From Flo Rida to Russia’s ‘Dalek’ costume: All the best Eurovision memes and moments

The 65th Eurovision Song Contest had it all: from angel and hand costumes to Flo Rida. Another year of the Europop party is over, and it was another wild ride.

The United Kingdom’s entry, James Newman and his track “Embers”, came last in the contest, but his bad luck in securing no votes whatsoever from neither the public or the jury was a pretty heavy blow.

At least Newman himself took the loss well, standing up to applause from the audience and other delegates.

The winner of the competition with a whopping 524 points was Italy, with heavy metal band Måneskin taking home the trophy for their track, “Zitti E Buoni”.

Yelling into the microphone after accepting the win, the group’s frontman Damiano David said: “We just wanted to say to the whole of Europe, top the whole world, rock and roll never dies.”

It was an eventful night, as to be expected – just like the memes were too.

Whether you missed last night’s show or want to relive the ridiculousness once more, we’ve rounded up some of the best for you below.

1. Russian Dalek

Fans eagerly anticipating their next fix of the sci-fi series Doctor Who may have had something to tide them over last night, as a costume worn by Russia’s delegate Manizha Sangin was compared to the Doctor’s arch nemeses, the Daleks:

Dalek or otherwise, Sangin’s “Russian Woman” certainly exterminated a few stereotypes and perceptions in terms of its lyrics and staging.

2. Italy’s table incident

As entrants waited for the results from the juries to come in – votes which have been known to change the outcome completely (Switzerland were winning on the public vote before Italy landed a massive jury score) – the camera decided to pan to Italy in the green room to see how they were dealing with the suspense.

One of them waved their country’s flag, another stuck their tongue out, the third raised their glass and another looked like they were biting their fingernails with nerves.

However, Måneskin frontman Damiano David could be seen leaning down towards the table – something which has led many to suspect that the singer was taking a banned substance:

The European Broadcasting Union later said they were aware of the speculation and “looking into it”, while David told a press conference that what had actually happened was that another band member “broke a glass” and that “I don’t use drugs”.

The group also posted a statement to their Instagram story, in which they said: “We are really shocked about what some people are saying about Damiano taking drugs. We really are AGAINST drugs and we never used cocaine.

“We are ready to get tested, cause we have nothing to hide.”

3. The hilarious decision to have Germany play before Finland

Sometimes one wonders if the Eurovision schedulers do these things on purpose. Perhaps not content with putting Cyprus’ fiery “El Diablo” and Norway’s “Fallen Angel” in the semi-finals, the running order for the grand final saw angry rockers Finland follow on from Germany’s “I Don’t Feel Hate”.

Given the latter’s song was more upbeat, with vibrant colours and ukuleles making it almost sound like a children’s TV track, contrasting that immediately with a band who had their middle fingers painted red to get around Eurovision’s ‘no swearing’ rule was the chaotic energy we live for.

Others agreed:

And it’s also worth saying that yes, somehow a dancing woman in a hand costume got more votes than the United Kingdom’s entry. Make it make sense.

4. Flo Rida. That is all.

Arguably one of the biggest name to get involved in this year’s contest was the American rapper Flo Rida, an international star known for tracks such as “Good Feeling” and “Whistle” who decided to join Senhit to perform for the small state of San Marino.

In addition to people having flashbacks to the early 2010s, social media users wondered if he actually knew what he was getting himself in for:

No, we still don’t know why he was there either.

5. Cyprus and Lady Gaga

Viewers also joked that Lady Gaga could well be picking up the “Telephone” to her lawyers following Cyprus’ performance, after their track “El Diablo” by Elena Tsagrinou was compared to a song by the superstar – particularly “Bad Romance” from her album, The Fame Monster.

Elena, if you do get a call, we’d suggest putting on your best “Poker Face”.

6. “Ja Ja Ding Dong”

Not content with having a weird and wonderful performance from representative Daði Freyr, Iceland’s spokesperson for announcing the results from their country was Hannes Óli Ágústsson, the actor who attracted memes and online fame for his one simple request in the Eurovision movie: “play ‘Ja Ja Ding Dong’”.

Introducing his country’s points, Ágústsson said: “There were many nice songs this year, but I would personally like you to play ‘Ja Ja Ding Dong’.

Keen to keep the show on the road, one of the hosts responded: “We would love to do that with all these thousands of people, but we’re a bit running out of time, so please, may we have your 12 points?”

“Of course, no problem. Our 12 points go to ‘Ja Ja Ding Dong’! Really?!”

Maybe next year, Ágústsson, when the show travels to Italy for the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest.

We expect there’ll be plenty of memes then, too.