Mae Muller will represent the United Kingdom in tonight’s jury final of this year’s Eurovision Song Contest.

The Kentish Town singer, 25, will perform 26th – and last – in the Grand Final, in the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool.

She will hope to impress music experts across Europe, whose scores will contribute to half of tomorrow evening’s result.

Ms Muller was announced as the UK’s entrant in March, with her song, ‘I Wrote A Song’.

She automatically qualified for the Grand Final as the UK is a member of the ‘Big 5’, the five largest financial contributors to the contest.

Performing last “a bit of a poisoned chalice”

Miss Muller is currently the eighth favourite to win the contest, with odds of 150/1, according to Oddschecker.

However, EurovisionWorld have also placed the UK entrant as the favourite to come last.

Dr Paul Jordan, a Eurovision expert, says that he’s “not overly optimistic” about Ms Muller’s position in the running order.

He says that “people have seen 25 songs, and by that point are a little bit jaded”, adding that “he’s not overly optimistic about her position.”

But Dr Jordan added that Italy won the televote in 2015 with Il Volo’s Grande Amore, despite performing last.

He does believe that the UK has a “good song” this year, and that “it needs the song, the performance, and the singer” to be perfect on the night to get a good result.

Sam Ryder’s second place last year, Dr Jordan says, is proof the UK will be “rewarded” with a good song.

Sweden and Finland the favourites to beat

Sweden is the odds-on favourite to win this year’s contest, being represented by Loreen, with her song “Tattoo.”

Loreen, who will perform 9th, previously won the contest in 2012 with Euphoria.

She hopes to emulate Ireland’s Johnny Logan in winning the contest twice.

Her closest competition, according to bookmakers is from Finland. Kaarija’s song, Cha Cha Cha, qualified alongside Sweden from Tuesday night’s first semi-final.

Finland has won the contest once, in 2006, with Lordi’s Hard Rock Hallelujah. Their best result since was 6th in 2021.

They will perform 13th, and close the first half of the final.

The running order for the show, decided by its producers, was released after Thursday’s second semi-final.

Austria will open the final, with Teya and Salena singing ‘Who the Hell is Edgar?’, a critique on streaming’s influence on the music industry.

The UK will follow Croatian rock band Let 3’s song, Mama ŠČ!, as the evening’s final song.

Juries and televoters are equally important

Despite not being televised, tonight’s jury show carries the same weight as tomorrow’s Grand Final in determining the result.

Tonight’s performances will be judged by music experts from across Europe, who will rank their favourite songs.

These points from the national juries will be added to points from televoters during tomorrow evening’s show.

Whoever receives the highest combined number of points will win the contest.

The winning country will then be awarded the right to host next year’s contest.

Hosting on behalf of Ukraine

The UK is hosting this year’s contest on behalf of Ukraine, with the war-torn country unable to host the competition due to security concerns.

In last year’s competition, the UK’s Sam Ryder finished second, behind Ukraine’s Kalush Orchestra.

Both will perform as interval acts during the final.

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