 points in the jury vote, but a disappointing 25th with just 8 points in the televoting, and hence 24th with 62 points overall. Although I think this was under-rated by the public, the juries' placing is a close indication of where this should have finished overall. Maybe it could have merited 14th or 15th overall, but it was certainly nowhere near good enough for top ten.

Song 26: Armenia - Iveta Mukuchyan "LoveWave" (7th place, 249 points)

The final song of the night was Iveta Mukuchyan singing "LoveWave" for Armenia. This was another of my least-liked songs on the album and during the first semi-final Tuesday evening; hence this ended up on my "Definitely don't want to qualify" list Tuesday evening. Against my wishes it qualified, and I still didn't like the Grand Final performance very much. Admittedly I don't like this style of music, and I appreciate that's just my personal taste. The performance included flames and smoke at certain points, and multiple images during the bridge; presumably those were to add impact to the liveliest parts. Going by the Grand Final performance, this is another song I wish hadn't got there, but I feel it overpowered the UK's entry being performed immediately afterwards. Anyway this finished 10th with 115 points in the jury voting and 7th with 134 points in the televoting, to give a combined result of 7th place and 249 points. In my opinion, this was grossly over-rated; I think this ought to have finished bottom six in the jury and public voting, and overall. Better still this shouldn't have even been in the Grand Final; as far as I'm concerned, Iceland or Bosnia & Herzegovina deserved the place Armenia took.

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Televoting and Interval Act

As soon as Iveta Mukuchyan finished singing, Måns Zelmerlöw and Petra Mede reappeared. Måns said "Thanks to Iveta from Armenia", and Petra said "And there you have them, the 26 competing songs". After a short sketch, Måns and Petra announced the start of the voting. The voting lines opened and a recap of the songs followed. Viewers had approximately 40 minutes in which to cast their votes. When the UK's song extract appeared, a caption at the bottom of the screen stated "UK VIEWERS CANNOT VOTE FOR THE UK ENTRY" and "Your vote won't count and you may still be charged." Were any UK viewers foolish enough to try dialling the voting stem with 25 at the end? During this recap, I tried voting for one of my desired songs, but since the lines were engaged I delayed voting until later.

After the first recap of the songs Måns Zelmerlöw spoke to Justin Timberlake in the Green Room. Justin Timberlake was going to perform two songs. Whilst he was getting ready, Måns and Petra gave a speech in the Green Room. This was followed by a 4 minute video "42 Years of Music", featuring clips of over 70 Swedish songs from 1974 to 2016 (not just Swedish Eurovision Song Contest entries). Songs included ABBA "Waterloo", "Mamma Mia", "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!", Herreys "Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley", Europe "The Final Countdown", Carola "Fangad av en Stormvind", Charlotte Nilsson "Take Me To Your Heaven", Loreen "Euphoria", Måns Zelmerlöw "Heroes".

Once that music video ended, Justin Timberlake performed two songs live on stage: "Rock Your Body" followed by "Can't Stop the Feeling!". During this time I tried voting again; I voted for The Netherlands, Italy, Israel, Australia, Russia and Austria.

Once Justin Timberlake finished singing there was a second recap of the songs. During this recap, UK viewers heard Graham Norton reading out viewers' messages. After this recap ended, Måns Zelmerlöw spoke to Destiny Chukunyere, who won the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2015 for Malta with the song "Not My Soul". Destiny Chukunyere briefly spoke about what she has been doing since.

After that, Måns and Petra announced a series of steps for how to produce a winning Eurovision song. This led into Måns and Petra singing "Love, Love, Peace, Peace". This featured artists and elements from several past Eurovision songs, including Russian grannies baking bread (Russia 2012), a man in a hamster wheel (Ukraine 2014), Alexander Rybak playing the violin (Norway 2009), burning piano (Austria 2015), Russian man on skates (Russia 2008), Lordi (Finland 2006).

Once that song finished, "Lynda Woodruff" (whose real name is Sarah Dawn Finer) appeared on stage to give a speech. Afterwards Måns reappeared and introduced a film: "The Nerd Nation". After that film Petra reappeared, along with a 60 second countdown on the video wall to the moment the lines closed. Everyone in the arena shouted out the last fifteen seconds. As soon as the lines closed, Graham Norton said "That's it, the lines are now closed, please do not call or use the app; your vote will not count and you may still be charged."

