Eurovision has thrown up some surprisingly decent pop tunes the over the last few years. Despite cynics best efforts at deriding it, the contest has come a long way since the days of ‘Boom Bang-A-Bang’. Most entries these days are uplifting true pop songs, three minutes in length, and very commercial sounding. Take this uplifting pop/dance track from Sweden’s Jenny Silver.

A 2011 entrant in the annual Swedish final selection show Melodifestivalen, ‘Something In Your Eyes’ has hooks seemingly inspired by ABBA’s 1979 disco phase, and could easily have been written by super Swedes Benny and Björn. Jenny Silver even resembles a fresher, younger Frida. It’s not surprising she didn’t win and Eric Saade took victory, as her stage show paled in comparison, and that’s as much a part of the contest now as the songs themselves. But, you could argue her song was arguably better – a true modern Swedish pop classic.

Did you watch it? Now that Saturday’s final has taken place and the winning song declared, the Eurovision Song Contest is all over for another year. And 2011 was the best contest for a couple of years. I bet no-one saw the winning entry coming, though. Azerbaijan romped home with the victory, with Ell/Nikki’s Running Scared (above) awarded 221 points with tallies coming in from almost every country. Second place went to rank outsider Italy with Raphael Gualazzi and Madness of Love (the country returning for the first time in 14 years), while my personal favourite, Popular by Eric Saade for Sweden took third spot on the podium.

Staged in the 24,000-capacity Esprit Arena Düsseldorf, the 56th running of the contest threw up some surprises. Ukraine took fourth spot in the winners list with Mika Newton and Angels, yet none of us in South Woodham Ferrers could recall it (bar the strange sand painting act on stage) and Moldova’s So Lucky by Zdob şi Zdub suspended belief, what with its shouty lyric delivery and pointy hat wearing, unicycling stage act. The much more conventional – but none the less anthemic – Denmark entry, New Tomorrow by A Friend In London, rounded out the top five finishers. The stage was almost a personality in itself, with very effective and enormous pulsating backdrop graphics and projections tailored to each act.

What of my favourites? We know of Eric Saade’s fate (third, but at one point, it did seem like he was going to win), and I noted the Azerbaijan entry as the last of my five to watch, so I’m pleased it did well – a worthy winner. Russia meanwhile came 16th with Alexey Vorobyov and Get You, while Hungary’s Kati Wolf’s What About My Dreams? came in a lowly 22nd out of 25. Armenia’s entry, Boom Boom by Emmy, was knocked out in semi-final number one, but two favourites in the top three isn’t bad is it? And other notable acts? Jedward’s novelty Lipstick for Ireland polled eighth and had a lot of support, while the UK entry, I Can by Blue, came in 10th with 100 points, 10 times a better score than in 2010. The German entry, Taken By A Stranger by reigning champion Lena came 10th.

It’s May, so it must be Eurovision. Once again, it’s shaping up to be a good competition, with lots of contemporary and commercial-sounding songs vying for top honours (the UK entry, I Can by Blue, is actually their new single). Either the contest seems to have really stepped up it game in recent years, or the songs now sound more contemporary due to my years away in the early 2000s. Anyway, this year, in a break from tradition, I’m going to post my five favourites on Twitter rather than on the blog itself. Starting tonight – the first semi-final show – check www.twitter.com/gooding2shoes each day until Saturday to find out which five songs from 2011’s entries tickle my fancy. (Clue: one of them is above.)

Round to South Woodham Ferrers again to continue our series of Eurovsion re-runs (yes, Eurovision re-runs). Last night’s contest? 1991. Not a classic in Eurovision terms, but a memorable one, nonetheless. Memorable because of the winner (Carola – see clip above – is Eurovision legend, having taken part a total of 3 times. Her 1991 song Captured By A Lovestorm was also the first Eurovision single I ever bought); memorable because of Samantha Janus’ first notable appearance to UK viewers (she represented the UK that year); because of the male host’s – Toto Cutugno – general incompetence; and finally, memorable because of the epic saxophone fail during the Sofia Vassou’s entry for Greece (watch 02:58 to 03:13 in the video below). With our jury of four, it’s always fun, fun, fun, but always so late, late, late.

We caught this year’s event in a hot and sweaty – but friendly – bar in Paris where American, French and Irish Eurovision devotees all stood glued to the big screens, waiting for their favourite entry to have its chance. We hot-footed it back to our hotel near Gare du Nord for the voting (and still amazingly got there before it had even started), and little did we know what surprised lay in wait.

The revelation that was the most talked about (bar Lena’s success, which was all over French TV for at least a week) was the UK’s dix points. And by that, I do of course mean literally dix points. Yep, we got a measly 10 points the whole night, finishing last behind even Belarus. I think that was a little unfair. There was talk of political voting (or non-voting as the case may be) once more and a sub-standard performance, but I don’t think Josh Dubovie could have given it much more. But what of my other songs to watch? Denmark, my favourite, finished fourth with 149 points (still 97 behind Germany’s 246), while Switzerland got knocked out in the second semi-final.

