Portugal has won the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest, held in the Ukrainian capital Kiev earlier this morning local time.
Singer Salvador Sobral had a troublesome lead-up to his Eurovision campaign; health issues forcing his sister Luísa (who wrote his single ‘Amar Pelos Dois’) to fill in for him during rehearsals.
But his health issues didn’t seem to impact his performances in Tuesday night’s first semi final (which Portugal placed first in), nor in last night’s Grand Final.
He won both the jury and public vote, ensuring he was impossible to catch, finishing more than 140 points clear of second-placed Bulgaria.
Bulgaria’s 17 year old contestant Kristian Kostov did extremely well, earning 615 points.
In third place, Moldova made a big leap thanks to the audience vote, but finishing a long way back with 375 points.
Belgium and Sweden placed fourth and fifth respectively, with Italy, Romania, Hungary, Australia and Norway completing the top ten.
The UK, which got a full 12 points from the Australian jury vote, achieved its highest placing in the Grand Final since 2011, while Spain’s underwhelming entry placed last with just five points in total, one fewer than fellow cellar dwellers Germany.
So we’ll no doubt be back again with another Countdown To Eurovision in 2018 as we head, presumably, to the Portuguese capital Lisbon.
Check out Salvador’s Grand Final performance of his winning song, alongside his sister Luisa.
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