Norway won the 54th Eurovision Song Contest last night in Moscow after singer Alexander Rybak beat 24 other contestants in the Russian capital.
Rybak's song Fairytalewon with 387 points, beating Iceland with 218 of points and Azerbaijan with 207 points.
It was the third time Norway has won the competition, one of the most watched television shows in Europe every year.
Mr Rybak, a 23-year-old ethnic Belarussian who grew up outside Oslo, had been the pre-tournament favourite and he wooed and charmed the crowd with his singing and violin playing in the final at a stadium built for the Moscow 1980 Olympic Games.
Seven-times winners Ireland did not qualify for the final, with girl band Sinead Mulvey and Black Daisy failing to make it through. However, the Irish were represented with Denmark’s song, written by Ronan Keating, and the United Kingdom benefited from the 10 points it gave Ewen.
The UK improved on its dismal recent record in the Eurovision Song Contest after Jade Ewen's performance of It's My Timesecured fifth place, the country's best showing in the competition for seven years.
Britain, which gave Turkey the maximum 12 points, did well from votes in countries including Greece, Germany, Bulgaria and Serbia.
This year, for the first time, phone votes from the public were combined with the votes of national juries to decide the marks and although alliances between neighbouring countries remained apparent, the Norwegian violin song Fairytalewon praise across the borders.
Graham Norton performed the BBC’s commentating duties for the first time after Eurovision veteran Sir Terry Wogan stepped down following last year’s contest.
Wogan, who had been associated with the competition from the early 1970s, built up a huge following with his humorous comments but after Abraham’s disappointment he said it was “no longer a music contest” and that prospects for Western European participants were “poor”.
Norton’s tongue-in-cheek style brought a fresh burst of humour as he added his own observations and insight to the on-stage entertainment.
Comments flooded into Twitter during last night's BBC coverage. Celebrity viewers also made comments and numerous jokes about the hopefuls, including Jonathan Ross, who said: "Malta reminded me of Arnie Schwarzenegger when he is made into a woman in Total Recall."
Fellow TV presenter Phillip Schofield said of the Danish song: “Ronan!!!! Ya traitor.”
Agencies