The circus has rolled out of town once more. So thus, my yearly review must be produced. Once more I will be offering my thoughts on the show in general, if the right song one, and what the UK must do better to be competitive (although the last one was unnecessary last year).

So to the show itself. I personally think the BBC executed the show wonderfully. The crowd was one of the most engaged I’ve heard in years, helped by being in Liverpool, a party capital. The hosts actually fizzed with chemistry and even the obligatory awkward filler moments were a cut above the usual. Hannah Waddingham proved to be a breakout star, holding everything together with a sense of humour and British fortitude. One of the most delightful moments came when Graham Norton lost patience with Iceland’s spokesperson and branded him ‘the slowest stripper ever’. Her corpsing was joyous.

I also loved the postcards. Part of this was the beautiful notion of tying together Ukraine, UK and the artist’s home country as a display of unity. The other part though was it just letting me indulge my love of geography.

As for the songs; well this year we felt spoilt in terms of big personality numbers. Moldova and Croatia brought varying degrees of oddness and charm. France gave us refined charm. Portugal lived their Moulin Rouge fantasy. Belgium took us to the clubs circa 1992. Norway scored the soundtrack to the next Game of Thrones prequel. All delightful in their own way.

But it was Finland who stole the show. It was quintessential Eurovision. The performer was an oddity but engaging with a signature fashion choice and haircut. The staging was powerful yet never overtook the song. And the song itself was a joyous mix of genres, slipping from angry techno-rap in the first half before exploding into a party anthem. The lyrics apparently detail the adventures you have on a night out. It didn’t matter, you were sold to it anyway.

So why instead of this package of near perfection did Sweden win with one the blandest most middle-of-the road numbers? The juries. What chance did Finland have against such a peerless vocal. It was Goliath destroying David through the medium of c#. But that doesn’t mean I join the mob wanting an end to the jury system. I remember the horrors of the mid-00’s, where their seemed to be a battle to out gimmick each other and quality went out the window. Just let the juries at least partially vote on fun factor, rather than the rather staid constraints they have now.

Besides, the juries give us more points. And we needed them. Our act was disappointing in the context of it all. It may have been sound issues, it may have been bad camera angles, it may have been an overly complex song. Whatever it was, we were a whimper on a night of bangs.

But the fixes are easy. We did it just last year in fact. Write a decent song with excellent vocals and well constructed staging and we have a shot. We always did. If we stick to that formula a new golden era dawns for us.