- The first song came on and I thought, "Hang on. I have no memory of hearing this before." I checked my notes in which I noted how unmemorable a song it was. That's okay then.
- I was gratified that Estonia's very unfunny song didn't make it into the finals.
- Moldova's "A Century of Love" was so much more moving as a nightclub cabaret number than it was with sofa-and-teddy-bear.
- Azerbaijan's "Day after day" angel and devil act was even more exciting on stage than it was in the video, unlike most acts. I was happy that this one of the two first-time nations went through to the finals.
- Belgium's "O Julissi" was better in the video. On stage, the singer seemed a bit breathless from running around.
- Finland's hard rock group was more exciting as Vikings in the video than they were barechested on stage. There would have been no Vikings at all had Andorra's "Casanova" not been a smidgen Viking fantasyesque.
- Bosnia & Hertzegovina have a much better song when I don't watch the performance. The twitching farmers have been replaced with wacky knitting brides for the competition version.
- I've had both Greece's "Secret Combination" and Armenia's "Qele, Qele" stuck in my head ever since.
- How cool was the world-champion rollerblader? I was seriously impressed, although only a little clear on how it related to Russia's "Believe".
I thought that nothing could keep me from watching the second Eurovision semi-final, but I was wrong. I've provisionally been offered a ticket to the Chelsea Flower Show for tomorrow night, and that trumps Eurovision, especially when I can see it online afterwards. (No one else is using the ticket, but my ability to do so is complicated-logistics-dependent, so we'll see.)
