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PUBLISHED: 12:07, 18 May 2013 | UPDATED: 16:55, 18 May 2013
She's the Welsh singing legend with a booming voice and a rock star attitude, who has topped charts worldwide with a string of hits.
But even the mighty can fall, as bookies William Hill have revealed Bonnie Tyler's chances of winning Saturday night's Eurovision song contest are a lowly 50-1.
The 61-year-old is UK's entry for this year's contest and is singing the ballad, 'Believe In Me'.
The Total Eclipse of the Heart singer is more than used to belting out power ballads, but confessed: 'This is one of the most nerve-wracking things that I have ever done.'
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Holding out for a hero: Bonnie Tyler, pictured here performing Believe In Me on The Graham Norton Show, faces winning odds of 50-1
She has also told bosses that she will need at least 20 minutes in her dressing room to prepare before performing at the contest held this year in Malmö, Sweden.
The bookies are offering 50-1 odds and Rupert Adams, a spokesman for William Hill, told The Independent: 'In the 53 years we've been taking bets on the Eurovision Song Contest, this is the biggest price we've ever offered on a UK entrant.'
But even though the songstress has had a career spanning four decades, Rupert added: 'We haven't had a single bet of over £100 on Bonnie.'
Blonde Ambition: Bonnie, pictured here int he music video for Believe In Me, has confessed about how nervous she is to perform in the contest
And Bonnie is certainly feeling the pressure as she takes to the stage to represent everyone back home in Great Britain.
She said told The Sun: 'Normally when I go to Europe, people have bought a ticket to see Bonnie Tyler and you just go out and give everybody a good time - but this is a real contest.
'It is crazy because I've been doing this all my life, but it's still a big thing. I was extremely nervous in rehearsals because there was so much going on before I got there and I was rushing about.'
PUBLISHED: 02:05, 31 May 2012 | UPDATED: 08:56, 31 May 2012
Who could fail to feel sympathy for Eurovision flop Engelbert Humperdinck after he finished a dismal second to last in the song contest?
However, his miserable score — a mere 12 points — elicits few tears from former business associates who claim the crooner failed to pay them tens of thousands of pounds in a previous showbiz disaster.
Almost 20 suppliers who provided services from sound systems to transport for a nationwide tour say California-based Humperdinck did not pay up.
Flop: Englebert Humperdinck finished second last at Eurovision, but former business associates won't be shedding a tear after he failed to pay them thousands for a UK tour
This week, it emerged that a company set up to bankroll a nationwide tour for the singer was placed into voluntary liquidation with debts of more than £250,000.
The suppliers claim pleas to the multi-millionaire, whose fortune is put at £65 million, for payment of their bills fell on deaf ears and letters sent to his California home went unanswered.
Crooner: Humpedinck sings during a performance for the BBC in 2000
Says one supplier who lost £10,000 on tour programmes: ‘I was disgusted when I learned he was going to represent us in the Eurovision Song Contest. Surely we are not so hard-up?’
Gary Marks, who provided sound, lighting and transport, says: ‘We were all sickened.’
Official documents show the company — Engelbert Humperdinck Tours 2001 Ltd — was set up in May of that year to promote the concerts. But Engelbert, under his real name Arnold Dorsey, resigned as a director just 29 days after the company was incorporated.
The company went into voluntary liquidation the following February with estimated assets of £10,738, liabilities of £262,679 and many creditors unpaid.
Humperdinck, who signed the liquidation papers, later wrote to the creditors telling them the tour had been a flop. ‘Unfortunately, ticket sales did not reach expected levels,’ they were told.
He promised liquidators a video of the tour would hopefully provide ‘significant income’, but nothing was forthcoming.
Says Paul Ward, boss of tour bus specialist Silvergray: ‘It is a scandal he was chosen to represent the UK. I would have thought he wouldn’t have dared show his face on this side of the Atlantic again.’
The BBC have tried just about everything in recent years to persuade Europe we are still a pop power to be reckoned with, bar actually sending a major star with a hit song. This, of course, is because no major star is foolish enough to taint themselves by association with such a naff and ridiculous competition.
