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.

Thanks to Mike from Pop Trash Addicts for bringing this happy three minutes my way. Pleasingly cheesy, Soraya’s Dolce Vita updates a classic ‘80s track, without sounding too modern and over-produced. Originally a hit for Ryan Paris in 1983, this 2007 version from the popular Spanish artist reached no 5 in her home country, and leads an album full of fun 1980s covers (including I Should Be So Lucky and Girls Just Wanna Have Fun). And if Soraya looks familiar, there’s a reason why; she represented Spain in the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest with La Noche Es Para Mí (The Night Is For Me) and finished 23rd with 23 points.

My other prediction that was almost correct was Turkey. Hadise came fourth with Dum Tek Tek, one place higher than I had her ahead of the final on Saturday night. I had Iceland sixth, but Johanna put on a belting performance of Is it True? bagging her second place, and making me realise that the song was much better than I had first thought. Another emotive performance came from France’s major-selling artist Patricia Kaas, taking her beautiful Et S’il Fallait Le Faire to eighth place.

I wasn’t quite so hot with Ukraine, Sweden, and Greece. Ukraine came a more than disappointing twelfth, 10 places below where I had placed Svetlana Loboda, while Greece was seventh (I had them fourth). Blonde diva Malena Ernman finished 21st out of the 25 competitors, her Swedish blend of soaring pop opera not impressing many; surely the biggest injustice of the competition, but such is the erratic Eurovision voting.

In South Woodham Ferrers, we had Ukraine first, Norway second, Estonia third (we weren’t so off the mark with that one – Urban Symphony came sixth), and Iceland and Sweden fourth and fifth respectively. The UK coming fifth was a pleasant surprise, and Jade Ewen did sing the big song very well (even though it wasn’t the right one), her respectable finishing place finally giving this country a least a shred of credibility. We had her down as seventh.

Any surprises? Azerbaijan coming third was the big one, especially as we had them 21st.  Bosnia did well, too, coming ninth, ten places higher than our nineteenth. But above everything, 2009 was the year that the ‘song’ was put back into the Eurovision Song Contest. Listening to the official CDs, there are very few songs which manage to hold off the ‘skip’ button, surely a sign of this year’s show being one of the most memorable (along with the $30m LED screen stage, and the accurate and honest Graham Norton UK commentary).

It was almost as memorable as enjoying the festivities at Mark’s. After the fat lady (Malta’s Chiara) had sung signaling that it was all over, we had a good old sing-along to our favourites once more, before skipping through a few of the 2006 entries. Degrading into watching comical old 1980s TV footage (including some of Bill), just after 01h00 Nik and I said our goodbyes and headed home. The journey was even memorable, too, after the exhaust fell off the car, scraping along the road and attracting glances and shouts from passing drivers. A non-forgetful night in more ways than one; we can’t wait for Oslo.

Zoli Adok representing Hungary really should be there on Saturday evening. Last night, the song was still one of the best, but the backing track seemed all over the place, with the weak vocal levels which had blighted the night’s proceedings up to that point suddenly too strong. The result wasn’t flattering; his vocals were just audible, the backing vocals too overpowering, and the backing track sounded lost in the fabled disco that he sings about in Dance With Me.

Before the last qualifier was announced, the fight was thought to be between Adok and Rouvas from Greece, and, unsurprisingly, it was Rouvas who got through. With countless singles and albums to his name, once more it shows that an artist’s pop status in Europe plays a part in the competition. His performance wasn’t any better than Adok’s, and although he used more stage craft for his weaker song, he’s a Eurovision legend, and that’s more than likely what cemented his place in the final.

But, my other favourites Moldova and Estonia qualified, as did likely winner Alexander Rybak from Norway. Fiddling for all he was worth, Fairytale was popular in the arena, and seeing it among all the other 41 songs last week at preview night, it does have victory written all over it. It’s not my overall favourite, though; Svetlana Loboda and Ukraine have the best song in the competition, and the disjointed but excellent Be My Valentine (Anti-Crisis Girl) will be there on Saturday, too, Loboda’s spectacle last night guaranteeing her a place.

Just as on Tuesday, though, there were some real qualifying surprises. Slow songs from Croatia and Lithuania are through, as are Albania, Azerbaijan and Denmark with their more uptempo numbers. So, the stage is set for one of the most intriguing Eurovision finals since my love for the contest was reignited, with enough of my favourites left in the competition to make it genuinely exciting.

Top five? It’s no use ignoring Rybak and his fiddle; he must be unstoppable now, but second place deserves to go to Loboda and Ukraine (for the third consecutive year), with Malena Ernman and Sweden a close third. I predict Sakis Rouvas and Greece in fourth – he’ll be a strong contender – with Hadise and Turkey in fifth.

Estonia and Spain will also do well, even though we’ve not seen the latter’s performance yet, and the former will be performed in native tongue. The best balladeers are Iceland’s Johanna and Malta’s Chiara who may score highly, such is the usually erratic Eurovision voting. All this will be wholly inaccurate of course; to find out who sings to victory, tune in tomorrow night.

At first, Be My Valentine (Anti-Crisis Girl) sounds like eight songs put together, and the video looks like eight songs put together. But, that is its appeal. The more you hear the song, the more you like it, and the more you see the video, the more zany and twisted it appears, leaving you more intrigued. The combination could prove to be an unbeatable one; it’s already grown on me over the last few days and has now usurped non-qualifier Andrea Demirovic’s entry to be the favourite song of the 2009 contest in my affections.

The multi-cut video clip will be hard to replicate on stage, but we do know that Loboda has the cogs from the clip, semi-naked dancers, and her drum-playing skills to make an impression, all of which she’ll use to full effect in tonight’s second semi-final, and, if she gets through, Saturday’s contest proper. Ani Lorak did phenomenally well last year, coming second. Does the same fate await Svetlana Loboda and her dirty trumpets, or will she go one better?