It's a welcome return for former winner Rybak's fake violin-playing. Here’s a look at the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2018, Netta Barzilai from … Metal band AWS are performing a song inspired by the death of the lead singer’s father. It’s the bloody singing olympics indeed. Disney Plus UK: price, app and how to watch Home Alone on your TV, John le Carré: the 10 best adaptations of his work, The usually indomitable HRVY met his match in the Strictly semi-final, The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend A Broken Heart, review – an enjoyable if sanitised retrospective, Small Axe: Education, review: Steve McQueen ends his tremendous anthology by going back to school, Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Christmas Fishing, review – a misty-eyed shot of nostalgiaÂ, Strictly Come Dancing 2020, semi-final results: Ranvir Singh waltzes home after dance-off defeat to Jamie Laing, Strictly Come Dancing 2020, semi-final live: Maisie Smith tops scores, HRVY second after perfect Charleston, 2020 in dance: how Bill Bailey and Zoom ballet beat the lockdown blues, 'Could you marry me? Ever wondered what happened to Scooch? This may have had something to do with the fact that Turkey had invaded Cyprus a year earlier. The votes from the professional panel are decided after Friday night's dress rehearsal, rather than Saturday's live performance. I cannot describe how happy and grateful I am!😍💕💕💕 Say YESS to the DRESS! We take back everything rude we've ever said about Netta's chicken dance. As a monoglot listener, though, it’s easy to feel you’re missing out on the full experience - though maybe not with Hvala, ne! “I really don’t see any evidence of someone hearing a song that totally speaks to them, and then thinking about a political agenda,” she says. Predict the winner. Greece returned to the competition the next year, but Turkey refused to air their entry My Lady, My Lady, which spoke of "refugees" and "napalm bombs", and played a Turkish nationalist song instead.Â, After this initial tension, Turkey became a regular competitor and took part every year. He’s also already won Sweden’s version of Strictly Come Dancing and a children’s version of their Eurovision selection show, Lilla Melodifestivalen. pic.twitter.com/Uh1H17cWGs. This is your last chance to grab a drink before it kicks off. Oh Greece, with your 15-month-old topical humour. The show kicked off with a huge blast of fire as Ukrainian goth-vampire, Melovin, emerged from his piano crypt, whipping the crowd up with a high-octane singalong chorus. ... May 12, 2018. Along with SuRie and Lea Sirk, Cláudia is the third woman to be sporting rose-tinted hair at Eurovision. They scored nul points, so it’s not exactly a good omen. A promising start for France - who were shortly behind Cyprus, Ireland and Israel in the bookies' odds earlier this evening. It was kind of in keeping with the winner (Salvador Sobral)'s big speech about 'real music' last year – which put a lot of fans' noses out of joint. There's a lot of passion in tonight's performance, though it's a shame the music itself isn't a bit more original. Not everyone is in a cheery mood about Eurovision. (You can't vote for the UK if you're in the UK, of course). She has a close relationship with her fan-base, and even ended up getting engaged to a fan called Meri. "It’s one of the most fun, interesting and exciting songs in Eurovision memory, with a vibrant sense of humour and quirkiness to it," writes pop critic Charlotte Runcie. After a bit of impromptu host-and-crowd patter – which is almost uniformly awkward and uncomfortable to watch, even when things are running smoothly – things were quickly back to normal. According to the official rules, “No messages promoting any organization, institution, political cause or other, company, brand, products or services shall be allowed in the shows.” Perhaps they’re loosening up about this: San Marino were allowed to mention Twitter in their song, which was knocked out in the semi-finals. A massive boost for Ukraine's vampiric goth-pop in the public vote. behind-the-scenes material and our regular updates. If you're not sure what they were talking about, read our guide to Envelopegate, the unforgettable snafu from last year's Oscars. However, apparently 15 per cent of tickets have gone to Brits and the bar had run out of beer quite early – so maybe it's not so surprising there was a singalong. Johnny Logan – namechecked by Graham Norton tonight, the man who twice sung his way to victory for Ireland – complained that the rule-change had reduced Eurovision to a karaoke contest. It’s intended to represent the openness and welcoming spirit of the song contest. EUROVISION 2018 was a huge spectacle filled with plenty of shocking an unexpected moments last night. Cyprus’s Beyoncé-esque dance number, Fuego, took the silver medal – but the evening’s runaway winner, with 529 points, was Israel’s Netta. Sadly, many viewers will have been too busy gossiping about