Eurovision winner: A Prayer answered for Serbia

Serbia's Marija Serifovic was crowned the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest at the final extravaganza in Helsinki Saturday night, for her power balled Molitva (A Prayer).

The song beat outUkrainian drag queen Verka Serduchka and his techno-dance tune Dancing Lasha Tumbaiand, and Russian girl band Serebro.

Verka Serduchka, a character played by comic Andriy Danylko, put on a flamboyant show. The band, outfitted in metallic silver costumes and strange hats, gyrated robotically to their dance number.

After 18 countries were eliminated in the semifinals on Thursday, 10 countries reached Saturday's final round: Belarus, Bulgaria, Georgia, Hungary, Latvia, Macedonia, Moldova, Serbia, Slovenia and Turkey.

An estimated 100 million people from 42 countries watchedthe gala, which included circus acts and pyrotechnics. They pickedtheir favourite through phone and text messages.

Serifovic was declared the winner early Sunday morning.

"All my life I have been singing and tonight this [victory] makes me very proud," said the 22-year-old performer.

Shesang about love and pain in Serbo-Croat, flanked by fivewomen dressed in black suits and ties.

"Congratulations, Marija! Serbia is very proud tonight and celebrates your success," Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said in a statement.

Return to 'glitz and kitsch'

Some 9,000 people packed Helsinki's largest hockey stadium to watch the event unfold.

Finland was chosen to host because the country's monster-rock band, Lordi, won in 2006.The band, dressed in scary masks, topped the audience vote with Hard Rock Hallelujah a marked contrast from the bubblegum songs Eurovision tends to attract.

Lead singer Tomi Putaansuu said at the time his band had "changed the face of Eurovision forever."

This year, Putaansuu admitted he was wrong:"The glitz and the kitsch are back."

Many acts used a variety of theatrics to boost their performances. Georgia's Sopho sang her ballad along with a posse of sword-toting dancers while Turkey's Kenan Dogulu used a bevy of belly dancers to push through to the finals.

Finnish officialsput on a week-long party to celebrate Eurovision, including a giant street party on Friday with military parades, samba shows and band performances.

The contest, first established in 1956, had a record 42 entries this year.

While most of its winning acts fade into obscurity, the show is credited with helping to launch the careers of Swedish pop act ABBA, who won in 1974 with Waterloo, and Canada's Cline Dion, who represented Switzerland in 1988.