So in the past five years, we’ve asked the nation to pin its minimal expectations on an X factor reject (Andy Abraham), a protégé of Andrew Lloyd Webber (Jade Ewen), an amateur talent show winner (Josh Dubovie), a reformed boy band (Blue) and a septuagenarian crooner (Engelbert Humperdinck). It’s the charge of the light entertainment brigade, as the BBC generals avert their gaze and send our troops to certain slaughter.
Is it any wonder we’ve become the laughing stock of the contest? Britain is only second to America as a global exporter of popular music, but when it comes to the Eurovision we somehow manage to sound about as cutting edge as the entrants from Belarus, only our English is worse.
So either we get out, and leave the Europeans to celebrate their annual parade of mediocrity. Or we get in it to win it. And there is a way.
I have been saying this for years, and no one at the BBC has paid the slightest attention, probably because the Eurovision is something they’d just rather not think about until it’s too late and they have to put in a call to see what Cliff Richard is up to this year. But I’ll lay it out one more time. This is how to win the Eurovision (or at least have fun trying).
We need a major contemporary British pop star to represent us. The problem is no one wants to do it, so we end up scanning the ranks of pop rejects and retirement homes and picking a plucky volunteer to fall on their dud grenade. We have to find a way to make the Eurovision cool, and to make it fun, and make it all for a good cause, so that stars are actually eager to take part.
So it has to be for charity, a big Princes Trust / Comic Relief style event, raising vast sums of money for a good cause. And if you want a whole bunch of established stars to take part, everyone has to be a winner. We would need a prime time TV show, run over a couple of weeks, with entrance by invitation only, in which British pop stars (and their usual writing and production teams) write and record their own idea of a song for Europe.
There would be a top celebrity panel (forget Simon Cowell, we want a shoot out between Bob Geldof, Elton John and Lily Allen, with Russell Brand as referee). Public voting would raise money for charity and the tracks themselves would immediately go on sale, guaranteeing every one of the acts involved a hit single. All for a good cause.
We need real talent involved, and while it might be too much to expect genuine worldbeaters Adele and Coldplay to block out time in their schedules, the combination of charity, celebrity and prime time TV should at least be enough to tempt genuinely popular artists of the calibre of Jessie J, Keane, Ed Sheeran, Marina And The Diamonds, Katy B, One Direction, Tinie Tempah and Tinchy Stryder, a couple of leftfield rock bands (The Horrors were made for European TV), an old fogey (Tom Jones is always looking for a hit), a rock legend (Morrissey is a Eurovision fan). If we could stir Robbie Williams and Gary Barlow into action, then maybe we’d actually have a chance of putting some points on the board.
Or maybe not. There have been research papers demonstrating how the demographics of Europe ensure that the UK would never win the popular vote again.
But even if we didn’t win, we would have regained the moral and artistic high ground, establishing a new form for the Song For Europe that might potentially produce some genuine entertainment and actual hit songs. Then we could retire gracefully from the Eurovision, and just run our own annual contest instead.
It’s either that, or get Cliff back on the case.
How does Engelbert Humperdinck compare to past British Eurovision songs?
Eurovision began as a way to bring Europe together after the divisions of World War II - and it has become an annual institution.
The UK skipped the first contest in 1956, with hosts Switzerland beating Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.
The competition was exclusively for solo artists until the 1970s, when groups were allowed to enter for the first time.
At that first competition there was a real voting jury, with two representatives from each country awarding the points (and you could vote for your own country's entry too).
How the points are awarded is often a contentious issue and was a favourite target for Terry Wogan's barbed comments in the commentator's chair.
He would have had a field day with the first competition... The Luxembourg delegation could not make it to Switzerland, so the Swiss jurors awarded the votes on behalf of Luxembourg too.
Britain joined the party for the first time the following year, and has missed just one Eurovision since.
We chart the fates of the UK acts we've unleashed on our European neighbours in the past 50 years - like Bucks Fizz, Brotherhood Of Man and, er, Daz Sampson - to find out who found fame and who was a big fat flop... And don't forget to follow how Engelbert Humperdinck gets on in this year's contest in our Eurovision live blog.
1957: Patricia Bredin - All, 6th (6 points)
BRITAIN'S first ever entry Patricia has since moved to Canada's Nova Scotia province and penned the novel My Fling On The Farm.