SuRie's stage invasion to listen to him properly. Each country gets two sets of points - one from the public phoning in, and one from a jury of five music industry professionals. Just like the violin, you can't talk about the use of instruments in Eurovision without mentioning the live orchestra, which accompanied the Contest from 1956 all the way to 1998. After last year’s winning Portuguese ballad, a lot of countries have followed suit this year with songs in their original languages. Reminiscent of Katniss’s flame dress in The Hunger Games, the sweeping ball gown is brought to life by a series of swirling effects. Both the title of her song and its fabulous genderbending video recall Lady Gaga. read our profile of the singer. They keep sending respectable, enjoyable songs, too, so they’re more than welcome to join in the fun. And watching him embrace his favourite musician, before duetting on that song? Read our deep-dive investigation into the Swedish pop world, popular swords-and-sex television series du jour, After last year's winner, Pascoal has a tough act to follow, Eurovision Song Contest 2017: a guide to all 42 entries, Christmas TV guide 2020: the best shows and specials to watch over the festive season, The 10 best TV shows of 2020... and the five worst, Strictly Come Dancing 2020 celebrity contestants: meet this year's remaining couples, Who will win Strictly Come Dancing 2020? "A solid heavy metal number is a brave choice for a Eurovision entry," says our Eurovision expert Charlotte Runcie. Marvel superhero Deadpool feels that his home country of Canada has been snubbed, and he wants the world to know about it. However, Poland's DJ-infused performance of Light Me Up in 2018 had a less successful finish coming in 14th place in the Second Semi-Final. She gives an opera-pop crossover performance with a belting voice, while wearing an enormous dress. Read our community guidelines in full, The latest offers and discount codes from popular brands on Telegraph Voucher Codes, Israel's Netta reacting to her Eurovision win, A man takes the microphone from Britain's singer Susanna Marie Cork aka SuRie as she performs "Storm"Â, Israel's singer Netta Barzilai aka Netta celebrates with the trophy after winning the final of the Eurovision Song Contest, Well, it's one way to boost your book-sales, Estonia's Elina Nechayeva is somewhere in there, presumably. Ukraine opens the show with a flaming piano, which might sound exciting and edgy, but actually pianos-on-fire are a bit of a Eurovision tradition. O’Shaughnessy responded favourably to the ban: "From the very start we've said love is love - whether it's between two guys, two girls or a guy and a girl so I think this is a really important decision," he told the BBC. Erm, right. ", I’ve had A LOT of wine so I think it’s the appropriate time to put myself forward for Eurovision 2019. Thousands of Eurovision fans have descended on Lisbon for the final, and some of them have created outfits that put tonight's contestants to shame. No-one knows why.Â, France’s moving song is inspired by the birth of a baby aboard a migrant boat in the Mediterranean and rescued aboard the humanitarian boat Aquarius. Charlotte Runcie writes: "Everyone loves France’s attitude to Eurovision, which is to insist that everyone reads the scores out in French, and most years to send an uncompromising French-language song and act like they don’t care at all if they win or not. It sounds pretty easy: step 1 is apparently “believe in it and sing it all day long”, which doesn’t sound too complicated.  They are cunningly overcoming the language barrier by encouraging the audience to sing nonsense words. Watch her winning performance … Whilst we are quite busy feeling sorry for the UK, spare a thought for Portugal, currently languishing second from last above Ukraine. A few bookies may have SuRie down as a 500/1 outsider, but it’s not for lack of talent. "Apparently Australia's Jessica Mauboy was dancing along doing Sweden's moves in the green room – she was so hepped up after her show," writes our man in Lisbon, Chris Lochery. Bookies are now offering odds between 10/1 (Betway) and 18/1 (Ladbrokes) on SuRie to win. The contest’s major incident occurred during the show’s ninth song (Storm by UK entrant, SuRie) when an invader managed to rush the stage, running up to the singer and wresting the mic from her hand.Â. "Our 12 points go to... La La Land!" Eurovision 2018 “chose different” this year, handing the win to Israel’s Netta Barzilai. It's a bit late for the backlash to start now, but if enough people feel this way it could scupper for the former favourite's chances.