This year’s contest was held in Vienna, Austria, after 25-year-old JJ lifted last year’s trophy in Basel, Switzerland, with his song Wasted Love.
The show opened with a recap of that song – before the competition started in earnest with Denmark’s Søren Torpegaard Lund.
Writhing with dancers in a sweaty plastic box, his performance set the tone for a night dominated by stories of obsession and animal passion.
Germany’s Sarah Engels was “on fire”, Norway’s Jonas Lovv had “no self control” and Sweden’s Felicia gave us an image that’s hard to forget: “You’re in my head, my heart, my body parts”. TMI, Felicia.
As for Serbia, the lead singer of rock band Lavina was so tortured by someone who “trampled on his heart” that he ended his song with a blood-curdling scream.
Representing Romania, meanwhile, Alexandra Căpitănescu provoked controversy with the lyrics to her song Choke Me.
Campaigners criticised the track for glamourising sexual violence – but Căpitănescu said it was really about suffocating under the weight of self-doubt.
Performed second-to-last, her powerful performance – essentially Lady Gaga fronting the nu metal band Evansecence – proved tantalising enough to take third place.