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Okay, I’ll concede, it was a good song. Much to everyone’s surprise, Germany went and scored douze points from almost everyone as last night’s Eurovision Song Contest 2010 grand final in Oslo. Lena Meyer-Landrut sung to victory with Satellite, and with a very simple stage show (basically just some dancing) and a very simple black dress, she won over the hearts of Europe. The former winner of Germany’s Our Star for Oslo talent show has become a global superstar quite literally overnight.

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…

Here it is, my favourite entry from the Eurovision Song Contest 2010. No, Denmark‘s entry isn’t the most radical, and it’s almost soft rock (shudder), but the uplifting and anthemic chorus would sound great in a packed stadium. Sung by the duo of Chanée & N’evergreen (no, I don’t know who they are either, but he’s quite big in Russia, apparently), I liked In A Moment Like This from the first time I heard it.

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.