Finally, after the voting lines closed, Måns Zelmerlöw sang "Fire in the Rain" followed by "Heroes".

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Jury Results

As soon as Måns finished singing "Heroes", Petra reappeared to announce the start of the presentation of the voting results. This year differed from previous years, in that the jury results from each country yielded one set of 1 to 12 points, and the televoting results generated a completely separate set of 1 to 12 points. The points from the jury voting were about to be presented in the traditional way first, by spokespersons in each of the participating 42 countries (including the 16 which failed to qualify). Jon Ola Sand stated that the EBU had a valid result from the 42 professional juries, and they were thus ready to present the jury results.

All 42 countries, including the 16 which failed to qualify, voted in the Grand Final. The voting order was:
Austria, Iceland, Azerbaijan, San Marino, Czech Republic, Ireland, Georgia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Malta, Spain, Finland, Switzerland, Denmark, France, Moldova, Armenia, Cyprus, Bulgaria, The Netherlands, Latvia, Israel, Belarus, Germany, Russia, Norway, Australia, Belgium, United Kingdom, Croatia, Greece, Lithuania, Serbia, F.Y.R. Macedonia, Albania, Estonia, Ukraine, Italy, Poland, Slovenia, Hungary, Montenegro, Sweden.

The points announced by each country's spokesperson, e.g. Austria, were from that country's' jury voting only. In recent years the 1 to 7 points were flashed on screen when the spokesperson appeared and added to the scoreboard as a block, before the spokesperson announced the 8, 10 and 12 points. This year the 1 to 10 point scores were displayed on screen when the spokesperson appeared, added to the scoreboard as a block and the spokesperson only announced the 12 point score.

After the first country Austria had announced its jury points, the top five countries were 1st Australia, 2nd Malta, 3rd Sweden, 4th France, 5th Croatia. Australia, who ended up winning the jury vote, were already in the lead, but Ukraine, which ended up winning overall, had yet to receive a point. Iceland announced its jury points next, changing the top five to 1st Australia, 2nd Malta, 3rd Sweden, 4th Croatia, 5th The Netherlands. France had now dropped to 7th place, and Ukraine still had yet to score. Azerbaijan, which was third to announce its jury points, was the first country to give anything to the ultimate winner Ukraine (10 points). The top five was now 1st Australia, 2nd Russia, 3rd Malta, 4th Sweden, 5th Croatia. Ukraine was now 7th, and France was now 8th. Next San Marino awarded 7 jury points to Russia and 12 jury points to Ukraine, but nothing to Australia; changing the top five to 1st Russia, 2nd Australia, 3rd Malta, 4th Ukraine, 5th The Netherlands. Thus there was now a new leader, Russia. Czech Republic, which announced its jury points next, gave nothing to Russia, Australia or Ukraine, changing the top six as shown on the scoreboard to 1st Russia, 2nd Malta, 3rd Australia, 4th Sweden, 5th The Netherlands, 6th Ukraine. Ireland also gave no jury points to Australia, Russia or Ukraine, so once their jury points to ten other countries had been added, the top five was 1st The Netherlands, 2nd Sweden, 3rd Russia, 4th Malta, 5th Australia. Georgia gave 8 jury points to Australia, and 12 jury points to Ukraine, but nothing to Russia, thereby changing the top six to 1st Sweden, 2nd Australia,3rd Ukraine, 4th Belgium, 5th The Netherlands, 6th Russia. Bosnia & Herzegovina's jury points changed the top six to 1st Australia, 2nd Ukraine, 3rd Sweden, 4th Russia, 5th Belgium, 6th The Netherlands. Australia were now back in the lead, albeit by just one point. Malta's jury points changed the top five to 1st Australia, 2nd Ukraine, 3rd Russia, 4th Sweden, 5th France, 6th Belgium. After that, Australia held its lead until the last country, Sweden had announced its jury points.

15 of the 26 finalists received at least one 12 point vote from the juries. The number of 12 point votes received by each of those 15 countries is shown in the table below.

