It is the final countdown to the Eurovision Song Contest final with all eyes looking to Sam Ryder to beat last year's humiliating "nul points".

The grand finale will take place on Saturday, May 14 in Turin, Italy and will be broadcast on BBC One.

TikTok star Sam Ryder, from Essex, is the UK entry for the 2022 contest and will be representing the country with the pop song Space Man.

The annual singing competition is well known for its complex voting system and for its fun and flamboyance. 

The Northern Echo: TikTok star Sam Ryder UK Eurovision entry. Credit: PATikTok star Sam Ryder UK Eurovision entry. Credit: PA

The now highly-anticipated calendar event was first held on May 24, 1956, in Lugano, Switzerland.

In its 66-year history, the UK has won an impressive 5 times - the same as Luxembourg, France and the Netherlands.

Which country has won Eurovision the most?

Ireland is the most successful country at the contest, securing 7 victories.

It is closely followed by Sweden which has won the contest 6 times.

Meanwhile, Luxembourg, France, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom are tied on 5 times each.

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What does 'nul points' mean?

Eurovision voting is not exactly straightforward - the public vote makes up 50% of the total with the other half being decided by a professional jury of experts in each participating country.

The jury scores are based on the Friday night final performances, which are not usually televised.

Each country has a national spokesperson, this year the UK's will be former Strictly star AJ Odudu, who will announce the public vote from their country.

The spokesperson will then reveal how the professional jury voted, awarding points from zero or ('nul') to the maximum and highly sought-after “douze points”.

After the presentation of the scores from the juries, the public points from all participating countries will be combined to get one score for each song.

The Northern Echo: Katrina And The Waves ahead of performing at Eurovision (Rebecca Naden/PA)Katrina And The Waves ahead of performing at Eurovision (Rebecca Naden/PA)

When was the last time that the UK won Eurovision?

The UK has been crowned a Eurovision winner for quite some time - for over 20 years in fact. 

We last won the competition in 1997 with Katrina and the Waves and the song Love Shine a Light'.

How many times has the UK scored no points?

We have scored at the bottom of the leaderboard four times in our Eurovision history.

However, we have only scored zero points twice, including once in 2003 and last year in 2021.

The Liverpool-based group were chosen to be part of Eurovision that year with the song 'Cry Baby', after a public phone poll during the TV show A Song for Europe competition.

In 2021, bad luck struck twice with James Newman's song 'Embers' which also failed to win a single point.

The Northern Echo: Last's year's winners Måneskin. Credit: PALast's year's winners Måneskin. Credit: PA

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When is the Eurovision Song Contest Final?

The 66th Eurovision grand finale will take place on Saturday, May 14 and will be broadcast live from last year's winning country, Italy, on BBC One.

Viewers in the UK will be able to watch the programme from 8 pm on BBC One.

The popular annual show will also feature Graham Norton as the UK commentator and will include a performance from last's year's winners Måneskin.

With all the acts and voting, the contest will last four hours until midnight.

The 66th Eurovision grand final will be broadcast at 8 pm on Saturday, May 14 on BBC One.