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I was bitterly disappointed for Finland finals night, but it was beaten fair and square. Taking an epic performance from a national final and placing it on a new stage can work in most cases without too much hassle. The entries that scored higher than Finland had recreated their national final performances in some new way or adapted them for the new stage. The Finns didn't as much.

I was disappointed when this was chosen to open the song contest final. But I was incredibly happy to see that it came equal second in the juries in the final. But I'm disappointed again that it didn't do better overall.

Danish entries have always been a bit weird to me. There is always something a bit strange about them in song or production that makes them feel a little strange or off. This year though I am full behind this entry.

It had a concept, it had a large clear perspex box, it had excellent dancers, it had a costume change and it had a man who can dance and sing at the same time. There is an undercurrent of darkness, seediness and menace that I appreciate from the entry. It wasn't just the dark images on the stage or the firey red flames towards the end. They took their lighting in a way that they were performing in a dark nightclub and the confined space on a dance floor.

I'm not sure how I feel about this performance. The song sounds like nonsense, but they packed six languages in this entry which seems like a lot for three minutes. It is the type of song that people get behind because it is an upbeat fun song and because of that it came forth with the public. It isn't really for me, but it is loud and infectious.

There was a moment before the song contest where I believed this would be up for a chance of winning the song contest. I will mention that it is due to an assumption I made which this year was completely untrue. The Ukraine are the masters of the prop and the assumption that like each year there will be something. But there was nothing like that except curtains that draped down from the ceiling in the middle.

I really enjoy this song. The lyrics paint a very wonderful image of colours and textures, but they used a simple stage, with black and white for the majority of the song. I love that man was their with his instrument quietly and inoffensively, so Leleka was the focus. Leleka used her physicality on stage to punctuate the entry and the wind machine moving her hair and her dress fringe around giving more character to the piece. I liked that various fabric textures were used in her background from light and wispy to the heavy velvet one towards the end.

Oh Jesus. There was so much hype behind this. So many Tik toks and appearances and excitement. And for three minutes we ended up with that as the end product. Disappointed, underwhelmed and annoyed is how I feel when I am watching this back. But it's not all bad news.

The first third of the performance is good. It has a decent introduction to the song. The big screen to start the game was great. The big Akylas running behind him as he performed was very attractive. The mirrored tunnel was too short and would have been good to reappear. The 'Elena Paparizou' moment with the strings was good. Good backgrounds to show more candy crush games and the graphics where it is all around him and on the ground were clever. The scooter was annoying but well within the theme of the song. All fine so far.

This is where it falls apart for me. Clearly, he went to the end of the catwalk as a diversion (big prop) and it felt unnatural and rushed when he made his way back to the main stage. Here we meet three people: a mother, a statue and a gold man representing wealth. I don't get how these people fit into the song and the performance. Part of the game? understand the gold man, but the other two. It again felt rushed and awkward having them do the dance and go running down the stage. Blah.

This year's French entry is a triumph. I think it is magnificent, and it would have broken people if an operatic entry won for the third successive year. To this I say, so what? If the best song is a song that is sung by an operatic person, then so be it. It did not happen of course, but it would have been a worthy winner if it did.

I do not think there was a whole lot of people who liked the Polish entry before the song contest. I think the song was more jury bait than televoter. The song itself was complicated and integrated. The vocal arrangement was perfectly executed as we expected as Alicja has the lungs and swagger to perform this effortlessly.

The performance on the stage was well thought out from the lighting at the beginning, images on the screen and on the floor. The choreography she performed and the dancers on their paper hill was in keeping with the song. I like that they used shadows as additional components in the performance as well to give the performance depth. I also like that she started on the catwalk, and made her way through the performance to the stage and the dancers. There were too many people rushing around everywhere. This shows that this was the Alicja show and she will do it at her own pace.

Albania has a habit of getting their entries very right or very wrong. I don't like a song about people singing about their Mother. We had one last year that was quite good, but the ones from Belarus in 2006 and the Belgian one from 2014 are hideous and unforgivable. And then we have this dark and moody number, which I would count as a good one.

The opening to this performance is goosepimple inducing. What a dramatic way to open a song. To have a song about a mother with a mother figure looking down on Alis as he begins the performance. I didn't much like her loitering around the stage, but she did look considerably worried for her boy. It was such a mothering thing for her to remove his glasses so she could look into his eyes and the handing of the pocket watch was also a great ending moment to the song.

Alis is the star though. He had the right voice and performance for the song. His garment looked like he was going to war in some form of medieval place where there is jousting and fencing. The performance is very considered with his choir of men looking down at him, a collection of mothers standing by and the subtitles in English made it easier for everyone to understand the meaning of the performance.

The EBU said a stupidity to Jonas Lovv that I am appalled by. They told him to be less sexual on stage. Can they justify that? How can they ask this man to be less sexual, yet they allow exposed buttocks, low cut bosom exposing outfits and performing more provocative movements elsewhere? I also noticed that the Danish male backing vocals grabbed their crotch: where was their sexy warning?

Jonas is a sexy man and his performance was a bit yelling and a bit over the top. He was sick for the final and I would have suggested a nice pullover and some Vicks on his chest. But that was not in keeping with the entry. It was meant to be a bit tongue in cheek, a bit cheesy, and a whole lot unique. He did his best, but he was struggling. The man has charisma and even without a fill vocal performance, he still managed to charm us.

Croatia brought the meaningful drama this year. Much like everyone else who performed and produced something with some meaning that resonated with the country in question, it was ignored by everyone. Except of course to qualify for the final. Deservedly.

There is female violence problem across the world. Bringing it to the attention of the Eurovision audience in this way is clever. Using the history of the Croatian women in oppression was relevant. To highlight this violence, they have worn garments that are torn, painted in the bloodiest red colour and adorned traditional tattoos of their ancestors to show that the ladies have experienced an unspeakable violence. They also have their white maiden who I interpreted as innocence, but she also has a swipe of the blood on her garment. She was the main player in the performance while also being the side piece.

There is so much to say about this performance. The vocal harmonies were eerie and extraordinary. There were two main singers, then the other three were a chorus. The choreography was focused and complimentary to the theme of the song. Having the white lady on the pole like some sort of ghost was interesting, but also strange. It felt like she was the patron saint watching over them. They had her in the mist reaching out for her like they are trying to save her from her death. They had her running from danger towards the end and it worked. I expected her to reveal an equally bloody outfit towards the end, but that was a narrative in my head.