Eurovision 2015: As it happened

Once again, the Eurovision Song Contest was a huge show of spectacle and drama for its 60th anniversary.

There were big ballads, impressive set pieces and a deserving winner in the form of Sweden's Måns Zelmerlöw with 'Heroes'. Below is an account of the three and half hour pop extravaganza as it happened.

23:57Once again, huge congratulations to Sweden and Måns Zelmerlöw. Deserving winner. Now, exactly which airport in Sweden should we book plane tickets to for next year's show?

23:54Eurovision may get some stick in this country, but the Top 10 songs this year would make quite a decent little compilation.

23:52

The real winner is the wind machine companies. #Eurovision

— Brendan Maclean (@macleanbrendan) May 23, 2015

Sweden, we give thanks for your song, but mostly for your leather trousers and hot, hot menfolk #Eurovision

— Fabulous mag (@Fabulousmag) May 23, 2015

Well done #SWE There needs to be a public enquiry into how the UK entry was chosen. #eurovision
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— Gus Gus (@iamGusOne) May 23, 2015

23:50The UK's Electro Velvet finish with five points, which is a shame. With some of the most talented songwriters in the world being British, let's hope next year one of them want to write us an anthem as good as Sweden's 'Heroes'.

23:48Russia's Polina is jumping around way too excited for someone who knows they can't win.

23:47Susie is back! And Portugal give Italy 12 points, but now it's a race for second place.

23:45SWEDEN HAS WON! Congratulations Måns Zelmerlöw. The arena are ecstatic. We imagine Portugal's Susie is as well wherever she may be.

23:43Sweden is slowly but surely pulling ahead, but Russia could still catch up. We are going right down to the wire here. Let's hope they find Susie in time.

23:40Thank you to the five people who live in San Marino for giving the UK three points.

23:38

Russia censored all segments with Conchita, so Conchita seems to have decided to sit down with Russia for every shot as they win #eurovision

— S. William Thomas (@SWilliamThomas) May 23, 2015

23:35Poland have brought one of their milk maids back for the results. Not so much "churning" this year though.

23:33Lithuania have a blonde Tulisa reading out their points.

23:33Oh that's Georgia gone now. Have we found Portugal's Susie yet?

23:31Well done United Kingdom. 12 points for Sweden is the right result.

23:31OH HEY NIGELLA. That's a nice broach. Where's the cake?

Nigella. I expect there's caster sugar everywhere just out of shot. #Eurovision

— John Williams (@WorldofTelly) May 23, 2015

23:30Belgian Lorde and Latvian FKA Twigs are doing alright there in the middle.

23:29Meanwhile, Austria had Sarah Jessica Parker read out their result, while Slovenia gave the honour to Morticia Addams.

23:23So the UK's hope of achieving a half decent score is completely diminished. Even Ireland only gave us a single point. It's now a race to the top between Sweden and Russia.

23:10Oh dear, Estonia just joined #FindSusie after their video link also cut out.

23:08So Russia is narrowly leading this, but Sweden and Italy are very close behind. The host reminds the audience that "music should stand over politics tonight", which is a very fair stance.

23:04I think we can all relate to this:

It's astonishing how often I find myself sarcastically muttering "well there's a surprise" at this stage of the evening. #eurovision

— Mike (@mikkyx) May 23, 2015

23:03Albania's announcer looks like he borrowed his outfit from Buck Fizz's Eurovision performance back in the '80s.

23:01So we lost Portugal's Susie, but Italy are now taking the early lead after 12 points from Romania.

22:57"DING DONG Europe. I'm finally getting married." Amazing. Finland's results announcer just won Eurovision.

22:56YAY we have a point. Electro Velvet have escaped the null points shame.

22:55The UK is not off to a great start on the points board. None from Montenegro. But Serbia are the early leaders. This could be an interesting race.

22:53Eurovision has been named the record-holder for "the longest running TV show in the world." Tell us about it.

22:47Here comes the Junior Eurovision champ to give us a bit of his song. Keep it snappy, mate.