12 Points to	No of 12s Received
Ukraine	11
Australia	9
Russia	4
Armenia	3
Sweden	3
Belgium	2
Italy	2
France	1
Georgia	1
Israel	1
Lithuania	1
Malta	1
Spain	1
The Netherlands	1
United Kingdom	1

Notice that the highest number of 12-point scores (11 altogether) was received by the eventual winners Ukraine, even though they finished second in the jury vote with 211 points. Australia, who won the jury vote with 320 points and finished second overall, received the second highest number of 12-point scores (9 altogether). If this year's results had been determined by jury voting points alone, the country with the most 12-point scores (Ukraine in this case) wouldn't have won. The third highest number of 12-point scores (4 altogether) was received by Russia, who finished just fifth in the jury vote, but won the televote, and thus finished third overall. Out of the 8 countries which received one 12-point score from the juries, Georgia, Spain, and United Kingdom finished on the right hand side of the scoreboard (bottom 13) in the jury voting. Clearly one 12-point jury score wasn't enough to guarantee a top 10 or top 13 place in the jury voting, let alone outright.

The 9 countries which awarded 12 jury points to Australia (who won the jury vote) were: Albania, Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Hungary, Lithuania, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands. 29 other countries gave between 2 and 10 jury points to Australia. Interestingly Australia received at least one of each points level from 2 to 12 points inclusive (2-3-4-5-6-7-8-10-12), but no 1-point scores. Three countries (other than Australia itself) gave no jury points at all to Australia, those being Czech Republic, Ireland, San Marino. The number of times Australia received each particular points level (or no points at all) from the other juries is summarised in the following table:

Points level	To Australia	Australia Pts
0	3	0
1	0	0
2	1	2
3	1	3
4	1	4
5	3	15
6	6	36
7	2	14
8	6	48
10	9	90
12	9	108
TOTAL	41	320

The 11 countries which awarded 12 jury points to eventual winners Ukraine were: Bosnia & Herzegovina, Denmark, F.Y.R. Macedonia, Georgia, Israel, Latvia, Moldova, Poland, San Marino, Serbia, Slovenia. 13 other countries gave between 2 and 10 jury points to Ukraine. Interestingly no country gave 1 point or 5 points to Ukraine. 17 countries (other than Ukraine itself) gave no jury points at all to Ukraine, those being Albania, Armenia, Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Malta, Montenegro, Russia, Spain, Sweden. The number of times Ukraine received each particular points level (or no points at all) from the other juries is summarised in the following table:

Points level	To Ukraine	Ukraine Pts
0	17	0
1	0	0
2	2	4
3	2	6
4	1	4
5	0	0
6	1	6
7	3	21
8	1	8
10	3	30
12	11	132
TOTAL	41	211

The complete list of 12 jury point scores and jury points awarded to Australia (jury vote winner), Russia (televote winner) and Ukraine (outright winner) is shown below:

#	From country	12 jury points to	To Australia	To Russia	To Ukraine
1	Austria	Australia	12	3	0
2	Iceland	The Netherlands	10	8	0
3	Azerbaijan	Russia	7	12	10
4	San Marino	Ukraine	0	7	12
5	Czech Republic	Sweden	0	0	0
6	Ireland	Belgium	0	0	0
7	Georgia	Ukraine	8	0	12
8	Bosnia & Herzegovina	Ukraine	10	5	12
9	Malta	United Kingdom	3	4	0
10	Spain	Armenia	8	4	0
11	Finland	Sweden	8	0	0
12	Switzerland	Australia	12	0	6
13	Denmark	Ukraine	10	0	12
14	France	Italy	6	1	0
15	Moldova	Ukraine	10	7	12
16	Armenia	France	5	2	0
17	Cyprus	Russia	10	12	0
18	Bulgaria	Armenia	8	6	0
19	The Netherlands	Australia	12	0	3
20	Latvia	Ukraine	5	7	12
21	Israel	Ukraine	10	0	12
22	Belarus	Russia	6	12	7
23	Germany	Israel	6	0	7
24	Russia	Armenia	2	n/a	0
25	Norway	Italy	10	0	4
26	Australia	Belgium	n/a	0	2
27	Belgium	Australia	12	0	3
28	United Kingdom	Georgia	8	0	10
29	Croatia	Australia	12	6	0
30	Greece	Russia	7	12	2
31	Lithuania	Australia	12	0	8
32	Serbia	Ukraine	6	1	12
33	F.Y.R. Macedonia	Ukraine	8	0	12
34	Albania	Australia	12	7	0
35	Estonia	Sweden	10	0	7
36	Ukraine	Lithuania	5	0	n/a
37	Italy	Spain	6	0	10
38	Poland	Ukraine	10	0	12
39	Slovenia	Ukraine	6	0	12
40	Hungary	Australia	12	0	0
41	Montenegro	Malta	4	8	0
42	Sweden	Australia	12	6	0