Despite its saucy title and description as a "romp through a highsociety barnyard", the book is actually about a woman who is trying to rebuild her shattered life on a remote farm. It has not troubled the bestseller list.
1958: No Entry
THE second - and last - time Britain didn't bother entering. Hmm...
1959: Pearl Carr & Teddy Johnson - Sing Little Birdie, 2nd (16)
THE married duo call it "the easiest gig we've ever played". They had a string of pop hits, featured on This Is Your Life and did a run in the West End musical Follies.
1960: Bryan Johnson - High High High, 2nd (25)
FINISHING as runnerup in 1960 left Bryan on a real high - it turned him from an out-of-work actor into a radio star. He died in 1995.
1961: The Allisons - Are You Sure, 2nd (24)
THE Allisons - who pretended to be brothers but weren't - had a couple of minor hits after the contest and went on to perform at nostalgia nights around the country. They even put out a greatest hits album in 2002. How many people know that? We can't be sure...
1962 and 1963: Ronnie Carroll - Ring A Ding Girl, 4th (10) Say Wonderful Things, 4th (28)
RONNIE lost the money he'd made from music on a botched club venture in Grenada and ended up manning a London sausage stall. He stood in the 2005 Election for the Vote For Your self Rainbow Dream Ticket Party, in Belfast. And lost.
1964: Matt Monro - The Little Things, 2nd (17)
VETERAN crooner who performed all over the world and whose slick style shifted more than 100 million records. Matt died in 1985.
1965: Kathy Kirby - I Belong, 2nd (26)
POCKETED a fortune in her pop heyday but was declared bankrupt in the 70s.
She retired from showbiz and lived alone, shunning the limelight, in West London until her death in May last year . A 2005 biography describes her fall from having a jewel-encrusted dog kennel to being "homeless, friendless and penniless".
1966: Kenneth McKellar - A Man Without Love, 7th (8)
THE classically trained Scots tenor had his own TV series in the 60s. He also wrote sketches, including one performed by Monty Python at the Secret Policeman's Ball - a rare occasion when the team performed something they hadn't written. He died from pancreatic cancer at his daughter's home in America in 2010.
1967:Sandie Shaw-Puppet On A String, 1st (47)
OUR first ever winner trained as a psychotherapist in the 90s and earns her crust as a part-time Radio 2 DJ. Now a Buddhist grandma, she continues to release songs through her website .
1968: Cliff Richard - Congratulations, 2nd (28)
SIR Cliff became a pop icon, then a cheap winemaker and professional tennis fan. Often found making rain delays at Wimbledon even worse by singing. Spends his time renting his Barbados villa to Tony Blair and trying to get another Xmas No.1.
1969: Lulu - Boom Bang A Bang, 1st (18)
SHE last topped the charts in 1995 with Take That on Relight My Fire. Was a judge on American Idol 2007, where she advised delusional wannabes on how to make the most of their limited talents, and danced with Brendan Cole in the 2011 series of Strictly Come Danciing.
1970: Mary Hopkin - Knock Knock Who's There, 2nd (26)
THE Welsh folkie's recordings are scant, but she did release a 2006 Christmas single, Snowed Under. It didn't trouble the top of the charts.
1971: Clodagh Rogers - Jack In The Box, 4th (98)
IRISH-born Clodagh set up a restaurant but went bankrupt when it folded. Her UK TV career was limited to appearances on Morecambe And Wise.
1972: The New Seekers - Beg, Steal Or Borrow, 2nd (114)
SINCE then they have sold more than 25 million albums worldwide and are still touring - although with only one member of the original line-up.
1973:Cliff Richard-Power To All Our Friends, 4th (123)
1974:Olivia Newton John-Long Live Love, 4th (14)
THE Aussie singer went on to play Sandy in iconic 1978 movie Grease - which spawned a string of chart hits - but had less success in the musical Xanadu. She successfully fought breast cancer in the 1990s and continued releasing muisc. She secretly married again in 2008, 13 years after her divorce from Matt Latanzi.
1975: The Shadows - Let Me Be The One, 2nd (138)
HANK and co reunited for a farewell tour of the UK and Europe in 2004/2005, playing their final gig in Birmingham.
