Eurovision 2018: Norway's Alexander Rybak set for SECOND victory after 2009 win?

The Eurovision Song Contest 2018 will take place on Saturday evening as 26 countries are selected to perform.

Tuesday’s first semi-final saw Austria, Estonia, Cyprus, Lithuania, Israel, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Albania, Finland and Ireland make it through to the final stage.

The “big five”, France, Germany, Spain, Italy and the UK automatically qualify for the grand final as they made the biggest financial contribution to the annual song competition.

Tonight will see 18 more countries battle it out to claim their place on the stage on Portugal at the weekend.

Countries competing will be: Australia, Denmark, Moldova, Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Serbia, Georgia, Hungary, Latvia, Malta, Montenegro, Poland, Slovenia, Sweden and Ukraine.

The current favourite to win is Cyprus with their song Fuego, sung by Eleni Foureira as bookmakers Betway have her slated for a win with odds of 9/4.

Tonight, Norway looks set to storm to victory as contestant Alexander Rybak takes to the stage.

Follow our live blog below for updates on tonight's semi-final.

20.07 - Norway take to the stage

Winner of Eurovision 2009, Alexander Rybak steps up to perform his entry That's How You Write A Song. 

Viewers are quick to compare it to his previous winning entry Fairytales on social media.

One tweeted: "Ok so I don’t love this song lol what happened to a good old banger like fairytale lol #eurovision."

"This song has been stuck in my head for weeks, but it’s no Fairytale. @bbceurovision #allaboard #EUROVISION," another added

20.11 - Romania take to the stage

Retro rock band The Humans perform their entry Goodbye, complete with some very eerie masked backing dancers.

Some found them quite disturbing, as one tweeted: "Ok all those mannequins are scaring me."

20.15 - Serbia take to the stage

Sanja Ilic and Balkanika offer up their entry Nova Deca, which means "new children". 

The act have brought together some traditional Balkan musical elements with a modern twist. 

20.19 - San Marino take to the stage

Jessika feat. Jenifer Brening perform Who We Are, complete with both human and robot backing dancers. 

All eyes appeared to be on the androids as fans seemed to love their role in the performance.

"San Marino: TOY ROBOTS! #Eurovision," one exclaimed.

Another declared: "Eurovision Robotic Contest, yay!"

20.23 - Denmark take to the stage

Rasmussen puts his best foot forward with Higher Ground, a song inspired by a real-life Viking. 

Joined on stage by several equally hirsuite gentlemen, he performs a stirring rendition complete with a fake snow machine. 

20.28 - Russia take to the stage

Julia Samoylova sings I Won't Break on top of a volcano-like structure.

The contestant was due to appear last year, before Russia pulled out of the competition. 

20.31 - Cyprus entrant Eleni Foureira is interviewed by Scott Mills

On hearing she's bookies' favourite to win, the singer says: "This is beautiful, thank you so much."

20.35 - Moldova take to the stage

DoReDos give an energetic performance of My Lucky Day.

The quirkiest entry to perform so far, the trio deliver a high-energy display complete with a set of lookalikes in matching outfits. 

20.28 - The Netherlands take to the stage

A distinctly American Country sounding track, Outlaw in 'Em, is sung by Waylon.

The singer also represented the country in 2014.

20.42 - Australia take to the stage

Jessica Mauboy offers up mid-tempo pop track We Got Love which is inspired by several female empowerment movements.

The song has a mixed reception from viewers, as one tweets: "Superb performance from Australia #AUS #Eurovision."

While another questions: "Oh no Jess, what is you doing? #AUS #Eurovision #AllAboard."

20.47 - Georgia take to the stage

Jazz/ethno-folk group Iriao perform their song Sheni Gulistvis.

Some viewers are very impressed with their vocal skills, as one comments: "They‘re serving some serious harmonies. You do you Georgia!"

20.51 - Poland take to the stage

Gromee feat. Lukas Meijer are a trendy pair as they roll up in some chic black outfits to perform Light Me Up.

The electronic dance track appears to strike a middle ground with viewers. 

One notes: "#POL calm boyband-type song, not quite the best music, but ok i guess #EUROVISION #ESC2018."

A second adds: "Not really digging the song from Poland but I'd say they're a lovely bunch of lads #POL #Eurovision."

20.56 - Malta take to the stage

Christabelle performs her song Taboo, a track about being compassionate toward those living with mental illness.

The impressive production values are a hit with those at home.

One praises: "YAS MALTA I love the stage presence #Eurovision."

"#Eurovision #Malta #mlt fantastic staging of a reasonably good song," a viewer declares.

21.03 - Hungary take to the stage

Hardcore rock band AWS offer something very different compared with other acts, but it really appears to get the crowd going. 

Their emotional song Viszlat Nyar is inspired by the death of the lead singer's father. 

21.06 - Latvia take to the stage

The fabulously named Laura Rizzotto offers up a sultry rendition of Funny Girl, a track about the trials and tribulations of falling in love.

The sexy song catches plenty of viewers' attentions, as they question if the song was left off the Fifty Shades of Grey soundtrack.

"Songs that didn’t make it onto the Fifty Shades Of Grey?" a fan asked.

A second questioned: "Am I the only one thinking that #LAT song could perfectly fit into fifty shades of gray?"

21.11 - Sweden take to the stage

Benjamin Ingrosso, a cousin of a Swedish House Mafia member Sebastian Ingrosso, performs the positvely infectious Dance You Off.

Viewers are quick to note the country's track record when it comes to Eurovision, as one writes: "Sweden is always good."

21.15 - Montenegro take to the stage

A sudden change of pace for viewers as Vanja Radovanovic performs Inje.

The ballad is a slow and emotional offering, with definite Balkan vibes. 

21.18 - Slovenia take to the stage

Lea Sirk performs the wonderfully titled Nvala, Ne! which means "No Thanks!" in English. 

The song is delivered with oodles of attitude from Lea and her back-up dancers. 

Although, the staged glitched does seem to bemuse some viewers. 

21.22 - Ukraine take to the stage

With one very dramatic entrance as he rises out of an elevated piano, Mélovin performs Under the Ladder.

Once again the staging appears to win over viewers.

One fan wrote: "Slovenia's performance was GOOD! I didn't understand anything, but the show made it! Dancing and visual effects was awesome!"

21.34 - Rylan Clark-Neal interviews Dr. Eurovision

When asked about his dislikes in the competition, Dr Eurovision says: “I'm going to be controversial here, I dislike Norway.

"Do you know what? I dislike it but I think it’s going to win.

"It’s well performed and he’s got charisma, it’s a good routine."

21.50 - Rylan interviews Ireland's entrant Ryan O’Shaughnessy

Rylan asks Ryan how it felt to be the last country announced as making it through to the final at the first semi-final on Tuesday. 

Ryan replies: “It was insane, what was going through my mind is ‘Switzerland have it and we don’t’ because the camera was on them, but then it panned to us.”

22.00 - Viewers are shown the entries for France, Germany and Italy

The countries are part of the "big five" along with the UK and Spain. 

22.07 - The results are announced

The qualifying countries are: Serbia, Moldova, Hungary, Ukraine, Sweden, Australia, Norway, Denmark, Slovenia and The Netherlands. 

Norway's success means Alexander could be the second entrant to win twice. 

The first to do so was Ireland's Johnny Logan, who won the competition in both 1980 and 1987.

Viewers will just have to wait and see who takes home the title at the Eurovision final on Saturday.

The Eurovision Song Contest 2018 airs May 12 at 8pm on BBC One.