Norway’s Alexander Rybak had been among the favorites for a Saturday slot with his “Fairy-tale”. Another hot tip was Ukraine’s Svetlana Loboda with her “Be my Valentine! (Anti-crisis girl)”. A duo from Azerbaijan, Aysel and Arash, had caught the judges’ ear with their “Always”. Also fancied was Greece’s Sakis Rouvas with his “This is our night.” All came through in the voting stage of the second semi-final.

The full list of 25 countries taking part in Saturday’s final battle is now known.

The four sponsors of the contest – France, Germany, the UK and Spain – automatically go through.

So does host nation Russia, after Dima Bilan won last year’s contest in Serbia. This Year Russia will be represented by Anastasia Prihodko with a self-penned song called “Mamo”, which she has dedicated to her mother.

The ten other countries through to Saturday’s final did so after public voting following the first semi-final earlier this week. They are Turkey, Sweden, Israel, Portugal, Malta, Finland, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Romania, Armenia and Iceland.