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Eurovision 2019 result: The Netherlands' Duncan Laurence announced as winner after UK finishes last

The Netherlands, who had been the favourite to win since the beginning of this year's competition, triumphed at the end of a particularly fraught final in Tel Aviv

Roisin O'Connor
Music Correspondent
Saturday 18 May 2019 22:50 BST
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Serhat performs at Eurovision 2019

Eurovision 2020 will be hosted by The Netherlands, 44 years after they last won the song contest.

Duncan Laurence, favourite to win since the beginning of this year’s competition with the song “Arcade”, triumphed in both the jury and public vote to win first place with 492 points.

It was a fraught competition where, across the evening, it seemed as though any one of six countries could win. But ultimately Sweden failed to sway the public vote, and the soulful ballad won over John Ludvik’s more upbeat but still emotional number.

Madonna, who performed towards the end of the ceremony, caused one of the biggest controversies of the night with an unscheduled political statement that caused uproar in Tel Aviv.

During the second part of her performance it was revealed that her backing dancers were wearing Israeli and Palestinian flags on the backs of their outfits. Organisers quickly issued a statement saying this was not a planned part of the event.

“In the live broadcast of the Eurovision Song Contest Grand Final, two of Madonna’s dancers briefly displayed the Israeli and Palestinian flags on the back of their outfits,” the statement said.

“This element of the performance was not part of the rehearsals which had been cleared with the EBU and the host broadcaster, KAN. The Eurovision Song Contest is a non-political event and Madonna had been made aware of this.”

Upon learning their score, Iceland also unveiled a scarf bearing the Palestinian flag, which draw both cheers and boos from the live audience.

Other favourites among fans included Norway’s trio KEiiNO and their song “Spirit in the Sky”, Czech Republic’s catchy number “Friend of a Friend”, and San Marino’s loveable entry Serhat with “Say Na Na Na”.

The UK pinned its hopes on 22-year-old Michael Rice this year. The singer performed the song “Bigger Than Us” but ultimately came in last place due to low votes from both the professional juries and the public.

The Eurovision liveblog has now closed:

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Hello, and welcome to The Independent's Eurovision liveblog for this year's final! I'll be your host for this evening, providing the latest news, commentary, video and images from across the night, along with updates from our Eurovision Correspondent in Tel Aviv, Rob Holley (find him on Twitter @robholley )

roisin.oconnor18 May 2019 17:08
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Obviously the biggest question everyone wants the answer to is... who's going to win? This year it really is anyone's guess, but you can take a look at Rob's predictions here: https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/eurovision-2019-winners-prediction-iceland-sweden-netherlands-tel-aviv-israel-a8913056.html

roisin.oconnor18 May 2019 17:30
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This is amazing - how Australia gets onto the stage for their performance! 

roisin.oconnor18 May 2019 17:53

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