Eurovision 2019 acts to look out for in tonight's semi-final

Iceland are promising to bring debauchery to the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 with their BDSM rock entry Hatari.

The male and female quintet are expected to perform Hate Will Prevail clad in their favoured PVC, studded bondage gear, the opening lines translating as “Debauchery unconstrained! Hangover uncontained!”

The first semi-final takes place tonight at 8pm, screening on BBC4, and is being hosted in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Children in Iceland are said to have embraced Hatari’s extreme image - making their own versions of their racy costumes and even performing their songs at school concerts.

Hatari will compete against 17 other countries in tonight’s semi-final, including Australia, Greece and Portugal. The top ten from tonight and from Thursday night’s semi-final will go through to the final to compete against ‘The Big Six’ France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK and host nation Israel in the final.

Australia, who joined the contest in 2015, will this year put forward an operatic entry. Kate Miller-Heidke will perform Zero Gravity in an enormous light-up dress.

Another act to keep an eye out for is Hungary’s Joci Pápai who previously made it the final of the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest. He is a bit of a chameleon, having appeared on Hungarian singing reality show Your Face Sounds Familiar – as Boy George.

The Netherlands’ entry Duncan Laurence is currently the bookmaker’s favourite to win the contest this with his song Arcade. He will compete in Thursday night’s semi-final.

The UK is being represented by Michael Rice, a former X Factor and All Together Now contestant, with the song Bigger Than Us.

The final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 will air live on BBC1 on Saturday night at 8pm.