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Eurovision is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year, which can only mean an even grander final than usual.
Britain will be entering pop duo Electro Velvet , whose song “Still in Love With You” has had over 1.6 million views on YouTube so far . While it’s unlikely the UK will win the contest, some Eurovision facts are certain:
When is Eurovision?
The grand Eurovision final takes place tonight.
Where is it this year?
The competition will be held in Vienna following Conchita Wurst’s triumphant win for Austria last year.
Last year's winner, Austria's Conchita Wurst (EPA) What time does it start?
The Eurovision Song Contest grand final begins at 9pm Central European Time and 8pm UK time.
How can I watch it?
British viewers can tune into Graham Norton’s dulcet tones for live coverage on BBC1 tonight. The contest can also be watched live on Eurovision’s website .
Who is taking part?
In an unprecedented move from Eurovision bosses, Australia has been invited to take part this year to celebrate the contest’s 60th anniversary.
Organisers have said inviting Australia to take part fits in nicely with this year’s “Building Bridges” theme.
Australia's contestant Guy Sebastian (Respective broadcasters) Australia, which lies a mere 8,000 miles away from Europe, will be fielding former Australian Idol winner Guy Sebastian. But die hard Eurovision fans need not worry – should the country win, the contest will still take part in a European country next year.
Take a look at the other contestants competing:
Show all 38 1 /38Eurovision 2015 contestants Eurovision 2015 contestants Serbia's Eurovision 2015 entry: Bojana Stamenov Serbia’s larger-than-life entry Bojana Stamenov has a big voice and a sense of humour to match (assuming she’s not taking herself seriously in her promotional photos). The former Serbia’s Got Talent finalist says: “I know how to knit and cook…But, watch out, my voice will blow up your mind.”
Slobodan Sarić
Eurovision 2015 contestants Poland: Monika Kuszynska Poland’s contestant, who has been a wheelchair user since 2006 after being partially paralysed in a car crash, hopes to “build the bride of tolerance” this year with her song “In the Name of Love”.
Stanisław Leszczyński
Eurovision 2015 contestants Austria: The Makemakes The Makemakes were chosen out of an initial 16 candidates who participated in the Austrian national selection this year. Their name is derived from the dwarf planet Makemake
Copyright: Milenko Badzic
Eurovision 2015 contestants Italy: Il Volo Pop opera trio Il Volo have performed all over the world, released massively-selling albums and joined songstress Barbra Streisand on tour
Credits: Daniele Barraco
Eurovision 2015 contestants United Kingdom: Alex Larke and Bianca Nicholas of Electro Velvet Electro Velvet, a musical duo with an electro-swing sound, will be performing “Still in Love With You”, which has already had over 1.6 million views on YouTube.
BBC
Eurovision 2015 contestants Russia: Polina Gagarina Polina is a well known actress and model as well as a singer. She has released two albums and lent her voice to the Russian dub of Oz the Great and Powerful in 2014.
Copyright: Respective broadcasters
Eurovision 2015 contestants The Netherlands: Trijntje Oosterhuis Well known in her home country, Trijntje Oosterhuis has previously served as a judge on The Voice of Norway. She has also shared the stage with the likes of Lionel Richie and Herbie Hancoc.k
Copyright: Carin Verbruggen
Eurovision 2015 contestants Armenia: Genealogy Genealogy consists of six singers who were internally selected by the Public Television of Armenia to sing Face The Shadow in Vienna, a "powerful anthem about peace, unity, and love"
Ruben Martirosyan, Public Television of Armenia
Eurovision 2015 contestants Switzerland: Mélanie René Twenty four year old singer Melanie is originally from Mauritius. She wrote her entry song "Time to Shine" while studying contemporary music in the UK.
Copyright: SRF/Oscar Alessio
Eurovision 2015 contestants Slovenia: Maraaya Married couple Marjetka and Raay have come together to form indie pop band 'Maraaya'. Raay is better known as a producer, while Marjetka likes to perform wearing her headphones on stage to "evoke the same emotions in the studio".
Copyright: Tanja Zrinski
Eurovision 2015 contestants San Marino: Anita Simoncini & Michele Perniola Yes, San Marino - the tiny Italian microstate with a population of 32,000 people - will be competing at Eurovision this year. They will be fielding two 16 year olds who previously competed at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest.
Copyright: Carlo Terenzi
Eurovision 2015 contestants Romania: Voltaj Voltaj are one of the most popular bands in Romania, and are using the Eurovision stage to raise awareness of children left alone by parents who leave the country to work abroad.
Copyright: Respective broadcasters
Eurovision 2015 contestants Montenegro: Nenad Knežević Knez 'Knez' is one of Montenegro's most popular artists, having released 10 albums 23 years.
Copyright: Bojan Stnic
Eurovision 2015 contestants Portugal: Leonor Andrade At the age of 21, Leonor Andrade has been performing since the age of four. Like almost every Eurovision 2015 contestant, she has also taken part in The Voice of Portugal.
Copyright: Edgar Vale Fonseca
Eurovision 2015 contestants Norway: Kjetil Morland & Debrah Scarlett Morland was born in Norway but has lived in the UK for most of his life and is part of the British band Absent Elk. Debrah is best known in her country for taking part in The Voice Norway in 2013.
