Gem O'Reilly
reporting from Eurovision Village

Now, this is a bold claim but I've just met Verity and Britt who believe they are Sweden’s biggest fans in the UK.

They went to Melodifestivalen - the song contest that decides who represents Sweden in Eurovision.

The pair were jumping and dancing and they said Eurovision is like their Christmas as they take the whole week off.

Verity tells me: “It means more to me than any other event. It’s like family, Eurovision, life.

"There’s a real community around Eurovision all of my friends I’ve met through Eurovision.”

But, what did they think of Loreen's performance?

“I never thought anything would overtake my lifetime favourite song and this one has topped it," she says.

Helen Bushby
Watching in the venue

There’s a bit of banter coming up now while the votes are counted – watch out for some chat with Ireland's novelty turkey Dustin from 2008, quirky dance moves and very high notes.

Daniel Rosney
Eurovision reporter, in the arena

Like careful wedding planners, producers have thought hard about where to seat the acts in the green room to create as much drama as possible when the points come in.

Finland’s booth is next to Portugal’s.

Croatia’s booth is next to Norway’s.

Ireland’s booth is next to Serbia’s.

None of the acts are mingling during this filler bit as the voting lines close. But Ireland’s Wild Youth frontman Conor keeps standing up to adjust himself in his gold jumpsuit.

Helen Bushby
Watching in the venue

Hang in there for those all-important results.

Andre Rhoden-Paul
reporting from Eurovision Village

The sun is just setting behind the stage here in Pier Head as the night sky draws over us.

The crowd here are singing in the Eurovision Village as we all watched pop icon Rita Ora take to the stage.

Despite the cold now - and I confess I am feeling it - people are surging forward to get a better view of her performance and jig along.

Ngunan Adamu
Eurovisioncast Host

When Czechia’s female group Vesna came on stage, Charlotte from the UK started to dance her heart out at the fan village!

Charlotte tells me: “It’s hard to put into words but they had this special powerful energy.”

“I’m with them all the way.” She told me, “I hope they make it through to the final".

Listen to all the fan reaction to the first semi-final at Eurovision on Eurovisioncast on BBC Sounds

Emma Saunders
Watching at the venue

Tonight, there will be 10 winners and five... er, non-winners.

Initially, organisers were going to announce the results X-Factor style, with all the contestants on stage so you could see the look of dismay on everyone's faces.

Some fans had deemed the new format a bit brutal and, after rehearsing the idea on stage, the organisers apparently agreed.

Yesterday afternoon, the EBU and the BBC put out a statement saying they would revert back to the usual format "with artists learning whether they will progress to the Grand Final together with their delegations in the Green Room."

Andre Rhoden-Paul
reporting from Eurovision Village

Back here in the Eurovision Village I've been soaking up the atmosphere.

Dancing away and proudly flying the Irish flag was Michelle McFadden.

"It was amazing," Michelle tells me as she describes Wild Youth's performance.

The song earned a big cheer here as there is certainly a big Irish contingent out here in the fan zone.

Michelle has high hopes Ireland makes the final - what do you think?

Emma Saunders
Entertainment reporter

Image source, Reuters

Rita Ora is up next and she emerges in a stunning black corset with matching fingerless gloves, a chiffon train and knee-high lace up platform boots. PVC is a very popular material this evening.

She runs through a slick medley of some of her biggest hits, kicking off with Anywhere where she sweetly interacts with a young Ukrainian refugee before moving on to I Will Never Let You Down accompanied by a huge troop of dancers cavorting around Rita on a podium.

The lights then change to red as Rita shouts: “Eurovision, are you ready to have a party tonight?” We’re guessing from the wild cheering that the answer is yes.

The set ends with Rita perched atop a pyramid of dancers as she belts out her latest single Praising You. Children of the 90s will no doubt be reminiscing about the original, Praise You, by Fatboy Slim. (At least, we are!)

Gem O'Reilly
reporting from Eurovision Village

Back here at the fan zone, Eveliina and Janne are both from Finland and their dancing was on fire as they watched Käärijä.

Eveliina made her outfit from Ikea’s curtains because she “wants to beat Sweden”.

“It’s amazing for many years I’ve been dreaming of seeing Eurovision in person and this is my first time,” she tells me.

So, what did they think of Käärijä’s performance?

“It was so enjoyable and fun, it gives good energy," Janne answers. "I think it’s Eurovision’s most iconic outfit, it’s going to be remembered.”

Eveliina adds: “Finland’s got the best chance in years, now it feels different.

Helen Bushby
Watching at the venue

Hannah Waddingham, one of the three female hosts tonight, does a triumphant shout out for “The power of woman!” as Ordinary World ends.

“Female friendship is one of the most profoundly important things ever,” she told the Toronto Star in March, external.

