MUSICAL DIFFERENCES

SCOTT MILLS IS ALL SET FOR THE START OF THIS YEAR’S COMPETITION… EUROVISION SONG CONTEST SEMI-FINALS | BBC4 TUES & THURS

After Jamala’s spectacular win in Stockholm last year, Ukraine gets the honour of hosting this year’s

Eurovision Song Contest, which begins with two qualifying rounds. The UK has an automatic ticket to the final, which means we don’t have to worry about competing in this bit – but we do get to see what we’ll be up against, and we get to vote in Tuesday’s heat. Scott Mills and Mel Giedroyc will be on commentary duty again, so we grabbed Scott for a chat.

“What a lot of people don’t realise is that it goes on for a full seven days before the final,” he reveals.

“So I’ll probably arrive in Kiev on Friday, then on Saturday they have a huge opening ceremony with a red carpet that all the acts come down, and it all just kind of starts from there.”

In total, 36 countries will compete over two nights, with just 20 places available in next Saturday’s final – so who does Scott think are the ones to watch in the heats? “Sweden always do a good song because they put so much effort into finding somebody to represent them,” he shares. “And there’s Slavko from Montenegro, he’s got a metre-long ponytail that he likes to whip – he’s a character, and his song is just classic high-energy Eurovision.” In the grand tradition of Eurovision, there will definitely be a few eccentric song choices in the mix, so we asked Scott which of the dark horses we should keep an eye on. “Romania’s song will either do so badly or it will be top five,” he predicts. “It’s called Yodel It!, and it’s… yodelling! It’s a fun song but like I say, it’s one of those songs that on the night the viewers will either absolutely go for, or it’ll be bottom – and I can’t tell!”