UKRAINE hosts the final of the Eurovision Song Contest this evening, hoping to boost its image in Europe and avoid an embarrassing nul points for the anthem of last year’s Orange Revolution.

Kiev is staging the 50th contest after Ruslana Lyzhychko, Ukraine’s second entry to the competition, stormed to victory in Turkey last year with her blend of Ukrainian folk tunes, energetic dancing and skimpy leather and fur outfits.

But pundits say that Ukraine is unlikely to notch a second consecutive win, with bookmakers giving its entry, Razom nas bagato! (Together we are many), odds of only 66-1.

The catchy rap song by the band GreenJolly became an overnight hit during the protests that helped to overturn a rigged election and sweep Viktor Yushchenko, a Western-minded liberal, into power last year.

Its lyrics were based on the protesters’ chants: “No to falsifications . . . no to lies! Yushchenko — yes! Yushchenko — yes! This is our President yes, yes!”

GreenJolly — two sound technicians from western Ukraine — became media superstars and performed on stage in front of a crowd of hundreds of thousands in Independence Square, Kiev, at the height of the revolution.

But the song has run into controversy since it was nominated as Ukraine’s entry after being entered for the national vote as a wild card at the last minute, reportedly at the behest of Mykola Tomenko, the Deputy Prime Minister. Critics said that the vote was rigged against Ani Lorak, the previous favourite, because she had played at rallies in support of Mr Yushchenko’s rival, Viktor Yanukovych.

The accusation was all the more stinging because Mr Yushchenko’s supporters took to the streets after the Government falsified the results of last year’s presidential election.

The Eurovision organisers then ordered GreenJolly to rewrite the lyrics because they were too political. The revised refrain — minus references to Mr Yushchenko — says: “Revolution is on! ‘Cos lies be the weapons of mass destruction!”

One of President Yushchenko’s first moves after taking office in January was to state his commitment to hosting Eurovision to help Ukraine’s attempt to join the European Union.

Many Ukrainians hope that the kitsch competition will allow their country to shake off its reputation in the West as the site of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster and a source of internet brides. But some critics say that the song is not helping.

“During the revolution, many no doubt listened with pleasure to this dilettante rap [GreenJolly],”, said the online newspaper Ukraiinska Pravda. “But don’t the singers themselves understand that this emotion-charged work should have remained . . . a part of history and nothing more?”

More than 150 million people are expected to watch the final, which is decided by telephone voting in 39 countries.

Great Britain was given an automatic spot in the final. Javine Hylton, 23, will be the second act to perform with the Middle East-influenced Touch My Fire. The former reality show contestant said that she was confident that she would not come last.

• The Eurovision Song Contest, BBC One and Radio 2, 8pm.

  FAVOURITE TUNE

  Greece 13-8
  Norway 10-3
  Hungary 8-1
  Malta 11-1
  Switzerland 12-1
  Bosnia and Herzegovina 12-1
  Moldova 16-1
  Romania 20-1
  Latvia 20-1
  Britain 25-1
  Serbia and Montenegro 25-1
  Israel 25-1
  Sweden 33-1
  Spain 33-1
  Denmark 33-1
  Cyprus 33-1
  Russia 40-1
  Croatia 40-1
  Albania 50-1
  Ukraine 66-1
  Turkey 66-1
  Macedonia 66-1
  France 66-1
  Germany 100-1
  (William Hill)

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