Sweden (as host country) was the only Nordic country in the Grand Final this year, but all five Nordic countries voted in the final as follows:

Calling country	Sweden
Denmark	4
Finland	12
Iceland	6
Norway	0

Of course, Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Norway, which were eliminated in the semi-finals could only give, and not receive points this time. Furthermore since Sweden was the only Nordic country in the Grand Final, and could not give itself points, Sweden doesn't appear as a calling country in this table. Notice the wide variation in the jury points Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Norway gave to Sweden. Finland was the only Nordic country to give 12 jury points to Sweden. Surprisingly Norway gave no jury points to Sweden.

The three Baltic countries Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania exchanged jury points with each other as follows. Of course Estonia, which failed to qualify for the final, could only give and not receive points this time. As you can see, the jury points awarded to Latvia and Lithuania varied considerably. Notice there are no 12-point scores in the following table. Clearly these three countries don't necessarily give top marks to the others in this group.

Calling country	Latvia	Lithuania
Estonia	8	5
Latvia	n/a	10
Lithuania	7	n/a

The ex-Yugoslav countries awarded jury points in an interesting manner, as shown in the following table:

Calling country	Croatia	Serbia
Bosnia & Herzegovina	4	8
Croatia	n/a	2
F.Y.R. Macedonia	6	7
Montenegro	0	6
Serbia	0	n/a
Slovenia	0	5

Notice that the highest score within this group is 8 jury points from Bosnia & Herzegovina to Serbia. No 10 or 12 point scores were exchanged within this group. Surprisingly Serbia received just 2 jury points from Croatia, whereas Croatia received no jury points at all from Montenegro, Serbia or Slovenia. Of course Bosnia & Herzegovina, F.Y.R. Macedonia, Montenegro and Slovenia, all of which failed to qualify for the final, could only give and not receive points. Clearly this completely blew out of the window anyone's expectation of Croatia and Serbia giving each other their 12 jury points, and Bosnia & Herzegovina, F.Y.R. Macedonia, Montenegro and Slovenia giving 10 and 12 jury points to Croatia and Serbia.

San Marino gave 10 jury points to Italy. Evidently San Marino doesn't necessarily give 12 to its only neighbour Italy. Of course, since San Marino was eliminated at the semi-final stage, Italy could not give any points to San Marino.

Greece gave 8 jury points to Cyprus. Evidently Greece doesn't necessarily give 12 to Cyprus. Of course Cyprus couldn't give anything to Greece this time, because Greece failed to qualify for the Grand Final. Interestingly Cyprus and Greece both gave their 12 jury points to Russia.

The Netherlands gave 4 jury points to Belgium and Belgium gave 4 jury points to The Netherlands. Evidently then these two Benelux countries don't necessarily award each other 12 points. Interestingly The Netherlands and Belgium both gave their 12 jury points to Australia.

Ten countries gave jury points to the UK, as follows:

Calling country	Points to UK
Serbia	2
Denmark	3
Estonia	3
Australia	4
Czech Republic	4
Albania	5
Russia	6
Ireland	7
San Marino	8
Malta	12
TOTAL	54

The 34th country to announce its jury points, Albania, awarded 12 points to Australia and no points to Ukraine. The top two was now 1st Australia 255 points, 2nd Ukraine 170 points. Eight countries had yet to announce their jury points, including Ukraine which could not give points to itself. Hence the maximum number of jury points still available to Ukraine was 7 x 12 = 84. Even if Ukraine had received all those remaining 12s, and Australia had received no more jury points, the final jury result would have been 1st Australia 255 points, 2nd Ukraine 254 points. Australia had just become uncatchable on jury points alone, and had effectively won the jury voting at this point. Had the EBU done jury voting only this year, and not bothered with televoting at all, Australia would have been the outright winner at this point. Of course, with televoting totals to follow after the jury results were all announced, countries placed lower than Ukraine could still possibly have been in with a chance of winning outright.

Once the spokespersons from all 42 countries had announced their jury voting points, the scoreboard looked like this on screen:

Australia	320	Georgia	80
Ukraine	211	Latvia	69
France	148	Spain	67
Malta	137	United Kingdom	54
Russia	130	Hungary	52
Belgium	130	Azerbaijan	44
Bulgaria	127	Cyprus	43
Israel	124	Czech Republic	41
Sweden	122	Croatia	40
Armenia	115	Serbia	35
The Netherlands	114	Austria	31
Lithuania	104	Poland	7
Italy	90	Germany	1

Australia was currently in the lead, with a margin of 109 points against Ukraine. Måns Zelmerlöw spoke to Dami Im (who represented Australia) in the Green Room briefly.

