TV preview: Eurovision 2018

BACK ON THE MIC: Graham Norton will once again present the grand final of the Eurovision Song Contest, which this year is being staged in Lisbon for the first time in the competitions history.

The Portuguese capital will play host to the competition for the first time in history following the country’s victory at the 2017 contest in Kiev, with the song Amar Pelos Dois, performed by Salvador Sobral.

This year marks the 63rd edition of the competition, with 43 countries taking part.

As one of the Big Five countries, along with Spain, Germany, France and Italy, the United Kingdom gained automatic access to tonight’s grand final.

In order to find a song to represent the United Kingdom, this year the BBC undertook a massive song search. Public entries were considered and shortlisted by a representative panel of official UK Eurovision Fan Club members. At the same time record industry executive and BBC music director Hugh Goldsmith set up four songwriter camps, inviting songwriters from around the world to take part, in a bid to find the best six songs for Eurovision: You Decide.

SuRie was chosen to represent the United Kingdom by a combination of viewer and expert jury votes.

SuRie will perform her song Storm, an anthemic contemporary pop song, at tonight’s grand final presented by Graham Norton.

“I love hosting because it puts me bang in the middle of one of the biggest nights for entertainment and television every year,” says Norton. “A great Eurovision song is simply a great song. What makes a winner is far harder to predict. There are so many factors, not just the staging but also the running order and simply what all the other songs are like.”

Eurovision 2018, BBC One, tonight, 8pm