LIVERPOOL, England —  What features a Swedish diva, a Finnish rapper who loves pina coladas, a band of Croatian agit-rockers and an Austrian duo possessed by a long-dead author? It may solely be the Eurovision Song Contest.

The grand last of the pan-continental pop music competitors takes place Saturday in Liverpool. This 12 months’s theme is “united by music,” and the occasion fuses the soul of English port metropolis that birthed The Beatles with the spirit of war-battered Ukraine.

“I’ve never seen a city embrace Eurovision as much as Liverpool,” stated Steve Holden, host of the official Eurovision Song Contest podcast. “It runs through the whole of the city. Every pub, every shop, every bar has the Ukrainian flag. … There’s a buzz, there’s a party atmosphere. ”

Britain is internet hosting the occasion on behalf of Ukraine, which gained final 12 months’s competitors, and the present is about to open with a efficiency by Kalush Orchestra, the Ukrainian folk-rap band that took the 2022 trophy with its lyrical and defiant track “Stefania.”

As contestants from finalist nations enter in an Olympics-style flag parade there will probably be dwell performances from Ukrainian acts together with Jamala, Tina Karol and Verka Serduchka - all previous Eurovision opponents. Britain’s Sam Ryder, who got here in second place final 12 months, can be scheduled to carry out, and a clutch of previous Eurovision greats will carry out a set of basic Liverpool songs.

Then, 26 acts could have three minutes every to fuse catchy tunes and eye-popping spectacle into performances able to profitable the hearts of hundreds of thousands of viewers. The favorites embody Swedish singer Loreen – the 2012 Eurovision winner, tipped by the bookies to take the title once more together with her energy ballad “Tattoo” – and Finland’s Käärijä, a performer with Energizer bunny vitality and a lurid inexperienced bolero high who goes from metallic growler to candy crooner on occasion anthem “Cha Cha Cha.”

PHOTOS: Liverpool set for Eurovision Song Contest last, with Sweden favored and Ukraine in highlight

At the offbeat finish of the dimensions are antiwar rock opera “Mama ŠČ!” by Croatia’s Let 3, who've a penchant for stripping all the way down to their underwear onstage, and Austrian duo Teya & Salena’s “Who the Hell is Edgar?” - an ode to Edgar Allen Poe that additionally slams the meagre royalties musicians earn from streaming companies.

Rock is unusually effectively represented at a contest that tends to favor perky pop. Slovenia’s Joker Out, Germany’s Lord of the Lost and Australia’s Voyager are all guitar-crunching entries.

Reigning champion Ukraine is represented by Tvorchi, an electronica duo who could tribute to the nation’s resilience on “Heart of Steel.” Britain’s entrant is Mae Muller, together with her breakup anthem “I Wrote a Song.”

About 6,000 followers will watch the present inside the sector, and tens of 1000's extra at a Eurovision fan zone beside Liverpool’s docks and at big-screen occasions throughout the U.Okay. The world tv viewers has been estimated at 160 million.

Amid the musical celebration, viewers will probably be reminded of the brutal price of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, although organizers say they turned down a request by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to make a video tackle. The European Broadcasting Union stated that may breach “the nonpolitical nature of the event.”

The winner will probably be determined by Eurovision’s famously advanced system of jury and public votes, with every act hoping to flee the humiliation of getting “nul points” — zero factors.

Founded in 1956, Eurovision is a European cultural establishment that has produced breakout stars - ABBA and Celine Dion are each previous winners – alongside performers whose careers sank with no hint.

In current years, it has as soon as once more turn out to be a platform that may launch stars. Italian rock band Måneskin, which gained in 2021, have performed main U.S. festivals and opened for the Rolling Stones on tour. Ryder has had a No. 1 album and performed the Glastonbury competition.

“People know the value of stepping on that stage to 160 million people, knowing that they could go huge,” Holden stated. “ABBA did it in the 1970s, then it went quiet and it wasn’t quite seen as the launchpad it is now. Now, the music industry, the world, knows that if you appear at Eurovision, you could be in for a great thing.”

For many, Eurovision was lengthy considered as a responsible pleasure - particularly within the U.Okay., the place years of dangerous outcomes had been blamed on geopolitics and Brexit, quite than the poor high quality of the British contenders.

But Ryder’s second-place end in 2022 has helped restore Eurovision’s credibility in Britain.

BBC Eurovision host Graham Norton, who will current the ultimate alongside “Ted Lasso” star Hannah Waddingham, British singer Alesha Dixon and Ukrainian rock star Julia Sanina, stated the times of poking enjoyable at Eurovision are over.

“There was always kind of a nostalgic thing and a kitschy thing and a campy thing - and there’s a little bit of that left but, actually, now it’s just a bunch of great pop songs,” he instructed reporters.

“You can’t laugh at the acts anymore, because they’re so good.”

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