Of course, anything could happen next when the televoting points were announced. At this stage even Poland or Germany could still have won, if a) they received 12 televoting points from a large enough number of other countries (not necessarily all 41) and b) Australia and the other currently high placed countries all received very low televoting totals.

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Televoting Results

Afterwards Petra Mede asked Jon Ola Sand if the televoting had gone according to plan. He said it had, and the EBU had a valid result. In each of the 42 countries, the public's phone / text / app votes were totalled up, and converted to 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 12 points to the top 10 voted-for songs. However instead of going around all the 42 countries and having the spokespersons announce each country's televoting points in the same manner as the jury points, all 42 countries' televoting points were added together behind the scenes to produce one total televoting score for each finalist. Måns and Petra announced the total amount of televoting points each finalist had received from each of the other 41 countries.

Måns began by announcing the bottom 16 countries of the televote, from 26th to 11th, in rapid succession as follows. Graham Norton's comments are shown in brackets at the applicable points.

0 points to Czech Republic (Ooh, this is harsh!)
8 points to the United Kingdom (Oh no, oh, gutting)
10 points to Germany
10 points to Spain
11 points to Israel
16 points to Malta (See, that's them doomed, Malta)
24 points to Georgia
33 points to Croatia
34 points to Italy
39 points to The Netherlands
51 points to Belgium
53 points to Cyprus
56 points to Hungary
63 points to Latvia
73 points to Azerbaijan
80 points to Serbia

Måns announced the televoting points totals for Czech Republic to Croatia, whereas Petra announced the televoting points totals for Italy to Serbia. In each case, the applicable televoting points total was displayed briefly at the left of the country name, the running score to the right of the country name was updated to the final total it would get, the name was highlighted and moved to the correct place on the scoreboard.

Once the bottom 16 countries had been announced, the scoreboard looked like this.

Australia	320	Armenia	115
Ukraine	211	Serbia	115
Belgium	181	Hungary	108
The Netherlands	153	Lithuania	104
Malta	153	Georgia	104
France	148	Cyprus	96
Israel	135	Spain	77
Latvia	132	Croatia	73
Russia	130	United Kingdom	62
Bulgaria	127	Czech Republic	41
Italy	124	Austria	31
Sweden	122	Germany	11
Azerbaijan	117	Poland	7

At this point Graham Norton said "I'm afraid we've done the maths, and I think this is going to be a bad night for us, I think we might come 24th" (he was referring to the UK). The United Kingdom, and 15 other countries which had received their televoting points totals so far were not going to get any more points, whereas 10 countries had yet to receive their televoting points.

The countries placed 10th to 5th were announced at a much slower pace, with the scoreboard on the left, and Måns and Petra in a window on the right. Måns and Petra announced the recipients of the top ten scores alternately. Each time the country name appeared in the bottom right hand corner (in the fancy lettering used in the postcard film before the song earlier), the applicable televoting points total was displayed briefly at the left of the country name, the running score to the right of the country name was updated to the final total it would get, the name was highlighted and moved to the correct place on the scoreboard, and viewers were given a brief shot of the applicable artist in the Green Room. N.B. For some reason, Lithuania's name didn't appear when it was the first country in this group to be announced.

Petra: The country that got the tenth highest score, with 96 points is Lithuania.
Måns: The country that got the ninth highest score, with 109 points is France.
Petra: The country that got the eighth highest score, with 120 points is Austria.
Måns: The country that got the seventh highest score, with 134 points is Armenia.
Petra: The country that got the sixth highest score, with 139 points is Sweden.
Måns: The country that got the fifth highest score, with 180 points is Bulgaria.

With just four countries (Poland, Australia, Russia, Ukraine) still awaiting their televoting points, Australia was still in the lead on 320 points. Green Room shots of the artists representing these countries were briefly displayed in four windows on screen. Graham Norton said "I think Australia have to win now". The next three countries were announced in the same manner as those placed 10th to 5th, but at an even slower pace.