Copyright: NRK/Julia Naglestad
Eurovision 2015 contestants Moldova: Eduard Romanyuta Ukranian-born Eduard Romanyuta has been performing on stage since the age of four. After Ukraine withdrew from the competition he decided to compete for Moldova
Copyright: Respective broadcasters
Eurovision 2015 contestants Malta: Amber Amber is 23 and has competed to represent her country at Eurovision five times before. She was a backing singer for Malta's 2012 entry Kurt Calleja
Copyright: Aaron Briffa & cngfotography
Eurovision 2015 contestants Lithuania: Monika Linkytė and Vaidas Baumila Monika Linkytė has previously attempted to represent her country in the Song Contest in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in 2007
Copyright: LRT
Eurovision 2015 contestants Latvia: Aminata Born in Riga in 1993 to a Latvian mother of Latvian and Russian descent, and a father from Burkino Faso, Aminata thinks of herself foremost as Latvian
Copyright: Martins Cirulis
Eurovision 2015 contestants Israel: Nadav Gudej Nadav Guedj, 16, is a French-Israeli singer who will be performing "Golden Boy" in Vienna
Copyright: Ronen Akerman
Eurovision 2015 contestants Ireland: Molly Sterling Self-taught 17-year-old musician Molly Sterling is at her happiest when she’s singing and playing her piano in her County Tipperary home
Copyright: Richie Mooney
Eurovision 2015 contestants Iceland: Maria Olafs Maria Olafs is an actress, singer and songwriter who will be representing Iceland with her song "Unbroken"
Copyright: Jonatan Gretarsson
Eurovision 2015 contestants Hungary: Boggie Boggie is a jazz musician best known for her music video Nouveau Parfum, which has been watched over 6 million times on YouTube
Credits: Enikő Vár
Eurovision 2015 contestants Germany: Ann Sophie Born in London but raised in Hamburg, 24-year-old Ann Sophie will be representing Germany with "Black Smoke"
Photographer Rolf Klatt | copyright eurovision.de
Eurovision 2015 contestants France: Lisa Angell On stage, the French participant will perform N'oubliez Pas - a song of "hope and peace, of courage and solidarity"
Copyright: Nathalie Guyon / France TV
Eurovision 2015 contestants Finland: Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät "The members of our band are four middle-aged, mentally handicapped men. The music is, of course, Finnish punk," – Sami Helle, Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät
Copyright: Anton Sucksdorff
Eurovision 2015 contestants Georgia: Nina Sublatti Former model Nina will be performing her self-written song "Warrior", a song in which she shows her "power and strength, both vocally and personally"
Copyright: Levan Leko Chkonia
Eurovision 2015 contestants FYR Macedonia: Daniel Kajmakoski Daniel is a Macedonian-born pop & rock singer, composer, songwriter, and guitar and piano player living in Vienna, where he moved with his family at the age of six. He was named after Daniel Popovic, who represented Yugoslavia it the 1983 Eurovision Song Contest
Copyright: Andreja Damjanovic
Eurovision 2015 contestants Estonia: Elina Born & Stig Rästa Three years ago Estonia's hottest songwriter Stig stumbled across a young girl's video on YouTube, where she was singing Christina Aguilera's song Cruz. It was Elina - and the rest could be sweet Eurovision history
Copyright: Stina Kase, Stig Rästa & Elina Born
Eurovision 2015 contestants Denmark: Anti Social Media Anti Social Media is a pop/rock band inspired by the warm sounds of the Sixties. Their mission is to revive the simple and happy spirits of bands such as The Beatles
Copyright: Ditte Chemnitz, Anti Social Media
Eurovision 2015 contestants Cyprus: John Karayiannis John Karayiannis is 20 and comes from Limassol in Cyprus. In September he will be moving to London to continue his music studies and record his first album
Dre Photo work
Eurovision 2015 contestants Czech-Republic: Marta Jandová and Václav Noid Bárta Marta Jandová is a well-known singer in the Czech-Republic and Germany, while Václav Noid Bárta is a popular composer, actor, arranger and singer
Copyright: Monika Navrátilová, Václav Noid Bárta
Eurovision 2015 contestants Belgium: Loic Nottet Seventeen year old Loic was a finalist during the third series of The Voice Belgique and has since signed to Sony Music. His favourite artists is Sia
Photography & Art Work by Josh Brandão
Eurovision 2015 contestants Albania: Elhaida Dani Elhaida Dani is a real star not only in her home country, but also in Italy where she won The Voice of Italy in 2013
Class Photography
Eurovision 2015 contestants Belarus: Uzari&Maimuna Pop music composer and classically trainer lead violinist Uzari and Maimuna share a joint love of Lord Of The Rings
Credits: BTRC
Eurovision 2015 contestants Eurovision 2015 contestants Greece's entry was born in Cyprus but has lived in Greece for most of her life. In 2014 she won the Voice of Greece TV show
Copyright: Sophia Dranidou
Eurovision 2015 contestants Azerbaijan: Elnur Huseynov Elnur has previously sung in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2008, representing Azerbaijan along with singer Samir
Copyright: Magnus Ragnvid
Eurovision 2015 contestants Australia: Guy Sebastian Former Australian Idol winner Guy Sebastian will be representing Australia, which has been invited to take part for the Song Contest's 60th anniversary
Respective broadcasters
Forty countries will compete in the contest in total, with Australia, Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK all guaranteed a place in the grand final.
Who are the favourites?
Sweden, Italy, Australia, Estonia, Finland and Russia are among the bookies’ favourites to win Eurovision this year.
Italy's entry Il Volo (Credits: Daniele Barraco) Pop opera trio Il Volo, who have released platinum selling albums, will be representing Italy, while Finland is entering a heavy rock band with learning difficulties to raise awareness of people living with disabilities.
The UK is not among the bookies' favourites yet. Take a look at Britain's entry:
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