Eurovision Song Contest confirms 2023 winner

eurovision 2023 hosts alesha dixon, julia sanina, hannah waddingham and graham norton
Eurovision Song Contest confirms 2023 winnerDominic Lipinski / Stringer - Getty Images

The Eurovision Song Contest has announced the 2023 winner, with Sweden's Loreen walking away victorious.

Tonight's (May 13) grand final saw 26 acts battle it out to follow in the steps of last year's winners Ukraine as the competition came to a close in Liverpool.

The ever-tense jury votes saw Loreen come out on top with her song 'Tattoo', and once the public vote came she also came on top with a total of 583 points. In second place was Finland with 526 points, while Israel took third with 362 points.

eurovision song contest 2023's loreen
Anthony Devlin - Getty Images

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The win makes Loreen only the second-ever contestant to win Eurovision twice following her victory in 2012, and the first woman to do so. The only other person who has won Eurovision on more than one occasion is Ireland's Johnny Logan.

Sweden and Ireland are also now tied with the most Eurovision wins in the history of the competition, with seven each.

Speaking after the result was announced, Loreen said: "This is overwhelming. I'm so happy and so thankful. This is for you".

Her victory means that Sweden will now host next year's competition, 50 years after ABBA's victory with 'Waterloo'.

loreen holds the eurovision 2023 trophy after her win for sweden
Oli Scarff - Getty Images

This year's competition was hosted in Liverpool on behalf of Ukraine due to the Russian invasion of the country.

Alesha Dixon, Julia Sanina and Ted Lasso star Hannah Waddingham and Graham Norton oversaw the finale, with Mel Giedroyc alternating with the latter in the commentary box.

eurovision 2023 hosts alesha dixon, julia sanina, hannah waddingham and graham norton
Dominic Lipinski / Stringer - Getty Images

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The evening also saw an appearance from Doctor Who star Catherine Tate, who read out the UK's National Jury vote.

The UK entrant Mae Muller ended up placing second-to-last with her entry 'I Wrote A Song' when the jury and public votes were counted.

Speaking about being selected, the singer previously said: "It’s so different to anything else.

"Obviously we all want to do well, and we've all been working really hard, but I kind of forget that it's a competition when I'm with everyone, because everyone's just so supportive."

The Eurovision Song Contest airs on BBC One.

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