1976:Brotherhood Of Man-Save Your Kisses For Me, 1st (164)
STILL going strong on the nostalgia circuit they even boast their original lineup. They were part of Eurovision's 50th anniversary celebrations in 2006.
1977: Lynsey de Paul and Mike Moran - Rock Bottom, 2nd (121)
LYNSEY dated film star James Coburn before returning to England to pen songs for artists including German singer Marilyn. She's director of the Performing Rights Society and had a show on Sky Arts last year. Mike is a producer - his big claim to fame is writing the theme tune to Taggart.
1978: Coco - Bad Old Days, 11th (61)
THEY split two years later, but one member, Cheryl Baker, would go on to win the contest as part of Bucks Fizz.
1979: Black Lace - Mary Ann, 7th (73)
MOST famous for giving the world Agadoo. Singer Colin Gibb now lives in Tenerife and regularly "treats" holidaymakers to the band's greatest hits, including the risque Gang Bang. Terry Dobson still plays the drums for a band called Mr Twister, based in his native Wakefield. The band's other member, Alan Barton, died in a crash in 1995.
1980: Prima Donna - Love Enough For Two, 3rd (106)
A VEHICLE for former New Seekers frontman Danny Finn. Despite a respectable showing on the night, they didn't trouble the charts afterwards.
1981:Bucks Fizz-Making Your Mind Up, 1st (136)
THEY had a string of hits and were lucky to survive a horror coach smash in 1984 while performing in Newcastle - Mike Nolan suffering a near-fatal brain injury.
Cheryl Baker became a TV presenter and reality show contestant. Jay Aston saw her Performing Arts School go under. Bobby G continued to tour with his own version of the band. The other three members called themselves the Original Bucks Fizz but had to switch to OBF after a court hearing found in favour of Bobby G last year.
1982: Bardo - One Step Further, 7th (76)
SALLY Ann Triplett swapped pop for acting and landed bit-parts in Holby City, Doctors and in the West End show Anything Goes.
Her bandmate Stephen Fischer has filled in on keyboards for a number of bands.
1983:Sweet Dreams-I'm Never Giving Up, 6th (69)
CARRIE Grant gave up on her Sweet Dreams of fame to teach other wannabes how to sing on the short-lived BBC show Fame Academy. She can now often be seen on The One Show. Oh, and Bobby McVay is now a radio presenter for Real Radio in South Wales.
1984: Belle and the Devotions - Love Games, 7th (63)
KIT Rolfe now runs a dressage and equestrian school for Arabian Horses in Essex. She has also sung on cruise ships.
1985: Vikki Watson - Love Is, 5th (100)
NOW performing as Aeone, Vikki produces what she calls "haunting, ethereal, Celtic music". She has released four albums, with one internet-only.
1986: Ryder - Runner In The Night, 7th (72)
SINGER Maynard Williams made it to the West End, performing in Christmas Dream and Starlight Express, but his dreams of a solo pop career have so far done a runner.
1987:Rikki Peebles-Only The Light, 13th (47)
HE admitted that finishing 13th made him feel "like he'd disappointed the entire country". As penance, he went on to earn a living singing in Glasgow's clubs and bars.
1988: Scott Fitzgerald - Go!, 2nd (136)
AFTER missing out on victory by one point, Scott moved into "ambient" music. His albums of African drumming and the "sounds of the forest" are, surprisingly, not in the shops.
1989: Live Report - Why Do I Always Get It Wrong, 2nd (130)
RAY Caruana tried to represent Malta in 1994. He went on to perform his own Sammy Davis Jr tribute act in Essex. He also earned a crust singing on the big band circuit.
1990: Emma Booth - Give A Little Love Back, 6th (87)
AFTER her moment in the spotlight, Emma - at 15, our youngest entrant - was soon back doing a stint at a holiday camp on the Isle of Wight. She went on to sing on cruise ships.
1991: Samantha Janus - A Message To Your Heart, 10th (47)
FOUR years after her terrible Euro entry, Sam shot to fame in BBC2 sitcom Game On. She went on to star in the cop drama Liverpool One, a West End production of Guys And Dolls and spent four years as Ronnie in EastEnders. She is now known as Samantha Womack after her marriage in 2009.