Petra: The country that got the fourth highest score, with 191 points, is Australia. Australia now had 511 points, thereby widening its lead considerably, but that was now its final score. Graham Norton said "Well this is interesting, is that enough to win?" The highest placed country still awaiting its televoting points, Ukraine which was currently on 211 points, now needed 301 or more to beat Australia.

Måns: The country that got the third highest score, with 222 points, is Poland. Suddenly Poland shot up the scoreboard from the bottom with just 7 points to 6th with 229 points. Once all the televoting results were in, Poland's final placing was 8th. Graham Norton said "OK that's irrelevant, extraordinary but irrelevant. Euro nerds are going to have a field day analysing these votes."

Petra: The country that got the second highest score, with 323 points, is Ukraine. That was enough to put Ukraine in the lead with 534 points. Australia, which had topped the scoreboard for so long, was now in second place with 511 points, and no further possibility of getting ahead of Ukraine again.

That just left Russia which, by elimination, had the highest number of televoting points. Måns said "Thunder and lightning it's getting exciting. The favourite, according to the televote, is Russia, but will their points be enough to pass Ukraine?" Russia now needed at least 405 points to beat Ukraine. The biggest question at this stage was did Russia have such a high total number of televoting points from all the other countries? In fact were there that many points left even, considering some of the last few countries must have consumed some of the originally available 8s, 10s and 12s in their totals. For this final announcement, the scoreboard was shown on the left hand side, with Green Room shots of Ukraine's Jamala in the top right hand window, and Russia's Sergey Lazarev in the bottom right hand window. Måns said "361 points, which is not enough to catch Ukraine." Graham Norton said "He hasn't done it". Russia ended up in third place overall, with 491 points. Australia was still in second place, and Ukraine in first place.

Måns said "And we have a new winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2016, it's Ukraine". Thus Ukraine was now officially confirmed as the overall winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2016, accompanied by fanfare, with a combined total of 534 points. Graham Norton said "That is fascinating, the disparity between the jury vote and the popular vote has been so revealing."

Once Russia's televoting points were added, the final scoreboard looked like this.

Ukraine	534	Israel	135
Australia	511	Latvia	132
Russia	491	Italy	124
Bulgaria	307	Azerbaijan	117
Sweden	261	Serbia	115
France	257	Hungary	108
Armenia	249	Georgia	104
Poland	229	Cyprus	96
Lithuania	200	Spain	77
Belgium	181	Croatia	73
The Netherlands	153	United Kingdom	62
Malta	153	Czech Republic	41
Austria	151	Germany	11

Ukraine won with a final score of 534 points. With a possible maximum of 12 jury points from each of the other 41 countries (including the 16 semi-finalists which failed to qualify), i.e. 492, plus 12 televoting points from each of the other 41 countries, i.e. 492, the maximum achievable score was 984 points. Thus Ukraine won with 54.27% of the maximum possible score, which is quite low. The record for the winner with the highest percentage of the maximum possible score since 1975 still rests with United Kingdom - Brotherhood of Man "Save Your Kisses For Me"; 80.4% in 1976.

Shortly afterwards the UK's televoting results were displayed in a panel at the bottom of the screen, and Graham Norton read each of the ten scores out. Did other countries' broadcasters present their own televoting points in as similar manner?

No indication was given at the time of which country or countries had given the UK its eight televoting points. I have since discovered three countries awarded televoting points to the UK.

Calling country	Points to UK
Australia	4
Ireland	3
Malta	1
TOTAL	8

A sortable table, with all the jury, televoting and final points and placings, is shown below.

#	Participant	Jury Points	Jury Place	Televoting Points	Televoting Place	Final Points	Final Place
1	Belgium	130	6	51	16	181	10
2	Czech Republic	41	21	0	26	41	25
3	The Netherlands	114	11	39	17	153	11
4	Azerbaijan	44	19	73	12	117	17
5	Hungary	52	18	56	14	108	19
6	Italy	90	13	34	18	124	16
7	Israel	124	8	11	22	135	14
8	Bulgaria	127	7	180	5	307	4
9	Sweden	122	9	139	6	261	5
10	Germany	1	26	10	24	11	26
11	France	148	3	109	9	257	6
12	Poland	7	25	222	3	229	8
13	Australia	320	1	191	4	511	2
14	Cyprus	43	20	53	15	96	21
15	Serbia	35	23	80	11	115	18
16	Lithuania	104	12	96	10	200	9
17	Croatia	40	22	33	19	73	23
18	Russia	130	5	361	1	491	3
19	Spain	67	16	10	23	77	22
20	Latvia	69	15	63	13	132	15
21	Ukraine	211	2	323	2	534	1
22	Malta	137	4	16	21	153	12
23	Georgia	80	14	24	20	104	20
24	Austria	31	24	120	8	151	13
25	United Kingdom	54	17	8	25	62	24
26	Armenia	115	10	134	7	249	7

A more detailed comparison between the jury and televoting results is available here. Further analysis of the televoting results is available here.

