It wouldn't be Eurovision without the headlines and this year is no exception.
All eyes are on Ukranian band Kalush Orchestra, who won the annual song contest by a landslide.
While British TikTok star Sam Ryder wowed the national juries, the Ukranians captured the audience, finishing 193 points ahead of their competition once the public vote was cast.
Here's what you need to know.
How are other contestants reacting to Ukraine's win?
The response has been overwhelmingly positive, with runner-up Ryder taking to social media to congratulate Kalush Orchestra for "bringing it home for glorious Ukraine".
However, some expressed sympathy for the Brit, who had led the jury vote with 283 points.
Vladana Vučinić — who represented Montenegro — said that Europe "sent a clear message through this contest".
"And I love Stefania, but still have to admit that I'm really sorry for @samhairwolfryder, who would win in another situation," she wrote.
Ukraine's win signifies not only that Kalush Orchestra are "incredible artists", wrote Iceland's entry, Systur, but "receiving the majority of the tele votes also tells us that the people of Europe stand with Ukraine, that we all want peace".
"We must stand together, rise up and demand peace for Ukraine, for all of us, our children and coming generation."
Are band members fighting in the war?
The six-member, all-male band received special permission to leave the country to represent Ukraine.
One of the original members stayed back to fight, and the others will return home in the coming days.
Before travelling to Italy, lead singer Oleh Psiuk was running a volunteer organisation he set up early in the war that uses social media to help find transportation and shelter for people in need.
“Like every Ukrainian, I am ready to fight and go until the end.”
What's the mood in Kalush?
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If the name didn't give it away, Kalush is where the band hails from — and it'd be fair to say that residents are pretty chuffed with the result.
Petro Yugan, a 74-year-old local, told reporters he was in "seventh heaven," jumping and rejoicing.
"With all my soul, all my love, I love my Kalush. My wife and I have been watching until 1am, and we were happy to win. I was jumping. I was in seventh heaven," he said.
It's a sentiment felt across other parts of the war-torn nation.
“The whole country is rising, everyone in the world supports us. This is extremely nice,” said Julia Vashenko, a 29-year-old teacher.
Will Ukraine host next year's competition?
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hopes so.
After the nation's win, he said “we will do our best” to host next year’s contest in the devastated port city of Mariupol, which is almost completely occupied by Russian forces.
"Next year Ukraine will host Eurovision," Mr Zelenskyy said.
"We will do everything so that, one day, the participants and guests of Eurovision are hosted in Ukrainian Mariupol. Free, peaceful, restored."
Were there voting irregularities?
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which carries the event, believes so.On May 15, it released a statement saying that an analysis of jury voting after the "second dress rehearsal of the second semi-final" had detected certain "irregular voting patterns" in the results of six countries.
It didn't name the nations, but said it had ultimately replaced those votes with a "substitute aggregated result for each country".
"The EBU takes any suspected attempts to manipulate the voting at the Eurovision Song Contest extremely seriously and has the right to remove such votes in accordance with the Official Voting Instructions, irrespective of whether or not such votes are likely to influence the results and/or outcome of the voting," it said in a statement.
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https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiZ2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvbmV3cy8yMDIyLTA1LTE2L2V1cm92aXNpb24tMjAyMi12b3RpbmctaXJyZWd1bGFyaXRpZXMtdWtyYWluZS1ob3N0LXdpbi8xMDEwNjk4MjDSAQA?oc=5
2022-05-16 03:20:49Z
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