1992: Michael Ball - One Step At A Time, 2nd (139)
THE West End star came within a whisker of converting his stage success into a Euro triumph.
He continues to shift albums by the ton (mainly to grannies).
He has also turned his hand to TV presenting, hosting the National Lottery and Children In Need. A judge on Soapstar Superstar, he has had success on the stage in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Hairspray. He released an album last year which entered at number 10.
1993: Sonia - Better The Devil You Know, 2nd (164)
THE Scouse pop pixie tried to relaunch her career on the ITV show Reborn In The USA in 2003. She was voted out in week five after a row with David Van Day of Dollar. Her career in the US remained unborn, and it's not been a bed of roses back home either. Her 2009 single Fool For Love failed to chart. She is most often seen in pantomime.
THE daughter of stage school legend Dame Sylvia Young, Frances switched to the West End. She is set to appear as a prostitute in the film version of Les Miserables.
1995: Love City Groove - Love City Groove, 10th (76)
STEPHEN "Beanz" Rudden, Jay Williams, Paul Hardy and Yinka Charles brought rap to Eurovision. Jay went on to release drum 'n' bass while Yinka had some success as MC Reason. The others sank without trace after a failed attempt to rebrand the band as The Collective. 1996:Gina G-Just A Little Bit, 8th (77)
THE Aussie singer had some chart success on the back of her Eurovision appearance but by 2003 her career was waning. In an attempt to give it the kiss of life she joined Sonia and other has-beens on Reborn In The USA - but got booted off on the third show. In 2005 she gave Eurovision another go but lost out to Javine. She records in London and LA and has two children. 1997:Katrina And The Waves-Love Shine A Light, 1st (227)
THE Waves crashed two years after their win and singer Katrina Leskanich landed a job on Radio 2. Her 2005 solo album got mixed reviews and she came fourth when she tried to enter Eurovision for Sweden the same year. They remain the UK's most recent winners.
1998: Imaani - Where Are You, 2nd (166)
IMAANI went on to devote much of her time to charities in her Nottingham hometown. She toured the Third World singing with dub outfit Incognito.
1999: Precious - Say It Again, 12th (38)
DESPITE enjoying a spot of chart success with this lot, Jenny Frost couldn't wait to jump ship for another girl band, Atomic Kitten, when Kerry Katona quit. She has also presented Snog, Marry, Avoid on BBC3. Sophie McDonnell was a presenter on CBBC from 2002 to 2009, while Anya Lahiri and Louise Rose have been in Sky One's saucy soccer soap Dream Team. Result!
2000: Nicki French - Don't Play That Song Again, 16th (28)
DECIDED to coach the next lot of Eurovision flops by teaching at the Italia Conti stage school. She appeared in a touring production Annie in 2010 and 2011.
2001: Lindsay D - No Dream Impossible, 15th (28)
DROPPED by her record label, the Sheffield-born schoolgirl went on to perform in the pubs and clubs of Doncaster.
2002: Jessica Garlick - Come Back, 3rd (111)
THE Pop Idol loser presented the results of the Welsh vote in the 2003 Song For Europe show and was the mystery musician in a 2006 episode of Never Mind The Buzzcocks. She had another go at music in 2009, releasing single Hard Not To Fall on iTunes but it did little to trouble the scorers.
2003: Jemini - Cry Baby, 26th (0)
THE duo responsible for our only ever nil points. Chris Cromby and Gemma Abbey disbanded, with Chris going on to work as a fashion retail manager in Manchester's Trafford Centre. Gemma opened The Make Up Lounge in Liverpool.
2004: James Fox - Hold On To Our Love, 16th (29)
THE Fame Academy loser found more success on stage and made his Broadway debut in 2005 before returning to the UK.
2005: Javine - Touch My Fire, 22nd (18)
SHE wasn't quite good enough to get into Girls Aloud and she failed to impress the Euro judges. She hit the headlines for her affair with the equally talentless Harvey, ex of So Solid Crew af ter they met on reality TV show The Games. She also did a stint in West End show Daddy Cool.
