It was a night full of action and spectacle and controversy. Some dreams were dashed, others simply dented a little. For Russia, Eurovision 2008 brought a first-time win, as Western Europe was seen holding its raincoat and wondering where it all went wrong.

When Dima Bilan took to the stage one before last with ‘Believe,’ produced by Timbaland, and accompanied by Hungarian violinist Edvin Marton and Olympic figure skater Evgeni Plushenko, the competition would have been forgiven for quaking a little. Bilan, an international star, almost won the contest for Russia in 2006, and was voted ‘best artist’ at the MTV Russia Music Awards 2007.

True to form, the Russian delivered a winning performance. He wasn’t the only one. The youngest participant–for Albania–was only 16. Aserbaidschan sent Beelzebub himself accompanied by several angels, and Ukraine’s Ani Lorak, scoring second, performed ‘Shady Lady’ in a Britney Spears style made popular by many this year. Greece and Armenia, obviously also able to crack the ‘secret combination,’ ranked third and fourth.

Again, opinion differed on the outcome and the quality of the show. Everything was contested, from the outfits, show, and hosts, to whether Eastern and Western Europe had indeed become rivals for the evening.

As a German whose country again dispatched a group with ugly hairstyles, bad makeup, and a dull anthem, I can only wonder who can blame viewers for voting for entries that take the contest seriously. Germany doesn’t bother to put Eurovision on the front page anymore, as if to state–ahead of time–that loosing hurts and is best ignored.

Metal was not the winning horse this year either. Teräsbetoni, for Finland, couldn’t step into Lordi’s boots. ‘Missä miehet ratsastaa' was a parody homage to the Eurovision songs that remind us of the Hu-Ha calls of Dschinghis-Khan. This fact apparently remained unnoticed by voters.

Spain wasn’t any more convincing, or Britain any more exciting. And sending cat women didn’t really fly with the idea of Sweden’s pretty women one hears about all the time.

Don't we want to win anymore in the West? Or were this year’s entries testimony to a suspicion that, come what may, all the Eastern countries will vote for each other? While strong opinions are bandied about, the facts suggest otherwise. Lordi, the monsters from the North, won the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 with a record 292 points. And this year a young lady from frosty Norway wasn’t cold-hearted at all, but warmed up every one’s heart with a ballad, “Hold on Be Strong,” and was voted fifth.

Perhaps the point is not neighbour countries voting for each other, but immigrants voting for their home country. This has to yet be proven conclusively, but that immigrants should vote for their home country seems nothing new for Germany, who always gives high points to Turkey–or for Armenia, who has emigrants all over Europe and usually receives high points from many countries.

Whatever the conclusion, we were all, again, in front of our TVs with a slightly raised heartbeat; feverishly, secretly, supporting our country, no matter if from the east, west, north or south of Europe.