DUSTIN THE Turkey's vision of Irlande Douze Points failed to materialise last night as his act did not progress to the final of the 53rd Eurovision Song Contest.
Ten of 19 acts which performed last night at the Belgrade Arena were selected to perform in Saturday night's final, including top-rated Russia, Greece, Armenia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, but Ireland's controversial turkey puppet was not among them.
Dustin's act, which featured him being wheeled around the Eurovision stage in a glammed-up shopping trolley, was met with a very mixed reception by the live audience, with booing audible to television viewers.
While filming of the act had improved during the week's rehearsals, camera angles did not necessarily do Dustin any favours. Long shots of the very busy stage action outnumbered closeups, with the result that the humour of the act was dissipated and its clever lyrics made difficult to discern.
With characteristic pluckiness, Dustin encouraged his fans "to be dignified in defeat" last night.
"I'm very disappointed, not for me but more for Europe itself, which has yet again lost a real opportunity to have a truly inspirational leader - a leader of all of Europe, from France to Serbia, Finland to Canada."
There was a strong theme of wackiness amongst last night's competitors, from middle-aged Estonian comedians backed by scantily clad models; to a sprightly Belgian song in a made-up language; to a Moldovan jazz number whose singer clutched a cuddly toy.
But only two truly offbeat numbers progressed: Bosnia and Herzegovinas Pokusaj which mixes childlike performances from its two lead singers with a catchy Coldplay-like guitar riff; and Azerbaijans Day After Day, featuring a shrieking glam-rock duo acting out what appears to be a parable of heaven and hell.
Otherwise the songs that progressed to the final committed straightforwardly to their genres: pop (Greece, Armenia, Norway), ballads (Romania, Israel, Poland, Russia) and, perhaps most surprisingly, heavy metal (Finland).
Top-rated Russia has clearly committed enormous resources to its entry. Dima Bilan sang Believe backed by famed Hungarian musician Edvin Marton playing a prized Stradivarius violin. World and Olympic figure skating champion Evgeni Pluschenko circled around Bilan on a plastic surface.
Last night's winners were announced in random order; it will not be known until after Saturday's final what scores each performer earned.
Those results will doubtless influence RTÉ's future decisions about whether to bring risky acts such as Dustin to Eurovision.
For his part, Europe's most talked-about puppet says his Euro-dream may not be over.
"I look forward to returning to Eurovision in the future as Dustin International. Viva Ireland, Viva Europe."