Lena Meyer-Landrut was crowned last night as the winner of the 55th Eurovision Song Contest, and in my opinion, rightfully so.

The nineteen year old, if you were watching, won the competition for Germany for the second time with her excellent, and very simple pop track "Satellite" which sounds like a crossover of Lily Allen and Kate Nash, spiked with a clean, crisp edge. The song itself was a nice, cheerful breath of fresh air to the contest, which in recent years, due to it's expansion of contestants, was plagued with an onslaught of "bloc" and diaspora voting, which hindered and affected the results. However, I think this may be a thing of the past.

The accomplished and highly respected BBC Eurovision commentator, Sir Terry Wogan, left the competition after he personally felt it was no longer a singing contest, but more of a political affair. Even from a very young age, I always took great interest in Wogan's words, as he kept the long, drawn out night fun and lively; and I thoroughly remember in recent years some of his hilarious quips, in particular his reference (in jest) that the hosts of the Danish event in 2001 were "Doctor Death and the Tooth Fairy". But, with that in mind, I felt that Graham Norton did a particularly good job tonight, helping the event tick over.

But this year the rules were slightly different. Unlike other years, the telephone and SMS lines to vote for your favourite act were open from the first performance. This was introduced so that those who appeared on our screens first were given a fair chance, as were those who appeared towards the end. These votes, taken from the public, only accounted for 50% of the final tally, as they were combined to the opinions of a jury, chosen by the representative broadcasters in each nation, for example RTÉ in Ireland or BBC in Great Britain. These measures, along with some other efforts, were to curtail this frowned-upon "bloc" voting, where many of the Eastern countries voted for one another, not for their musical talents, but because they were neighbours- something I still feel Ireland took (and still) takes part in.

Tonight was different, I feel. Germany came first, with Lena, Turkey and Romania arrived in second and third respectively, and Denmark was in four, followed by Azerbaijan and Belgium in fifth and sixth. Although there are some countries that aren't from the Western zone, there are a good mix and a good blend. "Satellite" from Lena was clearly a very good track, as was the superb and energetic "We Could Be The Same" by maNga- the Turkish entry who have already garnered a great deal of awards and interest on an international level. Paula Seling and Ovi from Romania, despite not being expected to be a big act at the contest deserved its placement as did "In a Moment Like This" by Chanée and N'Evergreen (Denmark), even though it was a very strong copy of Sting's "I'll Be Watching You" mixed with "Simply the Best". And, youngster Safura from Azerbaijan was perfectly entitled to her finalist placement with "Drip Drop", even if it did stick more to onomatopoeia than logic.

Years ago we would be seeing many nations ending in -stans and -bans grabbing the top of the leaderboard, but now there is a great variety from across Europe. I can gladly say that most of the acts, in my personal opinion, that were located at the upper end of the the votes had a right to be there. Sure, there were some rubbish songs, but they were only in my thoughts, and even then they were quite limited. As listed above, those acts (who took up most of the prestigious "Top 10") were excellent, not only in terms of performance, but in terms of melody, audience and viewer engagement, and offered a feeling about them all which dragged in the votes, and ultimately, struck a chord (if you pardon the pun) with the fans across Europe. It's my belief that now, 2010, the contest has found it's feet again and will only get better- it's again about music (to a point) and about bringing the continent closer.

On a separate note, I truly enjoyed the show tonight, put on by host broadcaster in Norway, NRK. Even thought they had a limited budget, as stated repeatedly by news outlets, they produced an excellent show that was by far one of the more interesting and spectacular displays in a long time. In particular, their interval was quite special, as was their introduction. As tipped off my fellow Eurovision fan and commentator, Ewan Spence, the opening of the show displayed Europe through the years in their winning countries, later drawing us to the arena in Oslo where webcams beamed "live" images from homes across the world as they "Share the Moment", this year's theme. The interval act was a far superior affair as we witnessed footage from over 49 locations in Europe participating in a flash-mob and group dance, of which Dublin's Meeting House Square was featured. This later panned into the arena where thousands of guests, in the audience, took part in the festivities and gave a go at dancing the dance, which was featured by Eurovision online for weeks running up to the contest. All of these high-octane displays of entertainment were backed by the music of Madcon, the musicians behind the hugely successful "Beggin'". Tonight's entertainment, in this respect, will go down in history, especially because the fact that something so engaging and marvellous was created on such a shoestring budget, in comparison to the big spending by Russia last year in Moscow.

So, now that it's hitting Germany, somewhere closer to me than ever before, I look forward to the contest, because I know for a fact: the Germans put on a fantastic show, regardless what it is. Also, I hope to pop over the the contest itself. Who knows? This time next year I may be writing this article from my hotel room and not from my home.

Congrats Lena, commiserations Niamh and everyone else, and Kudos NRK/Norway.

God natt, Europa. Bis bald, Deutschland.