Eurovision Sentimentality

I can't stand the singing in this great contest but I do love the voting. It was somewhat speeded up this year but still we had a chance to see TV presenters from all over the place. It's rude, but amusing, of Mr Wogan to mock them; I wonder how he'd do if he was presenting in a language which wasn't his first.

What makes me a bit weepy is seeing all those countries joining in that were behind the Iron Curtain, and some which barely existed, when I was a lad. And I love the way that the Balkan countries, whose leaders apparently think they hate each other, regularly giving high points to their neighbours.

Israel is a bit of an anomaly but has been for decades. Will the Palestinians one day be let in and, if so, would they be likely to vote for each other? And what's happened to Luxembourg? 'Here are the votes of the Luxembourg jury' was always one of the phrases used by people mocking this extraordinary event.....