The Princess Of Wales Opened The Final Of Eurovision In Spectacular Fashion With A Touching Piano Performance Tribute To Ukraine - But The Contest Ended In Heartbreak For The UK s Entrant Mae Muller Who Came Second Last
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The Princess of Wales opened the final of Eurovision in spectacular fashion, with a touching piano performance tribute to Ukraine - but the contest ended in heartbreak for the UK's entrant Mae Muller, who came second last.
Kate played piano tuning diy alongside last year's Ukrainian winners, the Kalush Orchestra, in a stunning opening sequence for the grand final, shown to an estimated worldwide audience of 160 million.
Each of the 26 acts fought to get their hands on the coveted glass microphone trophy, but it was Sweden who stormed to victory, with their act Loreen making history as the first woman to win the competition twice.
Loreen won with a staggering 583 points, followed closely by Finland.
Ukraine meanwhile scored an impressive 243 points after rocketing up the leaderboard thanks to the public vote.
But the UK's Mae Muller looked crestfallen as the scores for her performance were read out, and she ended the night with just 24 points despite being among the top ten favourites going in.
The Princess of Wales has opened the Eurovision song contest with a piano performance in a touching tribute to Ukraine
Eurovision veteran Graham Norton joined the lineup of hosts, which included Ukrainian rockstar Julia Sanina
United Kingdom entrant Mae Muller looked deflated during voting in the grand final
Last year's UK entrant Sam Ryder and Roger Taylor from Queen after their performance during the grand final for the Eurovision Song Contest
Presenters Hannah Waddingham and Graham Norton as they delivered the jury scores from each country
Londoner Mae Muller wowed the crowd at the arena in Liverpool tonight
The Eurovision Grand Final kicked off in spectacular style with an incredible opening ceremony, featuring last year's winners Kalush Orchestra
Mae Muller was the last act of the night to perform before voting opened to the public
Host Graham Norton during the opening of the grand final for the Eurovision Song Contest final at the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool
Hannah Waddingham, actress and star of Ted Lasso, is one of tonight's hosts
Fans in Liverpool's Fan Zone react to the first acts in Grand Final of the 67th Eurovision Song Contest
Alisha Dixon, Julia Sanina, Hannah Waddingham and Graham Norton after all the acts had performed
Liverpool hosted the competition on behalf of war-torn Ukraine, which won the contest last year, and fans around the UK proudly showed their support for both countries.
Eurovision fans went wild for hosts Graham Norton Hannah Waddingham, Alesha Dixon and Ukrainian rock star Julia Sanina.
Hannah Waddingham was forced to calm booing crowds in Liverpool, reminding them that everyone was 'friends' as it was revealed that the UK entry received just a handful of points in the public vote.
Following the individual country jury votes, Sweden were on top with 277 points, and they topped the leaderboard again when the public vote came through.
Italy and Israel's entries following in second and third, almost neck and neck with 141 and 137 points.
Hannah Waddingham and Graham Norton spoke to announcers across the entrant countries, each of which told them where their 12 points would be going.
But the 'early days' results for Eurovision 2023 put the UK in the bottom half of the leaderboard with only 15 points.
Audiences around the world were treated to further performances as they waited for the votes to come in, with Sam Ryder and Roger Taylor from Queen taking to the stage.
Singer Loreen performing on behalf of Sweden celebrates with the coveted microphone trophy after being announced the winner
Singer Loreen of Sweden reacts to a staggering score after the juries delivered their 12 points
Mae Muller was comforted as she listened to the scores being read out
Merseyside's own Sonia, who competed in Eurovision in 1993, entertained with a rendition of her entry Better The Devil You Know after clips of her time in the competition were shown on the big screen.
As scores were declared by each country's representative, many of the spokespeople paid tribute to the strength of Ukraine.
Among them was Estonian footballer and Liverpool cult hero Ragnar Klavan, who, in the spirit of his former club, told Ukraine it would 'never walk alone' as he delivered his country's douze points.
Clips of Sonia's time in the competition were shown on the big screen as she performed
Merseyside's own Sonia, who competed in Eurovision in 1993, entertained with a rendition of her entry Better The Devil You Know
While the contest has made a series of nods to the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, the European Broadcasting Union banned President Zelensky from making a video address, saying it would breach its political ban.
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