Eurovision 2021 – live: Latest updates with Italy, Malta and Ukraine among favourites to win as voting closes
Malta #Malta
Italy triumphed in a spectacular and nail-biting Eurovision ceremony, emerging the winners at a live event held in Rotterdam, Netherlands..
The country’s 2021 entry, rock band Maneskin, achieved high scores from the jury with their performance of “Zitti e buono” but were at first left trailing behind Switzerland and France.
A dancing hand is the star of Germany’s high-energy Eurovision performance
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However, the public vote won the day, as they soared to the top of the board while the UK’s entry, James Newman, languished at the bottom with a devastating nul points.
They edged out other crowd favourites including Lithuania’s The Roop, Switzerland’s Gjon’s Tears, France’s Barbara Pravi and Ukranian delegation Go_A.
Tonight’s contest took place after last year’s event was cancelled – for the first time in Eurovision’s 64-year history – due to the coronavirus pandemic.
A live audience of 3,500 people were in attendance as part of the government’s ongoing programme for the safe restart of mass-participation events.
It was an evening full of colourful, high-octane performances from countries including Malta, Sweden, San Marino, Serbia and Ukraine.