Thanks for that update, Fred! For the fun of it, if we include my parents' rankings:
Italy - 32 points
Croatia - 16 points
Spain - 12 points
Canada - 12 points
So, a tie between Spain and Canada!
Moreover, that was the first award ceremony under rain, and even lightnings, since a long time!
Yes, the last time I recall lightning coinciding with a closing show was in 2001, although conditions remained mostly dry at the time, since the thunderstorm traveled in a manner similar to the one witnessed last night. The lightning produced by the July 28th, 2001 thunderstorm, though, was even more spectacular!
Last night's (and the day's) convective rains were somewhat slow-moving because the upper-level winds were relatively weak. Thunderstorms, in particular, due to their large mass, move at about 75% of the average mid- to upper-level wind flow. As such, the slower those wind speeds, the slower thunderstorms travel, and the greater the risk for flash-flooding, especially if thunderstorms are multi-cellular (in clusters) in nature.
Trav.