Â, Is... is Israel doing yellowface? The commotion didn’t throw the contest off its stride for long however. Final (24 February 2018) The final of EMA 2018 took place on 24 February 2018. [NB: This does happen. More than one hack in the Telegraph office was left with a trembling lip. Alexander Rybak has already won Eurovision for Norway, in 2009, with his song Fairytale and his aggressive on-stage fake violin playing (actual live instruments are banned on stage at Eurovision). You can’t put a price on experience, and he might do very well indeed, but it’s possible that Europe will feel he’s already had his time in the sun. #Eurovision song nine tonight. Shub-dubba-do-wop, anyone? It’s totally unlike recent entries from Slovenia, and the punky attitude makes it memorable. If you'd like to see which countries have voted for the UK (or anyone else!) Higher Ground is inspired by 12th-century Viking chieftain Saint Magnus Erlendsson the Martyr, but unlike the television interpretation of Vikings, it isn’t about violence and battles. He was jailed for his political activism in his home country in 1969, and later spent two years living in London.Â. SuRie could be given the chance to perform Storm from the top, after "a man grabbed the mic, started shouting about war," reports Chris Lochery in Lisbon. Two whole points? That year it was hosted in Israel, and to save money the broadcaster cut the orchestra, so every entry sang to a backing track, which became the preferred choice for the next few years, too, until all live instruments were banned in 2004 to ensure consistency from one entry to another. Ladbrokes is now putting SuRie's chances at just 14/1. Sadly, the stage invasion didn’t appear to engender a huge sympathy vote for the UK, but we did at least manage to avoid the dreaded nul points. Cyprus is the bookies' favourite, but sounded oddly flat, as if unimpressed by her own flamethrowers. 56 countries and an additional 34 Associates in Asia, Africa, Australasia and the Americas. Magnus was the Earl of Orkney, and famous for his piety and aversion to bloodshed. But calling for a singalong (twice!) Cesár Sampson: inspired by Madness's Baggy Trousers? We (Tristram and Zoah) will be following every moment of the action, and providing the very best obscure Eurovision trivia. It's an odd set-up; the public are voting for an entirely different performance to the experts. The Telegraph’s Charlotte Runcie loved Cláudia Pascoal’s electropop ballad, but it seems the juries do not feel the same. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Rádio e Televisão de Portugal (RTP), the contest was held at the Altice Arena, and consisted of two semi-finals on 8 and 1… Number of participants: 43 in Eurovision 2018, 26 in the Grand Final. After last year's winner, Pascoal has a tough act to follow. You shouldn't have. Albania’s 2018 Eurovision Song Contest entrant Eugent Bushpepa has performed Mall on the Altice Arena stage for the first time and it looks strong. The Hungarian press are enthusiastic, but we're not so sure. Lithuania has a last-minute surge in the betting over the last few days, and has been widely expected to do very well in the voting. One Hungarian journalist in particular was going crazy with his applause in rehearsals yesterday, screaming full-throatedly after two songs: their own metal opus and (weirdly) Australia's entry, Jessica Mauboy's We Got Love...". Incredibly toe-tapping. Our Lisbon pop correspondent Chris Lochery says that SuRie's Storm might be more popular than the gloomy bookies' have predicted: "There was a lot of audible singing along to SuRie's chorus from the crowd during the dress rehearsal last night. Pop critic Charlotte Runcie writes: "Yes, Australia are in Eurovision now, and will keep on being invited forever, it seems. Pop critic Charlotte Runcie writes:Â, "It's a moment of calm, a quiet and intimate love song performed with real beauty thanks to Ieva Zasimauskaitė’s spine-tingling voice. When he was asked who might be be his successor, he was quick to dismiss Israel’s entry. And now Graham Norton's gone and spoiled it. One of the most chic songs this year, it’s likely to be a high finisher.". People on social media have started accusing the singer of "yellowface", for choosing an Asian-inspired pink top. In Lisbon, reporters are already taking their places in the venue for tonight's final. Frankly, it would have made a very good entry in its own right (although we'd hate to have missed out on the sight of Portugal's pink-bobbed Cláudia Pascoal and her remarkable hair). Also, the song just isn’t as good as Fairytale was.". If you have a smartphone, you can also vote using the official Eurovision app - visit bbc.co.uk/eurovision for more info. Will this be the winning performance of #Eurovision? The press huddle in Lisbon is still trying to work out what exactly went on. Hungary's AWS are admittedly outsiders, but stranger things have happened: Lordi, a heavy metal band dressed as monsters (looking a bit like Lord of the Rings' Orcs) became Finland's first ever Eurovision winners in 2006. Can she sing? Salvador Sobral's favourite musician, currently singing with him on stage, is a 75-year-old Brazilian jazz legend. 48 points. As happens every year, some of the best and most colourful contestants are knocked out in the first round (poor old Macedonia). She kept going and if anything it gave her song an added edge of determination and power.  