it was never in doubt. With the biggest margin since Peter Andre failed his remedial maths exam, Alexander Rybak of Norway won in 2009. From the beginning of the 1+ hour voting, he was in front and never looked back. The wonderful Iceland 2009 deservedly came in second, also deservedly followed by the Azeris. All in all it was year of hope. We have started to see signs of songs taking voting priority over performance, we saw a definite swing to the West, and a Northern winner. Blue was the overriding choice of nations, the contest ruled over by a high proportion of ballards. The look of the contest was incredible, with the interval acts probably getting more plaudits than the true star of the show, the stage. Even the hosts were healthily understated. And finally, 5th for the UK. Staggeringly good. Let's just hope this nation doesn't presume it has come in from the cold, and can relapse into it's old ways of X-factor quality artists strangling mediocre tunes.