125 MILLION WATCH EUROVISION FINALE

An estimated 125 million viewers watched as Sweden’s entry Loreen won the top prize at the annual Eurovision contest Saturday night. Of the 26 finalists, the most recognizable, the U.K.’s Englebert Humperdinck, wound up in 25th place. This year’s telecast originated in Baku, Azerbaijan at the Crystal Hall Arena that reportedly cost $134 million to build, reportedly chalking up overrun costs so that it could be completed in time for the Eurovision telecast. While the winning contestant’s country hosts the contest every year, Annika Nyberg Frankenhauser, media department for the European Broadcasting Union, under whose auspices Eurovision is held, suggested in an interview with Bloomberg News that winning could be a curse for some countries. “At the moment, if the costs are growing more and more every year and it needs to be more splendid, there are countries that would have huge difficulties, especially with financial situation in Europe at the moment, in organizing it,” she said.