It felt strange last year not being able to talk about Eurovision properly. I mean, yes, we had the substitute shows, but they didn’t match the drama or fun that the full contest itself brings. And boy, did it.

So where to begin? Well for a start, there definitely seemed to be a theme, particularly among the Balkan and former Soviet states of sending dance/r’n’b hybrid song. Cyprus, Greece, Moldova, San Marino and Serbia all went down this path with varying degrees of quality (Cyprus nailing it, Serbia very much not for instance). Throw in the female empowerment anthems of Malta, Russia, Israel and Azerbaijan and you got a night that risked going samey. It didn’t help that a lot of the acts seemed to go for red or purple/magenta as their primary colour palette.

This meant that any change of pace was welcome. Well, kind of. I liked the metal of Finland, the eccentricity of Iceland and the cool vibe of Portugal, and even the sparse Bulgaria and France charmed me. I was less keen on the slightly cartoony Germany and bland pop of Norway and Sweden. I also found the virtue signalling of the Netherlands tiresome, whilst Ukraine felt like popping an e at the world’s creepiest folk festival.

My personal favourite was Lithuania, which despite hovering towards the aforementioned colour palettes managed to be distinct enough. It was upbeat yet melancholy in its lyrics, making it sound very contemporary and giving it an air of Hot Chip.

Meanwhile, Italy’s win, although predicted by the bookies, still felt like a surprise. I didn’t dislike the song, and I always believe you shouldn’t stereotype what an Eurovision song is, but I couldn’t grasp the support for it. Surely not enough people knew Italian to understand the lyrics? And although the staging suited the song, for me it wasn’t overly memorable. But clearly it connected somewhere, and at least it puts the ‘Big 5 can’t win’ theory to bed.

And what about us in the UK? Well, sadly the nil points was not a surprise. The song was solid but badly song, especially in the verses. His outfit was hideous. The strongest aspect was the staging, which suggested some effort, but was ultimately wasted.

We seem to be reluctant to learn lessons from previous mistakes here. The formula to do well is actually simple – high-quality song, sung sincerely with complementary staging. You don’t need someone mega-connected or a gimmick. Just get the basics right and build from there. We may be howling about the unfairness of the result, but this year we really do only have ourselves to blame.