Contemporary pop-sounding entries from Albania and Iceland finished 16th and 19th respectively, even though both singers gave fantastic hi-energy performances, proving that modern isn’t always the way to go. Other drop-outs included Bulgaria in the second semi, and Latvia in the first. My final tips, Armenia and Romania, did quite well, taking 7th and 3rd places respectively.

So, a pleasing result in the grand scheme of things, and some surprises, be they good or bad. Germany’s win does mean that once the venue has been announced for 2011’s 56th running of the show, we might have the most decent chance of watching it live. After all, with my German friend Rainer already living in the country, it could be two Eurovision Song Contests in a row watched from different countries in Europe…

And, although Albania and Iceland’s songs are arguably more contemporary and possible winners, I’d still love to see this pair walk off with the prize (with fans blowing in their hair, of course). The last qualifier from Thursday night’s semi-final, they’re 25th in the grand final’s running order of 25 participants, something which I can’t decide is a good or bad thing.

Other entries to watch out for include Armenia, Georgia, Germany, Ireland, Moldova, Romania and Serbia. The UK is fielding a very good 12th position in the running order, and although the Pete Waterman-penned song That Sounds Good To Me wasn’t a particular favourite of mine initially, it has grown on me. Singer Josh Dubovie comes from Basildon, just down the road from home, so there’s even some local interest, even if the track does sound very Stock Aitken Waterman circa 1989.

So, the stage is set for the 55th Eurovision Song Contest, and as in recent years, the standard of the songs is high. Pick your favourite, dig out some bunting and tune in to BBC 1 tonight at 20.00 BST for the full show (also on BBC Radio 2).

Michael von der Heide’s entry for Switzerland, Il Pleut de L’Or is the song that Juliana Pasha representing Albania had to fight to seal her place in my Eurovision 2010 top three. A throwback to Eurovision contests past, you can imagine this being played with a full orchestra and performed on a neon-lit and brightly-coloured but basic stage. Apparently one of Switzerland’s best-known and most multi-talented singers, von der Heide is a little androgynous in appearance, and in the video at least, gives a smattering of camp back to Eurovision proceedings; surely a good thing. Switzerland failed to qualify last year, but find out how von der Heide does in tonight’s second semi-final.

Okay, I miscalulated. My Eurovision 2010 top five will, in fact, be six. I’d not counted Juliana Pasha’s It’s All About You for Albania in my initial list, even though I meant it to be there. One of the front-runners when we were around Mark’s at the start of the month for preview night (yes, we sit and watch all 39 songs), 2009’s Albanian entry Carry Me In Your Dreams got to a respectable 17th with 48 points.

Pasha’s 2010 pulsating, ‘dirty’ squelchy bass-driven track is much better, though, and although it doesn’t count on the night, her Goldfrapp-esque video set in a forest makes it stand out from the other competitors. Will her performance tonight be enough to get her through?

Battling Pasha for a place in the grand final on Saturday night is Hera Björk representing Iceland. As in 2008 and with Euroband, the country’s entry this year is a dance stomper, in stark contrast to last year’s ballad from Johanna. Sure to de well, Je Ne Sais Quoi is, obviously, partly sung in French and very commercial-sounding. Hera Björk has sung backing vocals for the Björk herself among others, but will be hoping to score a big victory on her own merit tonight.

The Eurovision Song Contest 2010 semi-finals are on tonight and Thursday at 21:00 CET, with the grand final at the same time on Saturday. In the UK, the two semis can be seen at 20:00 BST on BBC3, with the grand final on BBC1 at 20:00 BST on Saturday 29 May.

The last few Eurovisions have seen Bulgaria send epically-produced videos for up-tempo dance tracks (such as 2009’s Illusion) to the competition, and guess what, 2010 is no different. Sung by Miroslav Dimov Kostadinov (‘Miro’ for short), Angel Si Ti (You Are An Angel) is a piano-driven number with sweeping strings and a big-budget video. Which of course won’t matter on the night, but it will be interesting to see how he fares without the visual special effects. Downsides? No big finish; the song trails off at the end with little fanfare. Catch Miro in the second semi-final on Thursday 27 May.

Other countries have had similar change of hearts, too, and What For? (Only Mr God Knows Why) is a mid-tempo ballad sung by TV reality show winner turned TV presenter Aisha. Her entry has a strong vocal performance, an accordion and gradually builds to the finish. Latvia failed to qualify last year, knocked out in the second semi-final. Aisha should fare much better; see how she does in the first 2010 semi on Tuesday 25 May.