Eurovision as it happened: results announced as winner confirmed

UK entrant Mae Muller will need to beat the odds to win this year’s Eurovision Song Contest – with the bookies backing Sweden’s Loreen to claim victory for a second time.

Muller, 25, will perform I Wrote A Song at the final in Liverpool on Saturday, but is an outsider, according to the bookies.

Betfair has the UK at 66/1 to win the contest, while Ladbrokes has Muller at 40/1 – the 10th most likely act to take the Eurovision crown.

See all the latest odds here

The moment of truth is almost here for Liverpool, as it steps up to host the final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 for the UK on behalf of last year's war-torn winners Ukraine.

Acts from 26 countries will take to the stage at the Liverpool Arena during tonight's (13 May) live final, with the contest kicking off on BBC One at 8pm.

It will be the UK's 65th time competing at the song contest and our ninth time hosting. But what other numbers tell the story of the UK's Eurovision journey?

Read our deep dive here

This weekend’s train strikes were not purposefully timed to disrupt travel to the Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool, RMT general secretary Mick Lynch has said.

Speaking from the picket line at Euston, Mr Lynch said he was sorry for the disruption but that travellers have had “plenty of time to make arrangements”.

He said: “It’s part of a long-running campaign, we haven’t got a settlement, we’ve been at it nearly a year now, there’s no offer that we can accept.

“Despite constant negotiation, we haven’t got an offer that our members would find palatable, so the campaign goes on and we’re taking more strike action.

“We want a pay deal, we would like a guarantee of job security for our members going forward, it’s a defensive battle really, we haven’t had a pay rise for our members for four years now.

“We haven’t targeted Eurovision, this is the last day under the legislation that we can strike, we’ve got a new mandate now but this is the last day we could put the strikes on.”

Liverpool’s fan village has thrown open its gates ahead of the grand final of the Eurovision Song Contest.

Ticket-holders gathered for hours in the beating sun ahead of the Eurovision Village on the historic Pier Head opening to the public on Saturday.

There were cheers from fans dressed as Ukrainian acts Verka Serduchka and Kalush Orchestra and families in Union flag outfits as the stewards removed the barriers.

Some ran straight to the front of the stage to claim a prime spot for the performances from acts including Claire Richards from Steps and Katrina Leskanich of Katrina And The Waves, ahead of the screening of the grand final from 8pm on the big screens.

The 25-year-old singer from London is the UK's hope to end its Eurovision win drought.

She has had an interesting road to the competition - as she bids to win the song contest.

Here is her journey so far

Bookies are still backing Sweden's Loreen to win the competition for a second time.

But who could challenge her - and how do they expect Mae Muller to perform? See the latest odds here

Mae Muller, this year's Eurovision entry, is from London, but it has been a while since the UK sent a pick from Scotland or Northern Ireland.

Read our analysis here

Bingo is always a party favourite during the Eurovision Song Contest and there are a range of different ways that you can play the game to make the spectacle more exciting. Here at National World we have devised our own bingo game for you to play along with at home.  Find your own bingo card to download here

The night has begun with a special performance from Ukraine's winning entry from 2023.

It feature last year's runner-up Sam Ryder and Andrew Lloyd Webber who helped put a UK twist on Stefania

The Princess of Wales was recorded playing the piano earlier this month at Windsor Castle, Kensington Palace said.

Kate was shown playing a short instrumental piece lasting around 10 seconds.