And now, let's talk Eurovision!

Hey! Did you hear?

Serbia, one of six former Yugoslav republics, has won the Eurovision Song contest! See BBC News, CNN and B92 (in Serbian). The song that received well over two hundred points to reach first place - 268 to be exact, which means they were receiving a lot of douze points! and I heard all of them!!! - was Molitva, meaning "prayer" and the singer of this magnificent ballad was Marija Šerifović (see an interview of her on eurovision.tv).

I am so happy about it! I really am. That is really one of the nicest things that have happened to Serbia in recent years. It is something that has made Serbs throughout the world rejoice. And no doubt it will continue to do so in the future, in both the foreseeable and distant futures.

Now think about this.

This is the first Eurovision that Serbia has entered as an independent nation. It previously took part in the 2004 and 2005 contests in union with Montenegro, and both times did very well, taking 2nd and 7th places respectively. Now this is the first ever Eurovision Song Contest it took part in on its own, and in its very first entry it won! That's just amazing! And that contributes to the joy that all Serbs feel in the wider diaspora and back home in the Balkans.

Personally speaking with regards to Marija's song Molitva, I actually did not think it was going to win. I thought it would do well, very well - specifically be in the top ten highest-scoring entries. Then came the moment of truth, it actually took first place!

You see, I watched the Semi-final of this years Eurovision, which was aired on Thursday 10th May on the satellite channel of Radio Televizija Srbije, in which Serbia succeeded in securing its place in the actual final on Saturday night, the 15th. And believe it or not, all of you former Yugoslavs out there, having watched the Semi-finals, I actually thought Slovenia's powerful operatic entry, Cvet z juga by Alenka Gotar (see eurovision.tv) had a chance of surpassing Serbia's entry! Even winning the contest!

Still, next year Serbia - woohoo! - will be hosting and presenting this wonderful song contest, giving another country the chance to win as spectacularly as Serbia has done.

But until then - and let's hope the songs and the show will be as fantastic as this year's has been,

Živjela Srbija i živjela nam Marija!!!

PS: Do you guys think I'm contradicting my anarchistic ethos by saying "Long Live Serbia"? :-D :-$