Summary

  • Ukraine's Jamala wins 61st Eurovision Song Contest in Stockholm, Sweden

  • Australia finishes in second place. Russia in third

  • UK entrants Joe and Jake finish in 24th place out of 26 acts

  1. The opening sequence: Woah.published at 20:07 British Summer Time 14 May 2016

    And the opening parade seems to be going down very well so far on Twitter:

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    Admittedly, it's quite flag heavy.

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    But is there something missing?...  

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  2. View from Russiapublished at 20:06 British Summer Time 14 May 2016

    BBC Monitoring

    There has been much excitement on Russian social media about the Eurovision Grand Final. Hours before the show, the song contest hit the top trends on Twitter and Russia’s largest social network VKontakte (VK).

    Some people on Twitter say they had to take a nap during the day and drink a lot of coffee to stay awake through the show that ends late at night.     

    Twitter fans of Russia’s hopeful Sergei Lazarev are using a viral hashtag #SeryozhaOnlyOne to voice their support for the singer and wish him good luck.

    Speaking to a Russian state TV correspondent, pop singer and one of composers of Lazarev’s song, Filipp Kirkorov, said he had been feeling “political tension” building up around Eurovision in the past few hours. 

    He also criticised an earlier Facebook statement by a Ukrainian official suggesting the country may refuse to take part in Eurovision if Russia wins today. “This is not a very smart statement, if it indeed took place,” he told official state Rossiya 1.      

  3. Play along at homepublished at 20:03 British Summer Time 14 May 2016

    If you fancy being a Eurovision judge for the night, now's your chance.

    You can download a scorecard on the BBC Eurovision site, which will let you score each song based on tune, performance and staging.

  4. And we're off!published at 20:02 British Summer Time 14 May 2016

    Prepare to settle down for pure Eurovision madness for the next four hours!

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  5. View from Ukrainepublished at 20:00 British Summer Time 14 May 2016

    BBC Monitoring

    Greetings from Ukraine, where hopes are running high ahead of the Eurovision finals in Stockholm.

    Ukrainian media have been closely following preparations for the big day: news bulletins have dwelt on the song contest in detail and most major TV stations despatched reporters to Sweden. One detail often missing from Eurovision coverage in Ukraine is the fact that Russia's entry is the bookies' favourite!

    Eurovision finals are now top news on state TV (called UA:First), which described the mood in Stockholm as "volcanic" and "friendly". It also said that both Ukraine's contestant Jamala and Russia's Sergey Lazarev have been careful to steer clear of any political controversy.

    Ukraine's state TV will be carrying the finals live.

     #Jamala is also trending on Twitter on Ukraine, and we'll be sending you more social media comment as it comes.

    Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko is already rooting for Jamala on Facebook:

    Quote Message

    We are supporting [Jamala], we are excited and we are keeping our fingers crossed. Jamala, we are with you. For us you are already the winner!

  6. View from Stockholmpublished at 19:59 British Summer Time 14 May 2016

    Helen Bushby
    Entertainment reporter

    Welcome to Stockholm's Globe arena, the world's largest spherical building, which holds an audience of 16,000 people, who in this case are extremely excitable Eurovision fans. 

    Petra Mede and Mans SelmerlowImage source, AP

    You're in good hands with your Swedish hosts - comedienne and actress Petra Mede and Mans Zelmerlow, who won last year's contest with his song Heroes.

    Petra has been pretty busy on the Eurovision front as she’s the first person to host the show twice since 1974 - plus she hosted the BBC's Eurovision anniversary show with Graham Norton last year.

  7. How the scoring workspublished at 19:58 British Summer Time 14 May 2016

    There's been a bit of a shake-up on the scoring front, with the viewer vote now having more of an influence on the overall scores.

    Here's Pointless's Richard Osman to explain how is works.

  8. Justin Timberlake gears up for Eurovision performancepublished at 19:55 British Summer Time 14 May 2016

    Justin TimberlakeImage source, EPA

    One of the highlights of tonight's show could well end up being a performance from someone who isn't even an entrant.

    Justin Timberlake is taking to the stage during the interval between the performances and the results to keep us all entertained.

    We're not complaining.

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  9. Australia take part in Eurovision for second yearpublished at 19:54 British Summer Time 14 May 2016

    Dami ImImage source, Getty Images

    Australia are, somewhat controversially, taking part in Eurovision for a second year. Despite, er, not being part of Europe.

    Some of you have told us you're slightly displeased about their inclusion, but hey - they do have a good song!

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    We just wonder what will happen if they win, are all of Europe going to fly halfway around the world next year?

    The chances are, almost certainly not. Eurovision rules stipulate that the Eurovision Song Contest must be held in Europe, so they can’t actually physically bring the contest to Australia.

    In the event of Dami Im winning, Australia would partner with a European broadcaster and next year's contest would be held somewhere in Europe.

  10. Eurovision: How you can watchpublished at 19:54 British Summer Time 14 May 2016

    Graham Norton

    Okay, let's get the business stuff out of the way first. 

    In the UK, you can watch tonight's Eurovision Song Contest from 20:00 BST (that's eight o'clock to you and me) on BBC One.

    You can also watch the whole thing live online, via the BBC iPlayer (you'll still need a TV licence to do this, mind). Best make sure that laptop is fully charged.

    Graham Norton will be keeping British viewers entertained with commentary on all the acts. 

    Far more importantly, you can follow all the action right here on our Eurovision 2016 Live page. And follow updates from our Twitter account, external.

  11. Welcome to Eurovision 2016!published at 19:45

    Good evening and thank you for joining us for live coverage of the Eurovision Song Contest 2016.

    We'll be here with you all night bringing you commentary, updates and reaction.

    Why not follow us on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, external and please do send us your thoughts on all the weird and wonderful goings-on at the ceremony. 

    We might even use your comments in this very page!