Anticipation built yesterday as Britain prepared to host the Eurovision grand final on behalf of Ukraine, with performers from 26 countries vying to convince juries and the voting public they should be crowned this year’s winners.
Musical acts, excited fans and others have descended on Liverpool in northwest England ahead of the spectacle last night, turning the city into a sea of yellow and blue in support of war-battered Kyiv.
Last year’s victors – thanks to Kalush Orchestra claiming the coveted glass microphone trophy – were unable to host the contest amid Russia’s ongoing invasion.
So runners-up Britain stepped up, selecting Liverpool – home of The Beatles – to stage the week-long festival of Europop music, but with Ukraine still front and centre.
“We’re supporting Ukraine, our heart is bleeding for them,” Jenny Birchett, 70, a theatre worker wearing Ukrainian colours, told AFP as she queued to watch the last rehearsal on Saturday before the evening final.
Britain’s Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer echoed the sentiment, noting that “our hearts will be with the people in Ukraine who are fighting for their sovereignty and survival”.
The show, at the M&S Bank Arena in front of 6,000 screaming fans, kicked off at 8pm (1900 GMT, 10pm Qatar time).
Austria duo Teya and Salena will be the first country to perform, with quirky dance-pop tune Who The Hell Is Edgar?.
The UK’s entry, Mae Muller, will close out the performances, hoping to emulate the success of Sam Ryder who finished second in 2022.
Ukraine’s entry is Heart of Steel, an electro-pop offering by the band Tvorchi inspired by the siege of the Azovstal plant in Mariupol.
During last year’s contest, Kalush Orchestra singer Olef called from the stage: “Please help Ukraine, Mariupol. Help Azovstal right now.”
However, bookmakers are not predicting a second successive win.
Sweden’s Loreen, who previously won in 2012, is favourite, with her song Tattoo.
If she emerges victorious, the 39-year-old will join Ireland’s Johnny Logan as the only other two-time winner.
Rapper Kaarija, representing Finland, is second favourite with his track Cha Cha Cha, which the BBC described as “an intoxicating blend of industrial metal and hyperpop”.
Fans massing in Liverpool were enthusiastic about the tipped performers, and the UK hosting the contest for the first time since 1998.
“It’s brilliant, after watching it for years and years on the telly,” said Lucy Marshall, 45, a travel agent from Oxford in central England, wearing a Union Jack sequin dress.
She arrived expecting “fireworks, sequins” and “a lot of fun”.
Ukrainian Anastasiia Iovova, a 31-year-old teacher who is currently living in Leeds, northern England, said Liverpool felt like home abroad.
“We’re so proud to be here, so proud that people in UK are supporting us in everything and we are so grateful about this,” she said.
The winner is decided by a combination of points awarded by juries and viewers in each competing country, plus for the first time viewers in other countries, who will carry the weight of one participating country.
