Jedward reach Eurovision Song Contest final

Irish teenage twins Jedward will compete in the Eurovision Song Contest final in Germany after winning through Thursday's qualifying stage.

John and Edward Grimes, 19, who found fame on The X Factor, performed their song Lipstick in the run-off.

Israel's Dana International, who won Eurovision in 1998, failed to make the cut.

Jedward will be among 25 acts in Saturday's grand final, including Blue, who will sing I Can for the UK.

The pair were dressed in red sparkly jackets with big shoulders for their frenetic performance.

Before the semi-final on Thursday, the twins said they were not nervous at the prospect of singing before an estimated TV audience of 150 million people.

The act have promised to be "the Pavarotti of Eurovision".

'In it to win it'

Jedward were not the only identical siblings performing in the qualifier, as Daniela and Veronika Nizlova represented Slovakia under the name Twiins.

But of the 19 countries in Thursday's starting line-up, the Slovakian duo were one of the nine unsuccessful entrants.

Ukraine's Mika Newton won through to Saturday's final

Austria, Denmark, Ukraine, Moldova, Estonia, Sweden, Bosnia, Slovenia and Romania all advanced to the final.

David Bryan, lead singer of the Romanian act Hotel FM, comes from Newton Aycliffe in County Durham.

Austria will make their first appearance in the final since 2004, with a gospel-tinged ballad performed by Nadine Bieler.

The 20 qualifiers from Tuesday and Thursday's semi-finals will be joined by Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the UK, who are accorded automatic places in the final.

Newly re-formed former chart-toppers Blue will be the 14th act on stage on Saturday.

The group's Simon Webbe told the BBC: "We're in it to win it, for sure."

Last year's winner Lena will again represent Germany, with the song Taken By A Stranger.

Jedward were one of the hits of 2009's The X Factor, despite not winning the series.

The twins signed to Sony and released their debut single Under Pressure (Ice Ice Baby), a duet with rapper Vanilla Ice, in January of the following year, which reached number two in the UK chart.