The morning after

Here's your winner, 19 year-old Anna Bergendahl. I'll admit I didn't see that one coming. It was a ballad sung solo, in the manner of Taylor Swift, perhaps, or last year's star teenager, Iceland's Yohanna, who finished second with a similar song.

It was a great show, fast paced, lots of fun. Dolph was in good form; he and his co-hosts started by singing "Eye of the Tiger", and every contestant was introduced boxing-style. Watch that clip here. (Sly Stallone's message to Dolph is on that page, too.)

The voting was 20% through an international jury (Darin won there), 20% Swedish regions (won by my act, Timoteij), but the phone/text vote was overwhelmingly for Anna's ballad. I think it'll do well, but not sure if it can win in Oslo.

The evening was fun. We were in the VIP area upstairs, with a nice couch and a good view. But the atmosphere downstairs was far more rollicking. I don't know which I prefer. It was fun live texting with Marcia and Rutger's family back in Stockholm. His sister, Ingrid, scored a trifecta and picked the winning three in order. I'm jealous.

P.S. I saw the UK's song entry. All I can say is: "meh."