22:46Oh no. #Unstoppables cannot be a fan name. Please don't do this to us, Conchita.

22:44Conchita channelling a lot of Madonna tonight. First the cape, and now the 'Vogue' choreography.

22:43It's Conchita's follow-up single 'Unstoppable'. Is it too late to vote for her again? Oh and now here comes the euro-banger.

22:38Praying Nigella Lawson stuffs her UK results segment full of innuendos and basically steals the show and becomes the real winner of Eurovision.

22:32

So everyone's like 'Estonia's #Eurovision entry looks like Louis Tomlinson and we're like are you blind though pic.twitter.com/J0qaijZQwN

— Sugarscape (@sugarscape) May 23, 2015

22:29This is lovely and all that, but when do they sing a song about schnitzel?

This one wants to be the next Thor. Is he worthy? #Eurovision2015 pic.twitter.com/GF1XMbjnxr

— Digital Spy (@digitalspy) May 23, 2015

22:24Kind of want J.K. Simmons to come out and shout "DRAGGING" at the drummer.

22:23These presenters are still pretending to like each other. If only we had the commentators from Pitch Perfect for this. Now that would be incredible.

22:16

Well that's it's then! We came 28th! #GBR #Eurovision

— Andy (@YoJonez) May 23, 2015

Crowd favorite here. Arena's throwing biscotti and stuff. #ITA #Eurovision

— Juliana Dever (@CleverDever) May 23, 2015

If you voted Conservative, this year's boring #Eurovision full of tedious faux-epic songs is your fault. You are directly to blame for this.

— Chris Coltrane (@chris_coltrane) May 23, 2015

22:15The voting is open! Australians everywhere are dropping their bowls of Coco Pops to pick up the phones and vote in Eurovision for the first time.

22:14Slightly disappointed that Conchita isn't having a disgusting amount of costume changes. Especially when Charlie's Angels have.

22:13What a show-stopping performance from Il Volo. Gino D'Acampo will be a proud proud Italian tonight.

22:11Il Volo: The younger, cheekier cousins of Il Divo. They have a huge huge following worldwide, which is why they are one of the favourites. It's always nice to have a bit of popera at Eurovision.

22:05

When you realise that there's only several songs left #Eurovision2015 pic.twitter.com/oDu8gkz77o

— BuzzFeed UK (@BuzzFeedUK) May 23, 2015

22:04Quite like the idea of Putin belting this out in his car on the way into work in the morning.

22:03'A Million Voices' will lodge itself in your head. Be warned, it's already happened to me numerous times.

22:02Russia's Polina Gagarina is a very serious contender, even if the message from Russia feels somewhat hypocritical. Anyway, let's consider this an extremely advanced preview of this year's X Factor winner's single.

22:01This is the kind of song you'd sing in the shower. No? Just me? Great performance from Azerbaijan's Elnur Hüseynov though, and that response from the crowd was big.

21:57Nina Sublatti said she started writing that after waking up in the middle of the night. Some dream she must've been having.

21:51Twitter is having fun with Hungary's hashtag. We need something to perk us up through this.

Loving the hashtag for Hungary #HUN #uokhun #Eurovision2015

— Shaun Kitchener (@ShaunKitchener) May 23, 2015

Hungary is such a hun! Hi #HUN! #Eurovision2015

— Jack Daniel Murphy (@JackDMurphy) May 23, 2015

21:49

Why does no one take The Incredibles seriously? #ESP #Eurovision2015 pic.twitter.com/VM1g1rpNRY

— Digital Spy (@digitalspy) May 23, 2015

21:47BBC subtitles translating the chant to "EEEieEEO". That's much clearer. THANKS.

21:47Two reasons to be envious of Edurne (aside from the incredible looks): she's currently going out with Manchester United's David de Gea, and has previously recorded a duet with our very own Olly Murs.

21:44"The rains wouldn't understand," sing Romania. He has a point, the rain does have an unreasonable temperament. Always judging away and giving side-eye.