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Reprise

At this point Jamala proceeded from the Green Room to the stage to receive the winner's trophy, which was presented by last year's winner Måns Zelmerlöw. Måns asked Jamala what, if anything, she wanted to say. Jamala said she wanted peace and love to everyone. Next Måns and Petra appeared on stage to give a series of closing speeches before Jamala performed the winning song "1944" again. After she finished, the closing credits scrolled upwards at the left hand side of the screen. As the credits scrolled, Graham Norton said "How emotional for her (Jamala) to be singing that tonight. I'm so sorry for Joe and Jake, terrible to not have done better in the phone vote, but at least they got some love from the juries". Finally the Eurovision ident accompanied by Charpentier's Te Deum prelude "Marche en rondeau" marked the end of the show.

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And Finally

Altogether another great Contest. Many thanks to SVT for producing such a spectacular Grand Final. As always it was good to have a mixture of song styles in the final. Most of the songs were OK or very good; there were just a few that I'd rather not have qualified to the final (Armenia, Georgia, Hungary and Serbia). I still think Iceland and Bosnia & Herzegovina deserved the places taken by Hungary and Armenia on Tuesday evening, and that Ireland and Slovenia deserved the places Georgia and Serbia took Thursday evening.

Congratulations to Ukraine in getting their second win to-date with a record-breaking score of 534 points. I'm surprised Jamala's "1944" won; I didn't think that style of song could win, but well done to Jamala anyway. Ukraine: winners 2004, 2016. Ukraine now have 12 years gap between wins (2004 - 2016). Interestingly Ukraine placed only second in the jury voting with 211 points and second in the televoting with 323 points, but still managed to win outright!

Commiserations to Australia after leading the jury voting from early on, winning the jury voting with 320 points (a margin of 109 points against Ukraine), and staying top of the scoreboard right up to when the penultimate televoting points total, 323 to Ukraine, was announced. I was convinced Australia would win for the first time ever at only its second attempt, not only because Australia was in the lead from when Bosnia & Herzegovina announced its jury points (the 8th of 42 countries to do so), but because I thought Dami Im "Sound Of Silence" was the best song of the night. Unfortunately Australia finished just 4th I the televoting, with 191 points, thereby taking their combined total to 511 points. Ukraine had the second highest number of televoting points, 323, which was enough to overtake Australia. It must have been shocking and disappointing for Dami Im and the Australian delegation to be beaten by Ukraine so close to the end after being in the lead for so long. Nonetheless Australia did well to finish second overall.

Commiserations also to Russia, which won the televoting with 361 points (a margin of 38 points against Ukraine), but which, when combined with their jury result of just 5th place and 130 points, was only enough to place them third overall with 491 points. It just goes to show that, under this new system, winning one voting scheme (jury or televoting) and finishing fourth or fifth in the other one may not necessarily enough to win outright, especially if another country finishes second in both voting schemes.

Bad luck also to Joe and Jake who represented the UK. The UK finished 17th out of 26 with 54 points, and I was hoping for a similar or higher (perhaps considerably higher) score on televoting. Sadly when the televoting results were announced, the UK was the second finalist called out with just 8 points, i.e. it finished 25th (second last) in the televote. I was very shocked and disappointed to see the UK get just 8 points on televoting after scoring 54 points in the jury voting. Once all the televoting totals had been added to the scoreboard, the UK's final score was 62 points which, although considerably higher than last year, still put the UK in 24th place out of 26 finalists. Looking positively, 24th out of 26 finalists still nothing to be ashamed of; 2 finalists finished below the UK (Czech Republic and Germany), and a further 16 countries failed to reach the final. At the end of the day, the important thing is not to win, but to participate.

Roll on the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest from Ukraine. Can NTU do as well or better? Time will tell. Mark my words, next year's Contest will tell another story as far as the results are concerned, especially if the EBU retains this year's method of separate jury and televoting points from each country. Who knows, the UK might win next year!

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