A Place to Stand

So Serbia won it. Had I known this I might even have watched. The Serb entry does appear to be a rather pretty ballad not involving people dressed up as orcs, silver tellytubbies or the transvestities that have previously epitomised European culture.

OK so all this is a bit silly. The BBC's reporting naturally gave most of its coverage to the plucky Brits & how we wuz robbed

It meant that Scooch narrowly avoided finishing 24th out of 24, as British act Gemini had in 2003 - famously scoring "nul points" - with the song Cry Baby.

But Scooch were characteristically undeterred by the result.

"To be honest, this experience has been one in a million," said singer Caroline Barnes.

As the Serb singer said

The Eastern European state will now be charged with hosting the event in 2008.

Following her win, Ms Serifovic told reporters "a new chapter has opened for Serbia".

"I am so proud. All my success is made by singing."

Which is probably true.

The complaints about tactical voting (by other countries of course) may have some basis

Former Yugoslavia

For the first time, a fromer Yugoslav country has won. But how have Serbia, Montenegro, Slovenia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia and F.Y.R. Macedonia voted. Actually, the other five countries have all given their top mark to Serbia. 46 of the 73 Mecedonian points came from other F.Y.R.s., the same counts for exactly half of the Slovene points (33 of 66). For Bosnia & Herzegovina we can count 37 out of 106. Overall, it has to be pointed out that Serbia, F.Y.R. Macedonia, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Slovenia have received points from every other ex Yugoslav country.

The strange thing about this tactical voting is that if what the BBC & other media have been saying for the last 17 years - that hatreds in the Balkans run so deep that genocide is inevitable, that it was not caused by us supplying psychopathic ex-Nazis with money & guns & that we have, at all times, been involved merely to bring peace - were in the remotest degre truthful then they wouldn't have been voting for each other. The alternative that it was virtually entirely the fault of NATO's genocidal Nazi leaders arming psychopaths will not, naturaly be mentioned by the BBC.