EUROVISION in the United Kingdom has ended in recent times with the proverbial gnashing of teeth before a good wail about tactical voting.
Former BBC commentator Terry Wogan even quit in 2008 after suggesting the competition was "no longer a music contest".
But, this year, the British might actually at last have something to cheer.
Even the BBC advert gives promise of a better outcome with current host Graham Norton announcing: "With Molly, the UK could finally win"...
Though he adds, for good measure: "No, really!"
After all, it is best if the United Kingdom does not get too carried away having spent quite a while in the wilderness.
In fact, in the past 11 years, the UK has had a truly abysmal record. It has finished bottom three times with Jemini (nul points in 2003), Andy Abraham (2008), and Josh Dubovie (2010) - while Javine Hylton (22nd in 2005), Daz Sampson (19th in 2006), and Scooch (22nd in 2007) fared little better.
Then, the last two years have seen the bizarre successive entries of Engelbert Humperdinck (2012) and then Bonnie Tyler (2013), at a combined age 137 - only for them to receive a combined total of 35 points.
In 2014, however, the UK has returned to the relative youth of 27-year-old Leicestershire lass Molly Smitten-Downes - and the critics suggest she stands a genuinely good chance.
Her song 'Children of the Universe' is a rousing anthem which will close the 26-nation extravaganza - and it has been well-received in promotional work on the continent.
As such, Molly is currently fifth-favourite with the bookmakers, and looks likely at least to score the UK's best result since Jade Ewen's fifth place in 2009 with 'It's My Time'.
The outright favourite is Swedish singer Sanna Nielsen with her uptempo ballad 'Undo', just ahead of Austria's Conchita Wurst.
Wurst - real-name Tom Neuwirth - is a bearded drag act with a decent voice, and thus a perfect fit at Eurovision.
But, while the Contest is, of course, fond of its gimmicks - e.g. Lordi in 2006 - they often haven't found much success in last few years with the much-hyped Russian grannies Buranovskiye Babushki finishing a distant second in 2012.
There are also some other Eurovision myths which can now be - at least partly - dispelled too, especially with regards to often controversial voting patterns.
As this fivethirtyeight blog notes, researchers found that, while there was a "moderate to substantial positive bias" between countries, this could be explained by "strong ‘cultural’ similarities".
Certainly, it is a fact that a country cannot win Eurovision on location alone - the Contest is now far too large for regional alliances to prove decisive.
Indeed, generally, it simply the best - or at least the most popular - song that ends up winning.
That was certainly the case last year for Denmark's barefoot Emmelie de Forest and her catchy hit 'Only Teardrops', the result of which has been to take the competition to Copenhagen.
Hopefully, Molly will have a wonderful, wonderful time - while the rest of us kick back to enjoy perhaps still the strangest popular annual event on whole the television calendar.
The show begins on BBC One at 8pm.