Perhaps he's struggling to get his groove on in those drop-crotch trousers. Even if one Spanish fan thinks he looks more like a Chemistry professor than a musician: Serbia se ha llevado al profesor bacterio a #Eurovision #FinalEurovision pic.twitter.com/ddvz711UF7. Hopefully it'll be all androids next year. 🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘 #eurovision #HUN #Hungary. Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2018 was the national final format developed by PBS to select the Maltese entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2018. Israel's fears can’t have been allayed by the relatively new scoring system that Eurovision uses, where the hosts slowly read out the juries’ scores first. Something Beginning With… came out in 2016 and features a self-penned song called Storm, which is much darker than her Eurovision entry. The stage performance is a little shambolic. It was the first time Portugal had hosted the contest - 54 years after the country made its debut. A special mention has to be made for that sizeable frock. EUROVISION 2018: Israeli singer Netta Barzilai was crowned victor last night after she charmed the crowds and judges with her incredibly upbeat song Toy. In Eurovision’s early years, live instruments were compulsory (that bongo-player backing Cliff Richard in 1973 was certainly banging real bongos). As we wait for more updates on that stage invasion - during an otherwise flawless rendition of her song Storm -  here's a bit of background on SuRie, or Susanna Marie Cork. Cyprus's Eleni Foureira has overtaken her as the hot bookies's favourite; her fiery song Fuego (or "Fire") is accompanied by impressive onstage pyrotechnics, which seem to have set the audience alight – metaphorically speaking, of course.Â, Being censored might just be the best thing that could have happened to Ireland. It happened after a Chinese channel called Mango refused to broadcast his song (as the stage performance features two male dancers acting out a love story). Netta - TOY - Israel - Official Music Video - Eurovision 2018 However, the empowering dance song had the audience captivated and cheering. As Graham rightly points out, second place isn’t an ideal slot (no one has ever won in this position before). We're digging these mellow vibes from someone called Branko. Look out for her performance in sixth position. The protestor was wearing a t-shirt advertising "Dr" Activism's website and urging them to buy his book on Amazon. For context, earlier this week bookies were offering 500-1 on her.Â. The hosts are wearing some stunning dresses, including that holographic number, but nothing can beat the frock belonging to Elina Nechayeva of Estonia (below). It's likely that phone-votes for both Germany and Serbia will have taken a dent after this. After an admirably brief acceptance speech ("Thank you for accepting differences between us – thank you for celebrating diversity"), a visibly moved Netta was back onstage to make clucking noises one final time. In a Danish-language interview, Rasmussen explained that Higher Ground has “a message of peace.” It’s a message as relevant now as it was in the 12th century, but will it sway the voters? A fun but morbid fact: one of our ex-contestants ended up running for election whilst dead. Live music became optional for the first time in 1999. A post shared by Hair Metal Heröes (@hairmetalheroes) on Apr 13, 2016 at 12:22pm PDT, Next up is Czech Republic's Mikolas Josef with Lie to Me. If the UK received a boost from sympathetic fans after the stage-invasion, we won't be seeing any sign of it yet. "Light Me Up" performed by Gromee and Lukas Meijer was selected as the winner. We urge you to turn off your ad blocker for The Telegraph website so that you can continue to access our quality content in the future. Graham Norton joked that he has never aged and has been "preserved in aspic", but who is Eurovision’s Jon Ola Sand? Toy by Netta, the song everyone refers to as the "chicken song", has won it for Israel. Along with the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 being announced, the grand final had a security breech when a man ran on stage during SuRie’s performance of “Storm.” The UK contestant was belting out her number when a man ran on stage , security close behind. Austria’s The Makemakes had one in 2015. ), this potted history of Portugal's Eurovision entries is actually very amusing.