Ukraine seems to have let Russia march in and nobody else is anywhere near stopping the Red Flag being raised in Tel Aviv

By not participating this year, Ukraine have left the door open for Russia to march in and steal not just the show but all the money for hosting it next year. Putyin is putting up his best singer Sergey, who is not only screen-friendly but he can sing and is hugely popular even amongst nations whose population largely comprise people trying to escape the Big Red Flag.

The bookmakers place him miles ahead of anyone else - and we haven't even yet heard the damn song!

Presumably, if the song is any good the odds will fall even further and so I've had to take some drastic action and grab some vaguely reasonable odds while I can which I have never had to bother about doing in the past.

Hopefully, though, nations like Greece and Cyprus will give us something to make up for the loss of the Ukraine girl, each selecting a major act for the show and seemingly determined to make up for Cyprus narrowly being defeated last year.

There are some other outsiders like Slovenia who have a gentle and quite charming little number but the personalities in performance of a couple of avocados so they probably won't offer the Russkies much by way of a battle. Having said that, Trump may well be engineering some data management techniques to keep his wife happy.

Spain have an entry which would not have been out of place in the 1970s. It is, though, one of the very few cheerful numbers you'll hear from those currently selected. For that reason and the fact that it is typically euro-poppy I give it a chance.

The Czech Republic and Belgium have a couple of pleasant lads with more up-to-date tunes but both still lack the Ed Sheeran touch to be truly memorable or make more than the left hand side of the board.

There may be some others to consider backing but it is way too early. One decent entry from the many countries yet to declare could change everything.

UK will not, I fear, be doing much to halt the Russians this year. The song may be a bit stronger when heard amongst all the other crap there is this year so far but the singer is not that great and just looks like he is totally out of place and would be better placed behind the counter at the doughnut ship or wherever it is he has been working and will be going back to in May. We have a song with no ending. It's not good. It's just a trickle of bigger thats eems to habe been added on at the end and refuses to scan or sut any convention I'm aware of.