2006: Daz Sampson - Teenage Life, 19th (25)
THE following year he released a single about his beloved Stockport County FC and their nine-game winning streak. He went on to become a hypnotist .
2007: Scooch - Flying The Flag (For You), 22nd (19)
Natalie Powers, Caroline Barnes and Russ Spencer joined various stage musicals. David Ducasse continued as principal of the Performers Stage School in the North East. Caroline and Russ subsequently got together.
2008: Andy Abraham - Even If, 25th (14)
FINISHING joint last did little for the former binman's music career. The former X Factor competitor is currently touring with The History of The Big Bands show and has performed at birthday parties for Arsenal star Theo Walcott and Ozzy Osbourne.
2009: Jade Ewen - It's My Time, 5th (173)
SHE replaced Keisha Buchanan in the Sugababes in 2009, so she has not done too too badly...
2010: Josh Dubovie - That Sounds Good To Me, 25th (10)
APPEARED in pantomime that winter and released his first album independently las year.
2011: Blue - I Can, 11th (100)
THE boyband turned manband are due to release new material and are working on their new website.
2012: Engelbert Humperdinck - Love Will Set You Free
We will be live-blogging Eurovision so join us for the final tomorrow (Saturday) at 8pm...
PUBLISHED: 23:50, 26 May 2012 | UPDATED: 00:18, 27 May 2012
For a while it looked as if he could be in for an embarrassing last place finish but luckily Engelbert Humperdinck managed to avoid total humiliation tonight.
The 76-year-old crooner opened the 57th Eurovision Song Contest 2012 in Baku, Azerbaijan with a performance of his ballad Love Will Set You Free and although he had hoped to break the curse of opening acts failing to win, unfortunately it just wasn't his night.
Even taking to the stage wearing a special 'tcb' [taking care of business] necklace given to him by the late Elvis Presley as a good luck charm, couldn't help him defeat the Sweden's Loreen, the runaway winner on 372 points with her track Euphoria.
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Opening act: Engelbert Humperdinck performing Love Will Set You Free for the UK at tonight's Eurovision Song Contest in Baku, Azerbaijan but viewers appeared to have forgotten about him by the time voting came around
Speaking after her win Loreen thanked all of those who had believed in her.
She said: 'I want to say thank you so much thanks you for believing in me, I wouldn’t have been able to do with this without you. This is not just mine, it is ours, I love you.'
She then took to the stage for another rousing rendition of her winning track.
Thank you to my fans: Sweden's Loreen paid tribute to all of those who have believed in her as she was named winner of the Eurovision Song Contest tonight
No surprise: It was obvious early on that Loreen was going to romp home to victory with Euphoria but the Swedish singer still looks stunned
Euphoria! Loreen's runaway victory is official as she is named the winner of tonight's Eurovision with 372 points
Humperdinck, nicknamed The Hump, scored a total of 12, with only Belgium, Estonia, Latvia and Ireland voting for him and ended up just one position above Norway, famous for gaining 'nul points' in the annual competition.
Questions will be asked about the decision to hand the Eurovision Song Contest baton to a 76-year-old, leading to one of the worst outcomes for the UK.
Winning performance: Swedish entrant Loreen takes to the stage for a performance of Euphoria after being named winner of the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest
Until 2011, the public had a say in who represented the UK and with which song, but that was abandoned when boy-band Blue were chosen to sing I Can, in the hope an established name could bring home the title.
They managed to come 11th last year, a respectable position in comparison to this year.
Popular act Buranovskiye Babushki - the six strong group of pensioners nicknamed The Russian Grannies - came second with Party for Everyone.
They were notable for performing with a revolving oven on the stage.
Oldest contestants: The Buranovo Grannies were among the favourites to win the Eurovison tonight but were no match for Loreen
Humperdinck, who used the name Gerry Dorsey during the early years of his career, kept the Beatles off the number one spot in the singles chart with Release Me in the 1960s.
Speaking after his performance, he said: 'I had a great time, a very wonderful time. I hope everyone listening to the song... we shared the song with every generation. I sang it from my heart.'
Humperdinck’s song was written by Sacha Skarbek - who teamed up with James Blunt to compose You’re Beautiful - and record producer Martin Terefe.