Â. What a professional.". As we take a short interval break, our Lisbon pop correspondent Chris Lochery  gives his verdict on the first half: "Thinks kicked off with quite a solemn and serious start. Our man on the ground, Chris Lochery, writes: "The Hungarian press corps are the most gregarious currently – wearing some bright wigs and with red, white and green balloons filling their table. He’s the head honcho of the show: the executive supervisor who makes sure everything runs smoothly. Eurovision Song Contest winner Salvador Sobral has made public his first musical performance since undergoing a heart transplant.The 28-year-old Portuguese singer has posted a solo piano performance on his Facebook page on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2018. If the Norwegian entry doesn't get a trophy, at least he's sure to get a slice of cake. An iconic Spice Girls cover from @SuRieOfficial. It's very 2007 emo-metal. If we’re going to lose every year let’s do it in style. Well, that sent a shiver down the spine. And an excellent singer in his own right, too. WINNER'S PERFORMANCE: Duncan Laurence - Arcade - The Netherlands - Eurovision 2019 — 1 year ago Video Winner's Press Conference with Netta from Israel - Eurovision Song Contest 2018 Read our full interview with SuRie. "They've gone crazy for Netta in the Eurovision Village Square (Praça do Comércio) too. This year, however, they might stand a better chance than usual: Mercy is sleek, modern electropop and has a beautifully beguiling quality, as well as a catchy chorus.". If you enjoyed Denmark's Rasmussen and that mournful neo-sea shanty Higher Ground, here's a bit of fun background info about the singer.  Jonas Flodager Rasmussen is best known to Danish audiences as the frontman of Hair Metal Heröes, a cover band who specialise in camp classics by Bon Jovi and Mötley Crüe, so this sombre song is a bit of a departure for him. But let's not forget about Wham. #deadpool2 pic.twitter.com/ZgpTUwLAJZ. Although Netta probably wasn’t authorised to make the decision officially, she suggested in her victory speech that Jerusalem may be the city that welcomes the song contest next year. A solid base of standard dance-pop songs, a smattering of dreamy/dreary ballads, then seasoned with a couple of truly stand-out stage-shows. Retreating from battle, at one time in his life he took refuge in Scotland. Eurovision 2018: Israel's Netta is the winner The 25-year-old singer Netta Barzilai has won the Eurovision Song Contest with her song Toy, inspired by … Salvador Sobral was clearly a tough act to follow. . The numbers to call for each country will appear on TV during tonight's broadcast. This flag waving is such a waste of my life #Eurovision #ESC18, A flag ceremony? It might just be the speakers. One person who won’t be happy tonight is last year’s winner Salvador Sobral. The Harlow-born singer started writing songs at the age of 12, and is the only British entry since Bonnie Tyler in 2013 to have already released an album. We think we understand why: middle-aged joint pain is, of course, the best topic for anthemic pop. A stage invader interrupted British singer SuRie's performance at the Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday night. But they have a very proud musical tradition here in Portugal, so they're not doing Swedish-style parody songs. Step forward Scottish comedian and News Quiz panellist Susan Calman. Who are we to argue with the will of the people? There's a camel in the official music video for this song. There had been a slight ripple of controversy which occurred after the first semi-final on Tuesday, when a Chinese broadcaster took objection to Ireland’s same-sex dancers and refused to air it, but everything seemed to have been settled by curtain-up on Saturday. "Mélovin looks as if he’s escaped Bram Stoker’s Dracula to start a pop career, and though he has an appealing gothic-pop look, and a distinctive voice, this insistent dance song feels hurried and unspectacular, and unlikely to do particularly well considering strong competition this year.". The man, who is thought to be the serial stage-crasher who goes by the name ‘Dr Activist’, shouted what sounded to be “For the Nazis of the UK media, we demand freedom!” into the live mic before he was grabbed by security and taken off-stage. That's the kind of pedantic accuracy that brings a patriotic lump to the throat, isn't it? Does Saara Aalto look familiar? Oddly, it seems that what the public really, really wants is an old man in sunglasses playing the recorder. "Don't give me that c--p about Canada not being part of the European family,” he complains in a new campaign video. The juries fell hard for Austria’s impressive vocals, as Cesar blasted out his Sam Smith-sounding entry Nobody But You; as well as Benjamin Ingrosso’s Bieber-lite pop jam, Dance You Off, which was exactly the sort of masterclass in music production Sweden is known for.Â, As is often the case though, the juries’ favourites sat somewhat at odds with the audience at home.Â, Millions of viewers across Europe and beyond (hello, Australia!) Dressed like a butterfly in a black and pink kimono-style dress, against a back wall of Japanese maneki-neko “beckoning cat” ornaments, her song Toy was nothing if not arresting.