Eurovision final: UK's entry Lucie Jones has prime position in running order

Tristram Fane Saunders 12 May 2017 • 3:26pm

The UK's 2017 Eurovision Song Contest entry Lucie Jones Credit: BBC/PA

The running list for Saturday's Eurovision Song Contest final has been released – and the UK is in the prime position.

Welsh singer Lucie Jones will perform 18th out of 26 acts at Saturday's grand final in Kiev, Ukraine.

In recent years, most successful Eurovision contestants have performed late in the line-up. All but five winners since 1998 have performed in the second half of the final.

But performing too late can be a hindrance: the UK's 2014 entry Molly Smitten-Downes was the very last to take the stage, and came in a disappointing 17th place.

According to The Telegraph's Eurovision commentator Charlotte Runcie, "two thirds of the way through is the sweet spot".

Bookies are currently offering odds around 25/1 on Jones winning the contest, while Italy's Francesco Gabbani – who performs his song Occidentali's Karma alongside a man in a gorilla suit – is the hot favourite at 8/11.

Speaking to The Telegraph, 26-year-old Jones was modest about her hopes for the final. "I just don’t want to come last, really," she said. "If we get no points I’ll be disappointed, but anything else is going to be a win. All I’ve got to do is not go on and fall flat on my face, and hit a bum note."

Jones's song, Never Give Up On You, was co-written by Danish 2013 Eurovision winner Emmelie de Forest, and has been tipped

The UK last won Eurovision in 1997, with Katrina and the Waves's song Love Shine a Light. The band's former lead singer Katrina Leskanich is not optimistic about about the UK's chances in this year's contest: "I don't think it's gonna win," she told The Telegraph.