Ivi Adamou (top) representing Cyprus performs with the song La La Love during the Grand Final of the Eurovision but was no match for eventual winner Loreen of Sweden
Don't win: Spain's officials will be happy Pastora Soler did not win after reportedly telling her that the country cannot afford to host the competition next year
There was a UK link to another act as jazz musician Jamie Cullum wrote the German entry, Standing Still, performed by Roman Lob.
Meanwhile, Irish twins Jedward were also disappointed as they returned to the competition for the second year in a row.
The pair received 46 points and came in in 19th place, a poor contrast to last year's eighth.
Irish entrants Jedward gave a high energy performance of Waterline, in direct contrast to Engelbert's ballad but were no match for Sweden's Loreen
Loving it! Jedward make the shape of a heart during their performance of Waterline at tonight's Eurovision Song Contest
The pair – John and Edward Grimes – ditched their usual quiffs for flatter hairstyles and took to the stage wearing futuristic gold suits as they performed Waterline, incorporating their trademark scissor kicks and slightly out of sync dance moves.
The show, watched in the Crystal Hall by 20,000 people, started at midnight local time, finishing in the early hours of the morning.
26 countries performed at tonight’s competition which up to 125 million people watched.
PUBLISHED: 09:18, 21 May 2012 | UPDATED: 15:50, 21 May 2012
The BBC has given Eurovision hopeful Engelbert Humperdinck another reason to worry about receiving nul points on Saturday night after 'ambushing' him for a news programme.
The crooner, who hopes to lead Britain to victory next weekend in the competition screened by the BBC, was furious after being confronted about host nation Azerbaijan's human rights record.
Mr Humperdinck, 76, was approached by Panorama's Paul Kenyon after an interview with Radio 2 in a BBC recording studio.
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'Ambushed': Eurovision hopeful Engelbert Humperdinck was said to be incensed after being cornered by the BBC's Panorama over host nation Azerbijan
He was asked why he was taking part in the competition and what his views on human rights in the country.
Mr Kenyon then presented him with a T-shirt that bore the slogan: 'Please Release Them', a play on Mr Humperdinck's well known hit Please Release Me and political prisoners held in the Soviet state.
The singer, who will belt out Love Will Set You Free during the competition next weekend, stayed calm and smiled. But he and his entourage were said to be incensed by the incident.
In an email to Mr Kenyon seen by the Sunday Telegraph, Mr Humperdinck's agent Chris Hewlett said: 'I wanted to make very clear how surprised and disappointed we all were that Panorama felt it appropriate to ambush Engelbert on BBC property in order to force a reaction from him, without even giving him the courtesy of time to frame his thoughts.
Controversy: An undercover journalist found that blocks of flats, knocked down to make room for the Baku Crystal Hall where the event will take place, still had residents inside when the bulldozers rumbled in
'Mafia state': President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev is said to run a 'mafia state' in which journalists who go against the regime will be jailed or blackmailed
'Eurovision is a BBC show, and he was invited by the BBC to participate, and we feel that these actions by another BBC team were at best ill-judged.'
A Panorama spokesman said: 'We’re satisfied that we’ve acted fairly and followed our editorial guidelines.'
The scene will be shown in tonight's 'Eurovision’s Dirty Secret' episode despite pleas from inside the BBC to cut it out.
Poor old Engel: Mr Humperdinck, who will sing Love Will Set You Free in the competition on Saturday is best known for his hits Release Me and The Last Waltz
Sneak preview: Mr Humperdinck was spotted with a couple of flamboyant dancers during a rehearsal for the Eurovision Song Contest
Mr Kenyon went undercover in Azerbaijan to uncover the corruption surrounding the singing contest in the Soviet state.
The programme tells of residents who were held and questioned after last year's show simply for voting for neighbouring country - and bitter rival - Armenia.
Mr Kenyon also found that blocks of flats, knocked down to make room for the impressive 20,000-seat Baku Crystal Hall where the event takes place, still had residents inside when the bulldozers rumbled in.
President Ilham Aliyev is said to run a 'mafia state' in which journalists who go against the regime will be jailed or blackmailed.
Now watch Engelbert Humperdinck sing Love Will Set You Free
