Dame Joanna Lumley will announce who UK gives ‘douze points’ at Eurovision

Dame Joanna Lumley will be announcing the Eurovision Song Contest results for the UK.

The Absolutely Fabulous actress, 78, will reveal what points the UK national jury give to the other contestants during the competition’s grand finale next week in Malmo, Sweden.

The public votes are combined with the professional jury in each participating country to decide who should be crowned the winner.

Dame Joanna said she was "delighted" to be announcing the jury vote.

“It’s such a fabulous honour to give the iconic ‘douze points’."

The points from the jury, made up of five members who are from an artistic background, range from the maximum “douze points” (12) to zero.

After the presentation of the scores, the public points from all participating countries are combined, providing one score for each song.

Dame Joanna follows in the footsteps of comedian and Doctor Who star Catherine Tate, Britain’s Got Talent star Amanda Holden, TV chef Nigella Lawson, comedian Mel Giedroyc and Pointless star Richard Osman.

Years & Years singer Olly Alexander will perform his dance-infused track Dizzy on behalf of the UK for Eurovision audiences at the first semi-final on Tuesday.

Alexander is already through to the final along with France, Germany, Italy and Spain – as well as last year’s winner Sweden.

This is the first time the “big five” countries and the host country will perform their songs in full during the semi-finals.

The 15 countries competing in the first semi-final are Cyprus, Serbia, Lithuania, Ireland, Ukraine, Poland, Croatia, Iceland, Slovenia, Finland, Moldova, Azerbaijan, Australia, Portugal and Luxembourg.

Eurovision's grand final will air from 8pm on Saturday 11th May.

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