From the streets to the stage: The Busker's Eurovision journey starts today

The Busker and 14 other participants will kick off this year’s Eurovision in Liverpool, tonight.

The trio, Dav. Jr, Jean Paul Borg and Sean Meachen, with their song “Dance (Our Own Party)” will be the second to sing, right after Norway's Queen of Kings.

The performance will be broadcast live worldwide, with The Busker hoping to capture the audience's hearts with their music and quirky sweaters. However, with bookmakers giving the trio only a 33% chance of qualifying for the finals, it remains to be seen whether they will succeed.

The same had happened in Malta, as The Busker were not among the favourites till the votes proved everyone wrong.

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For the first time in Eurovision history, the results of both semi-final qualifiers will be determined entirely by the public's votes. Every member of the public will have the opportunity to vote for up to 20 different countries.

Norway, Israel, the Czech Republic, and Moldova are among the favourites to win tonight, along with Sweden and Finland considered as potential champions for the final on Saturday. The other countries participating in tonight's semi-final are Serbia, Croatia, Switzerland, Portugal, the Netherlands, Latvia, Ireland, and Azerbaijan.

Each of the 15 countries participating in Semi-final 1 will vote, along with pre-qualified countries Germany, France, and Italy, who will broadcast and also vote in this semi-final. Only the top 10 will qualify for the Grand Final.

The 20 songs, will then join the big five - Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom - as well as last year's winner Ukraine in the finals on Saturday. 

Alesha Dixon, Hannah Waddingham and Ukrainian singer Julia Sanina will be hosting both Semi-Finals this week.

The all-girl trio will then join comedian Graham Norton for the grand final on Saturday, at the Liverpool Arena, who stepped in to organise the festival given the war that is taking place in Ukraine.