Let's talk about the running order....

….because now all tonight’s qualifiers have drawn their places for the final, Saturday’s line-up looks something like this:

1) UK

2) HUNGARY

3) ALBANIA

4) THURSDAY FINALIST

5) THURSDAY FINALIST

6) RUSSIA

7) ICELAND

8) CYPRUS

9) FRANCE

10) ITALY

11) THURSDAY FINALIST

12) THURSDAY FINALIST

13) AZERBAIJAN

14) ROMANIA

15) DENMARK

16) GREECE

17) THURSDAY FINALIST

18) THURSDAY FINALIST

19) THURSDAY FINALIST

20) THURSDAY FINALIST

21) THURSDAY FINALIST

22) THURSDAY FINALIST

23) IRELAND

24) THURSDAY FINALIST

25) THURSDAY FINALIST

26) MOLDOVA

Good news for: Moldova, for starters – there was a lot of love in the room for this song tonight, and singing last is almost as good as it gets (singing second last is better of course even though Eurovision Blog disputes this is only of real benefit to you if you happen to be a favourite to start with – therefore if Sweden draw 25th on Thursday then it’s game over). Expect to see this dark horse in the top ten come Saturday.

Also good news for: Engelbert, surprisingly enough. Yes, we know he’s singing first and that’s a recipe for disaster etc etc BUT we have always maintained a lot will depend on who is singing in the so-called position of death at number two. We decided ages ago that something decent but unlikely to win like Switzerland would be a good second placed song. But in the absence of the Swiss Hungary must surely be the next best thing – as delighted as we are to see it make the cut, it is very much a ‘should be happy just to be in the final’ song and therefore its presence after us is unlikely to affect the Hump one iota. And aside from anything else, we are heaving a sigh of relief we didn’t get Russia.

And it’s even better news for:Ireland, who could do a lot better than we might expect thanks to their fantastic spot in the running order. Although we are still trying to figure out why Jedward are dressed in C3PO’s cast-offs. Rumours that their suitcase for Baku consisted of nowt but those suits and 1700 kilo of talcum powder remain unfounded.

But it’s quite simply outstanding news for: Pretty much every qualifier on Thursday. Because apart from two remaining spots in the top ten, some of the plum slots in the running order are all still available, including virtually all of the last ten in the line-up. This could be potentially fantastic for the strongly fancied likes of Sweden, Serbia etc – unless of course they draw fourth or fifth.

And it’s bad news for: Well Russia could have done better to be honest – the song will stand out anyway, but they’ll have a tough job now, particularly coming before the strongly fancied Iceland who succeeded in making your editor a bit misty-eyed tonight. That said, it does depend what is on before them – if the fourth and fifth slots fall to ballads, we are potentially looking at the most midtempo start to a Eurovision final ever – which, if they end up being the first uptempo act on, could benefit the Russians big time….

It’s also ridiculously bad news for: Hungary – OK so we might be happy with them singing second but they might not be quite so pleased. Still, someone’s got to….

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