UK Eurovision fans pin hopes on former X Factor contestant Lucie Jones

Eurovision fans dreaming of a UK victory are putting their hopes on former X Factor contestant Lucie Jones as the annual song contest takes place tonight

She will be hoping her song Never Give Up On You goes down better than last year's entry ,Joe and Jake, who came a disappointing 24th out of 26 in the contest with their track You're Not Alone.

This year's showdown, in Kiev, Ukraine, looks to be tougher than ever following this week's semi-finals - which saw Ireland knocked out, and is the first since the UK voted to leave the EU.

But Jones has told how she will be keeping Brexit and European politics firmly out of her mind.

"It's out of my hands so there is no point in worrying or thinking about it, I am just letting it pass me by," she told the Press Association.

Her comments came weeks after Russia pulled out of the contest, following a move by Ukranian authorities to ban entrant Julia Samoylova because of her previous tour in Crimea.

Last year, Ukraine's Jamala won Eurovision with her political number, 1944, about Stalin's mass deportation of Crimean Tatars.

The last time the UK triumphed at the show was 20 years ago when Katrina Leskanich won with Love Shine A Light,

She will appear on the BBC coverage of the show tonight, reading out the UK's votes,

The broadcaster has previously defended its broadcast of the competition's semi-finals after not airing one contestant's big romantic moment.

Some viewers voiced their anger when they discovered that the boyfriend of Macedonia's Jana Burceska got down on one knee and asked her to marry him live on air.

The BBC said it could not have foreseen the proposal because it was a surprise.

Just before the proposal, to which she said "yes", Burceska, 23, had revealed that she was pregnant.

The Eurovision Song Contest in on BBC One tonight at 8pm.