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.

Here it is then. All three minutes and 22 seconds of Miss Minogue’s new chartbuster and the first flourish of new output from the Kylie camp. Less listens are needed than was the case with 2 Hearts to accept that it’s a polished, pure pop, glossy sound. A fantastic, summery-sounding track, it’s a much better ‘comeback’ single than the 2007 effort and is the type of sound that Kylie does best. Could that chorus also be just the slightest bit anthemic in a live later life? Premiered on radio all across the world today, All The Lovers is released digitally on 13 June (a physical and digital bundle follows on the original 28 June release date). The 12-track Aphrodite album hits stores on 5 July.

After three years away, how exciting is this?

Sounding like a cross between Björk and Ellie Goulding in vocal style, in the fun video Diana looks more like Ms Goulding than the real thing does. And sitting pretty at the top of the iTunes UK single tree will surely do her no harm either, building up anticipation for her first album release Songs From The Tainted Cherry Tree, due out on 3 May. What a Bank Holiday weekend that’s shaping up to be. With Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s new tune Bittersweet out the same date, who’ll get the most listens? I don’t know the answer to that one yet, but I suspect that both of them will get heard more than [ahem] once…

One of the advantages that the interweb has brought to music lovers is the chance to hear new releases weeks, sometimes months ahead of their release date. And if said new releases are as crackingly good as this new single from poptastic diva Sophie Ellis-Bextor, then that can only be a good thing, yes?

2009 was a good year for pop, with outstanding releases from Lily Allen, the Pet Shop Boys, Annie and Natalie Imbruglia to name but four. Another highlight was this ex-theaudience front lady’s collaboration with Freemasons, Heartbreak Make Me A Dancer. The dance-orientated track was an absolute belter and deserved to do better than its disappointing final UK chart placing of 13.

This new track is equally as danceable and showcases the style for Mademoiselle E-B’s new long-player, Straight To The Heart. Out on 2 May, Bittersweet is similar to Kylie’s The One in style (that too was produced by Freemasons) and, as with other releases currently orbiting the pop world at the moment, it more than nods a little back to the 1980s (especially the Blue Monday-esque pre-chrous drum beats breakdown).

If the rest of Straight To The Heart is like this, then Sophie will have pulled off both one of the surprises and highlights of 2010 so far. And although the video for Bittersweet isn’t as visually arresting as the clip for Heartbreak, the same style is noticeable throughout. I might be bored of the low-quality audio streams by then, but 2 May really can’t come fast enough.