I Am A Swede

Kevin Spacey set for acting return in Italian film

This is outrageous, and I sincerely hope that they don't get away with it! Belarus diverts civil flight to arrest journalist who opposes Lukashenko

Italy winning was preferable to the pretentious ballad from Switzerland or the cheap Edith Piaf-knockoff from France. And I kind of feel bad for the UK. There were a lot of far worse songs than their's last night: Spain, Germany, Russia and Bulgaria for instance. But their song was bland and very forgettable and that is the cardinal sin in the ESC.

Sadly that can't happen since the best song (Denmark's) was eliminated in the semi-final....

14 countries have participated in a poll arranged by the Dutch broadcaster NPO, to choose the top 50 most popular ESC songs of all time, and this was the result: Artist Song Country Year Result 50 Teach-In Ding-a-Dong The Netherlands 1975 1 49 Sertab Everyway that I can Turkey 2003 1 48 Dschingis Khan Dschingis Khan West Germany 1979 4 47 Udo Jürgens Merci chérie Austria 1966 1 46 Francesco Gabbani Occidentali’s karma Italy 2017 6 45 Anne-Marie David Tu te reconnaîtras Luxembourg 1973 1 44 Sergey Lazarev You’re the only one Russia 2016 3 43 Domenico Modugno Nel blu dipinto di blu Italy 1958 3 42 Toto Cutugno Insieme: 1992 Italy 1990 1 41 Polina Gagarina A million voices Russia 2015 2 40 Blanche City lights Belgium 2017 4 39 Loïc Nottet Rhythm inside Belgium 2015 4 38 Netta Toy Israel 2018 1 37 Sandra Kim J’aime la vie Belgium 1986 1 36 Cliff Richard Congratulations United Kingdom 1968 2 35 Dana All kinds of everything Ireland 1970 1 34 Vicky Leandros Après toi Luxembourg 1972 1 33 Bucks Fizz Making your mind up United Kingdom 1981 1 32 Verka Serduchka Dancing lasha tumbai Ukraine 2007 2 31 Mocedades Eres tú Spain 1973 2 30 France Gall Poupée de cire, poupée de son Luxembourg 1965 1 29 Sandie Shaw Puppet on a string United Kingdom 1967 1 28 Marija Šerifović Molitva Serbia 2007 1 27 Emmelie de Forest Only teardrops Denmark 2013 1 26 Dana International Diva Israel 1998 1 25 Gali Atari & Milk and Honey Hallelujah Israel 1979 1 24 Ruslana Wild dances Ukraine 2004 1 23 Keiino Spirit in the sky Norway 2019 6 22 Helena Paparizou My number one Greece 2005 1 21 Umberto Tozzi & Raf Gente di mare Italy 1987 3 20 Brotherhood of Man Save your kisses for me United Kingdom 1976 1 19 Olsen Brothers Fly on the wings of love Denmark 2000 1 18 The Common Linnets Calm after the storm The Netherlands 2014 2 17 Johnny Logan What’s another year Ireland 1980 1 16 Salvador Sobral Amar pelos dois Portugal 2017 1 15 Il Volo Grande amore Italy 2015 3 14 Nicole Ein biβchen frieden West Germany 1982 1 13 Céline Dion Ne partez pas sans moi Switzerland 1988 1 12 Katrina & the Waves Love shine a light United Kingdom 1997 1 11 Eleni Foureira Fuego Cyprus 2018 2 10 Lordi Hard rock hallelujah Finland 2006 1 9 Johnny Logan Hold me now Ireland 1987 1 8 Conchita Wurst Rise like a phoenix Austria 2014 1 7 Lena Satellite Germany 2010 1 6 Mahmood Soldi Italy 2019 2 5 Duncan Laurence Arcade The Netherlands 2019 1 4 Alexander Rybak Fairytale Norway 2009 1 3 Måns Zelmerlöw Heroes Sweden 2015 1 2 Loreen Euphoria Sweden 2012 1 1 ABBA Waterloo Sweden 1974 1 Interesting result.... Not exactly how the list would have looked if I ranked my top 50 I must say.

I would gladly switch Bulgaria and Portugal for Denmark (I can't believe they're eliminated ) and Estonia, and also Poland for either Moldova, Serbia or San Marino.

After hearing (and watching) the second semi-final I have to say that my pre-contest favourite Albania was a disappointment live. My favourite tonight was instead Denmark. Yes, it sounds dated, but it sounds like the 1980s, and that is never a bad thing....

I really hope this idiot is caught before something horrible happens....🙏 Belgian manhunt for heavily armed far-right soldier