Congratulations - and celebrations!

It would be churlish not to offer our congratulations to Marija Serifovic, the Serbian winner of the much-coveted Eurovision Song Contest.

I must confess that I no longer have the tolerance to sit through the three hour spectacle that is Eurovision. I rely instead on reports from Justin and Mrs Blunt, who gamely kept up with the whole show, as is their usual wont.

I do like to keep my finger on the pulse of popular culture, however, so I had listened a couple of times to the UK entry, Scooch, in the lead up to the contest. Their song had all the appeal of watching someone self-administer an enema in the middle of a busy shopping precinct.

Somehow, this dismal song made me yearn for the days of Cliff Richard, Bucks Fizz and Sandie Shaw. Now that, I don't mind saying, is quite an achievement - in anyone's book.

To those of my readers who live outside of Europe, and to whom the whole concept of Eurovision is somewhat alien, I can only say this: you lucky, lucky people.