21:41

If this was by FKA Twigs, The Guardian would wet itself. #LAT #EurovisionSongContest

— Mark Savage (@mrdiscopop) May 23, 2015

Watch your back FKA Twigs #LAT

— Nicola Fahey (@NicolaFahey) May 23, 2015

Liking this #LAT song as much as Norton's toilet brush line which preceded it (ie quite a lot)

— Chris Salmon (@chrissalmon) May 23, 2015

21:38Here comes ~~FKA Twigs~~ Aminata for Latvia. I actually quite like this song a lot, though the title is more questionable than that dress.

21:35Oh this is really moving. Bravo Monika Kuszynsk! Is it going to be enough to pass the bigger numbers to the top of the leaderboard though?

21:31The UK's very own Ella Eyre co-wrote this song for Germany. No wonder she gave it it away...

21:30

This is the worst Patronus ever. #Eurovision2015 pic.twitter.com/JMSWKVIPmx

— Luke Bailey (@imbadatlife) May 23, 2015

Haven't seen that much plastic surgery since watching Amanda Holden earlier #Eurovision2015 #Montenegro

— Katie Weasel (@KatieWeasel) May 23, 2015

21:27Knez had a gruelling five-day rehearsal schedule to master the complicated choreography for this performance.

21:22Greece's entry is one of many Voice contestants who are competing in this year's competition. See, there is hope after appearing on that show.

21:19No, the question is: Why isn't Conchita presenting this solo?

21:17When does Conchita's phoenix rise out of that piano fire then?

21:17Austria have another solid entry this year. Song fact: 'I Am Yours' was co-written by Jimmy Harry, who has previously penned tracks for Madonna and Kelly Clarkson.

21:13Ooof that spin nearly saw him down on his behind. To be fair Loïc, has very good intenseface.

21:12And now it's Belgium with ~~Lorde~~ Loïc Nottet. 'Rhythm Inside' is a strong song, but I'm not sure it's quite Eurovision enough to win.

21:10

#Eurovision have yet to admit that Australia are only in it after their phones autocorrected Austria on the invitations.

— The Poke (@ThePoke) May 23, 2015

FYI that's actually Danny from Hear'Say in a hat. #Eurovision

— Ally Farrell (@AllyFarrell) May 23, 2015

Australia is my favourite European country #eurovision

— Laura Whitmore (@thewhitmore) May 23, 2015

21:08Guy Sebastian has brought fellow Aussie Gina G with him. Perfect. Why hasn't he got Harold Bishop to play the tuba in the background, though?

21:06Australia's song is pretty good, so let's hope if they win they allow us to host it next year.

21:04This is basically Måns Zelmerlöw trying to get those leather trousers off later though.

21:02What a great performance from them both. Congratulations guys *fist bump*

20:59Here's some leaked footage of what the performance was initially going to be, but they couldn't hang the wrecking ball on the snazzy lights.

20:58Compose yourselves girls and gays: it's Sweden's Måns Zelmerlöw up next. It's a seriously good song and could easily win the whole thing.

20:55Brave's Merida has escaped Scotland and is finally fulfilling her dream of performing at Eurovision.

20:52As far as dance breakdowns go: DOUZE POINTS. This diva sure knows her audience.

20:48It was definitely his idea to include the kiss wasn't it? We actually quite like this - could be the dark horse of the competition.

20:46Someone's been listening to a lot of Olly Murs and Demi Lovato's 'Up' haven't they? At least it's a bit uplifting after the last one.

20:46"That's as low as we go," says Graham. YOU'D BETTER BE RIGHT NORTON. You're up Lithuania.

20:44Mixed reaction to Electro Velvet on the The Twitter.

Jesus. Now I know what it feels like when the English team step up to take a penalty. #Eurovision #GBR

— David Morgan (@thisisdavid) May 23, 2015

Birds eye potato waffles rip off #eurovision

— bob mortimer (@RealBobMortimer) May 23, 2015

Well, that's the best I've ever seen them do it and that's pretty much all we can ask for. #gbr #eurovision

— Steven Perkins (@stevenperkins) May 23, 2015

I'm abroad. I could actually vote for this. And yet… #Eurovision #UKtravesty

— Pete Paphides (@petepaphides) May 23, 2015

20:43Is it just us or do most of the Eurovision ballads this evening seem to be channelling Disney? Lots of male/female duos and even more theatricality.