Â. Sorry, SuRie. We look at the Eurovision 2017 winner. Eurovision was, of course, a big deal in medieval times. Unlike the wretched Planet Earth parodies we were forced to sit through in the semi-final ("David Attenburger", anyone? They pick their top ten songs: the favourite gets 12 points, the second favourite gets 10 points, and the remaining eight get one to eight points. They were formerly bottom of the table, but perhaps the professional judges are a bit old for the Twilight demographic. Personally, we’re in favour of seeing more fictional superheroes take part in Eurovision. A lesser talent might have been upstaged by the costume, but Nechayeva has the vocal strength and presence to pull it off. Once again: these votes are not based on tonight's show, but on last night's dress rehearsal. The United Kingdom’s entry  is a classically trained pianist: for proof, here she is applying her full musical chops to the oeuvre of the Spice Girls. For a moment, it looked as though it was going to be a rather politically calm Eurovision for once. Now that the polls have closed, let’s refresh our memories as to how Eurovision voting actually works. Lithuania's Ieva Zasimauskaitė can't even be bothered to stand up for the first two minutes of her song, When We're Old. And even five seconds of Salvador Sobral's winning song is enough to tug our heartstrings. For us? He’s actually only been doing the job since 2011, and is just 56, so Graham’s teasing feels a little cruel. SuRie’s song got a final score of 48, placing 24th overall – just ahead of Finland and Portugal. The European Broadcast Union terminated their relationship with Chinese station Mango TV, who will not be able to air tonight’s grand final. voted in their droves for Italy’s plucky little banjo song about the recent spate of terror attacks in Europe – which ended up finishing fifth.Â. That stage invasion might just be the best thing that could have happened for the UK. And it's made an impression on the crowd - even the jaded journalists. "Big, big clapalong for Israel in the chorus here – the first time that's happened in the press centre," reports Chris Lochery from Lisbon. channel for music videos, live show footage, historic moments, exclusive In 2015, Il Volo actually won the public televote, but only ended up in third place because the juries didn't rate it. According to the official translation, she’s singing about “a character of smiles and freedom as the most virtual trick of them all”. "Oh, it's near Ruislip!” cry the excited millions in Moldova. It was the bookies' favourite early in the running, and it seems they called it right. This band was apparently originally formed with the aim of preserving Serbian medieval musical tradition. Here's Charlotte Runcie's verdict:  "This one is all about Nechayeva’s voice. Like UK entry SuRie, he has taken part in Eurovision before as a backing singer, supporting Bulgaria in 2016 and 2017. You’ve awakened a sleeping moose, Europe. If it's not the doctor himself, it's certainly the fan. Predict the winner, What’s on TV tonight: The Year That Changed Love, Margaret Thatcher Night and more, Last night on TV: what Telegraph reviewers made of The Real Full Monty on Ice and more, The Real Full Monty on Ice, episode 1 review: unwise tattoos, wobbly bits – and all for a good cause. Always a risk at Eurovision, and SuRie dealt with that absolutely brilliantly. Dissatisfaction with the rules, particularly how the vote is split between the public and professional judges (Turkey does better with the popular vote) and the guaranteed inclusion of the "big Five countries: England, Germany, France Spain and Italy.Â, The official Eurovision website states that Turkish broadcaster TRT "Broadcaster TRT continues to be a member of the European Broadcasting Union and has the right to return to the contest in the future.". Her three dancers add nothing to the performance to be honest. But what does our pop critic Charlotte Runcie think? But why can't he play a real one? The competition was filled with plenty of the usual primetime fare we’ve come to expect from these Saturday night shows. There are only 26 countries in the final, whittled down from 43. That must smart, given that they’re hosting. Host nation Portugal suffered from the infamous winners’ curse, entering a rather forgettable bit of blissed-out balladry that sank right to the bottom of the scoreboard (a similar fate to that of Austria in 2014, and Ukraine in 2017). Refresh your memory of the Phantom of the full line-up with our guide. Attenburger '', anyone to win are decided after Friday night 's dress rehearsal on! That apparently 15 % of tickets for these shows were sold to Brits. `` because choreography! Them all” to get his groove on in those drop-crotch trousers 2018 has a tough to... A backing singer,  Graham Norton 's gone and spoiled it a backing-singer from Wham of... Darker than her Eurovision entry, '' says Chris Lochery in Lisbon, reporters are already their... Israel is now invited to host the show in 2019 Hunger Games, the Telegraph values your comments kindly... That bongo-player backing Cliff Richard in 1973 was certainly banging real bongos ) 's chicken dance of Serbian! 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