“And that’s something that I definitely have a lot of girls talk to me about, and that means a lot to me."

Quite right - we’re with you, Hannah.

Daniel Rosney
Eurovision reporter, in the arena

Image source, EBU

Sorry Portugal but Finland has overtaken you as the loudest response in the arena all night.

It was the closing act after all. The producers of this show know what they’re doing.

I saw at least 10 Finnish flags in the air right in front of the stage and the fans are waving them proudly to the cameras.

Mark Savage
Music correspondent, BBC News

Image source, PA

You can’t fail to be moved by this performance, where Liverpool’s Rebecca Ferguson and Ukranian singer Alyosha duet on a heartrending version of Duran Duran’s Ordinary World.

Alyosha, who represented her country in 2010, is married to Taras Topolja, frontman of the Ukrainian band Antitila. When the war started, Alyosha fled with their three children and her mother-in-law to New York, but Taras had to stay behind.

Tonight’s performance is dedicated to forced migrants like her. The staging reflects the pain of being separated from your loved ones, and the false intimacy of the smartphone screen.

“For me personally, this will be a speech about faith and fortitude,” Alyosha recently said, external. “Wherever any Ukrainian lives, let him know that he is part of a big family with an indestructible spirit.”

Helen Bushby
Entertainment reporter

We've just seen a montage of all the acts tonight - and voting is now under way to whittle those 15 acts down to 10.

Just to hammer it home- if you're in the UK you can't vote until Thursday.

Voting is only allowed for countries taking part in the semi-finals - see our previous post!

Helen Bushby
Watching at the venue

Dare I say it... Finland's Käärijä got a bigger cheer than Loreen, the queen of Eurovision!

Much love for this one in the press room.

Image source, PA Media

If you’re watching tonight’s show from the UK, you may be wondering why you can’t vote just yet. Voting is only allowed for countries taking part in the semi-finals.

The UK is one of the Big Five countries, along with France, Germany, Italy and Spain. They automatically qualify for Saturday’s final as they make the biggest financial contribution towards the contest. Ukraine goes straight through as well, having won last year.

The Big Five get to perform briefly at the end of the semis, and tonight we’re seeing France Germany and Italy, so those countries can vote as well.

We’ll get to see the UK’s Mae Muller perform at Thursday’s semi-final, along with Spain and Ukraine. So people in the UK, Spain and Ukraine can vote on Thursday.

So now you know.

Image source, EPA

So that's the end of the performances tonight before the voting starts. Which did our group of international superfans think the best act was?

Israel's Noa Kirel went down a storm with the superfans, with her perfectly polished dance moves and vocal performance.

But it's Sweden's Loreen who's got them messaging back and forth in our Whatsapp group.

"OMG, she's amazing," said Oksana. "Such strong vocals."

Nicolaas was worried about that setting - a kind of giant set of hotplates, was moving ever further apart as Loreen writhed on stage.

"Loreen, good song, good performance, strong energy," agreed Oleksandra, from Ukraine.

The set Loreen used was smaller than the one she qualified on in Sweden - transport and construction constraints have played their part here.

But for the fans, it was still performance gold. "Great job," said Volodymyr. "The unique individual style of Loreen."

Daniel Rosney
Eurovision reporter, in the arena

The camera crews on stage are doubling up as dancers tonight.

They’ve had to perfect their choreography of moving around the artists, while not getting in the way of other angles of the stage on screen.

Lots of running around, and up and down some steps.

It’s taken more than a month of production rehearsals to be this sharp and every step on stage we see has been perfected as best it can.

Emma Saunders
Watching at the venue

Image source, Reuters

What a song to play the show out. Finishing with the Finnish has really got the crowd going.

Käärijä starts off in a wooden crate but don’t worry, he breaks out with pure brute strength before the first verse is out.

The cabbage worm sleeves and black spiky trousers are already iconic. The dancers dressed in neon pink don’t look bad either (they’re attached to what we can only describe as a manic maypole).

We’re not sure what Käärijä’s doing behind his dancers who have just formed what can only be described as a caterpillar chain. But it’s gone down a storm.

Mark Savage
Watching at the venue

Image source, Chloe Hashemi/ESC Digital EBU

Prepare to have your socks blown off. Cha Cha Cha by Finnish singer Käärijä, is a real fan favourite this year, and with good reason.

Cheerfully unhinged, it mixed German industrial metal with dayglo hyperpop and an irresistible cha-cha-chanting section.

If you’re anything like me, you’ll recoil in horror at the opening minute, drop your jaw to the floor when the transition comes, then leave the room thinking, “what have I just seen? And when can I see it again?”

I’m interested to find out how viewers vote for this, as it could be a real marmite moment.

But, I promise you, a star is about to be born on this stage.