20:41Well Electro Velvet lit up the arena and the crowd seemed to be genuinely loving it. We've sent worse over *cough*Jemini*cough*. It could be enough for a Top 10 placing.

20:37Oh here we go: come on Electro Velvet! We've been promised some very special LED suits, so let's hope it looks as good as it sounds.

20:36Is she crying because she's realised how awful this all is?

20:35We need four of those red buzzers the Britain's Got Talent judges have over on ITV right now. This is a little bit dreary Estonia.

20:31Oh what a body roll. Douze points! "Let me show you Tel Aviv."

20:30Oh here we go: 'Golden Boy' has a little dance routine that could rival Psy's 'Gangnam Style'. It sounds like three songs in one, and starts with more than a whiff of "Mama... I killed a man..."

20:28It might not be the type of cheery anthem we're used to from Eurovision, but France's entry is a lovely tribute to the victims of past wars.

20:25Twitter wasn't too impressed by Slovenia.

It's funny because she can't hear how awful this is because of the headphones #Eurovision #SLO

— Ryan Love (@RyanJL) May 23, 2015

Beats by Dre(adful) #slovenia #EurovisionSongContest

— Mark Savage (@mrdiscopop) May 23, 2015

20:22Slovenia's track was co-written by Charlie Mason who wrote last year's winner 'Rise Like A Phoenix', which explains why it's quite good. The lady is missing a beard and the guy is missing a frock, though.

20:20These Charlie's Angels hate each other don't they? They're just going to shoot each other's quips down all night. Fantastic.

20:17They're dragging this opening out a bit aren't they? It's not like we have 27 songs to get through or anything. Maybe it's to facilitate a Conchita costume change.

20:15Hopefully these jokes will get better throughout the show or we're in for a looooong night.

20:14"Only for a night we're building bridges". I've got a strong feeling this Eurovision theme is going to be stuck in my head all weekend.

20:11A nice big cheer from the crowd there for Electro Velvet. Scott Mills told us that he thinks they will do better than we may expect, and he could be right.

20:11

Good to see Dappy has found gainful employment at last #Eurovision

— Leigh Holmwood (@LeighHolmwood) May 23, 2015

20:08Can Conchita just win Eurovision 2015 as well please? I mean, she's flying!

20:07The stage in Vienna looks incredible. Nearly as fabulous as Conchita Wurst.

20:05Oh Bob Mortimer has done the impossible and managed to put on a better Eurovision spread than last year.

EUROSPREAD 2015
#eurovision pic.twitter.com/KkINGaDCrR

— bob mortimer (@RealBobMortimer) May 23, 2015

20:04The United Kingdom's Electro Velvet is on fifth this evening, so not too long to wait. Slovenia are opening the show.

20:03In Austria you can get Conchita Wurst printed on your credit card. Where can we get one immediately?

20:00Yes we did just press the red button for the sing-along lyrics.

19:57Eurovision parties across Europe are in full swing and we only have to wait five minutes until it all kicks off.

The #Eurovision party is in full swing. pic.twitter.com/MofXLXsaJG

— Adam Flinn (@AdamFlinn) May 23, 2015

Everyone in Sainsburys was buying copious amounts of foreign-sounding party snacks and booze. #Eurovision should be a public holiday.

— Mitten d'Amour (@MittenDAmour) May 23, 2015

Ok, fun drinking game for #Eurovision2015. How many Australia/Austria jokes will there be?

— Seamus Dever (@seamusdever) May 23, 2015

19:44In the meantime, we'll leave you with ~~Samantha Janus~~Ronnie Mitchell singing 'A Message To Your Heart' for the UK back in 1991, which placed 10th overall with 47 points. What a song.

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