EUROVISION 2014 RUNNING ORDER
Click on the links for the official Eurovision videos of each of the songs. Odds supplied by Ladbrokes. See www.oddschecker.com/tv/eurovision/winner
| Country | Artist - Song | Odds | ||
| 01 | Ukraine | Mariya Yaremchuk - Tick-Tock | 16/1 | |
| 02 | Belarus | Teo - Cheesecake | 200/1 | |
| 03 | Azerbaijan | Dilara Kazimova - Start a Fire | 33/1 | |
| 04 | Iceland | Pollapönk - No Prejudice | 50/1 | |
| 05 | Norway | Carl Espen - Silent Storm | 33/1 | |
| 06 | Romania | Paula Seling & Ovi - Miracle | 66/1 | |
| 07 | Armenia | Aram MP3 - Not Alone | 7/1 | |
| 08 | Montenegro | Sergej Ćetković - Moj svijet (My World) | 66/1 | |
| 09 | Poland | Donatan & Cleo - My Słowianie (We Are Slavic) | 66/1 | |
| 10 | Greece | Freaky Fortune feat RiskyKidd - Rise Up | 20/1 | |
| 11 | Austria | Conchita Wurst - Rise Like a Pheonix | 5/2 | |
| 12 | Germany | Elaiza - Is It Right | 150/1 | |
| 13 | Sweden | Sanna Nielsen - Undo | 11/4 fav | |
| 14 | France | TWIN TWIN - Moustache | 100/1 | |
| 15 | Russia | Tolmachevy Sisters - Shine | 50/1 | |
| 16 | Italy | Emma - La mia città (My City) | 50/1 | |
| 17 | Slovenia | Tinkara Kovač - Round and Round | 200/1 | |
| 18 | Finland | Softengine - Something Better | 50/1 | |
| 19 | Spain | Ruth Lorenzo - Dancing in the Rain | 33/1 | |
| 20 | Switzerland | Sebalter - Hunter of Stars | 100/1 | |
| 21 | Hungary | András Kállay-Saunders - Running | 14/1 | |
| 22 | Malta | Firelight - Coming Home | 100/1 | |
| 23 | Denmark | Basim - Cliché Love Song | 25/1 | |
| 24 | Netherlands | The Common Linnets - Calm After the Storm | 4/1 | |
| 25 | San Marino | Valentina Monetta - Maybe | 150/1 | |
| 26 | United Kingdom | Molly - Children of the Universe | 9/1 |
EUROVISION 2014 RESULT
| Country | Song - Artist | Points | Douze | |
| 01 | Austria | Conchita Wurst - Rise Like a Pheonix | 290 | (13) |
| 02 | Netherlands | The Common Linnets - Calm After the Storm | 238 | (8) |
| 03 | Sweden | Sanna Nielsen - Undo | 218 | (3) |
| 04 | Armenia | Aram MP3 - Not Alone | 174 | (3) |
| 05 | Hungary | András Kállay-Saunders - Running | 143 | (1) |
| 06 | Ukraine | Mariya Yaremchuk - Tick-Tock | 113 | (-) |
| 07 | Russia | Tolmachevy Sisters - Shine | 89 | (2) |
| 08 | Norway | Carl Espen - Silent Storm | 88 | (-) |
| 09 | Spain | Ruth Lorenzo - Dancing in the Rain | 74 | (1) |
| 10 | Denmark | Basim - Cliché Love Song | 74 | (-) |
| 11 | Romania | Paula Seling & Ovi - Miracle | 72 | (1) |
| 12 | Finland | Softengine - Something Better | 72 | (-) |
| 13 | Switzerland | Sebalter - Hunter of Stars | 64 | (-) |
| 14 | Poland | Donatan & Cleo - My Słowianie (We Are Slavic) | 62 | (-) |
| 15 | Iceland | Pollapönk - No Prejudice | 58 | (-) |
| 16 | Belarus | Teo - Cheesecake | 43 | (1) |
| 17 | United Kingdom | Molly - Children of the Universe | 40 | (-) |
| 18 | Germany | Elaiza - Is It Right | 39 | (-) |
| 19 | Montenegro | Sergej Ćetković - Moj svijet (My World) | 37 | (2) |
| 20 | Greece | Freaky Fortune feat RiskyKidd - Rise Up | 35 | (-) |
| 21 | Azerbaijan | Dilara Kazimova - Start a Fire | 33 | (1) |
| 22 | Italy | Emma - La mia città (My City) | 33 | (1) |
| 23 | Malta | Firelight - Coming Home | 32 | (-) |
| 24 | San Marino | Valentina Monetta - Maybe | 14 | (-) |
| 25 | Slovenia | Tinkara Kovač - Round and Round | 9 | (-) |
| 26 | France | TWIN TWIN - Moustache | 2 | (-) |
RELATED LINKS
- Official Eurovision website (Facebook - Twitter)
- Official Eurovision Youtube website
- BBC Eurovision website
- Wikipedia Eurovision page
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