Loreen has triumphed for Sweden at the 57th Eurovision Song Contest, with her club track Euphoria. According to the BBC, the former Swedish Idol contestant led from early on in the voting and ended with 372 points, with Russia’s Buranovo Grannies finishing at distant second with 259 points. Host Azerbaijan finished fourth with 150 points. A combination of points from tele-voting and national juries decides the winner.

For those that need a bit of trivia to dazzle your friends at the next get-together, the Eurovision Song Contest was first held in Lugano, Switzerland, in 1956, with the winning song, Refrain, performed by Lys Assia.

Twenty six countries took part in the final in host country Azerbaijan’s Crystal Hall, before a live audience of approximately 20,000. Typically, the Eurovision Song Contest broadcast is the largest televised non-sports event with up to 125 million watching the annual contest on telly around the world.

British entry Engelbert Humperdinck, who opened the contest with his ballad Love Will Set You Free, finished second from last – despite high hopes. Humperdinck, who has sold more than 150 million records worldwide, received just 12 points – from Estonia, Latvia, Belgium and Ireland.

“I’ve had many highs in my career and Eurovision has been a wonderful experience,” Humperdinck remarked. “I want to thank everybody, especially my fans around the world for their words of support. I did the best for my country, the rest was out of my hands.”

Thankfully, Jedward, who represented Ireland for the second year in a row, finished 19th (out of 26) with a whopping 46 points. I’m thinking it would have been better for Ireland had Father Ted Crilly and Father Dougal McGuire been the representatives. You decide….

Jedward – Ireland

Father Ted Crilly and Father Dougal McGuire and My Lovley Horse

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzYzVMcgWhg