Ukraine wins the Eurovision Song Contest

534 points were awarded to singer Jamala, giving a clear victory to her song decrying war, persecution and ethnic cleansing.

Second place went to Australia. It had been the national juries' favorite but was knocked off the top position when the audience votes came in. Nonetheless, a respectable 511 points went to that country and to Dami Im's "Sound of Silence."

Third place, with 491 points, went to Russia and to the country's elaborately produced entry "You Are the Only One," sung by Sergey Lazarov.

Bulgaria and Sweden followed in fourth and fifth places, respectively.

The last place went to Germany, whose song "Ghost," rendered by Jamie-Lee Kriewitz, earned only 11 points. The other four countries in the bottom five were the Czech Republic, Great Britain, Croatia and Spain.

In the voting system introduced at the Eurovision Song Contest this year, the jury votes were first announced country-by-country. That was followed by the announcement of the television audience vote, revealed in order of succession from the lowest number of points to the highest.

During the jury voting round, Australia had emerged as the favorite with a seemingly unbeatable margin. In the subsequent popular vote, the table favorites gyrated wildly, keeping the result suspenseful until the very end.

After winning the contest and before singing her song again, a visibly elated Jamala said, "I really love peace and love to everyone!"

After the songs and before the announcement of the winners, show hosts Måns Zelmerlöw and Petra Mede had asked the rhetorical question: "Is there a formula for winning the Eurovision Song Contest?" That was followed by a hilarious recapitulation of the tried-and-true tactics: a dramatic beginning, a chorus, sexy male drummers, ethnic folk instruments and the like.

The show's winning country, Ukraine, demonstrated that another quality tipped the balance this time: lyrics, coupled with a strong vocal quality and an authentic story.