JOHN DOLAN gives his annual Eurovision preview

THE good news is Jedward could end up the best placed male act in Eurovision tonight.

The bad news is they could still finish outside the top three.

I reckon it will be ladies’ night — 11 of the 26 acts are female solo singers — with Greece, Sweden and the aul dolls from Russia  all strong contenders.
And look out too for rank outsider Albania, my dark horse tip.

You can read my essential two-page TV guide to the show in Saturday’s Cork Evening Echo, with every act rated in the order they appear on stage.

As a taster, here is my critique of Jedward, who will take to the stage as the 23th act.

IRELAND
Jedward
Waterline
Alright, plus points first. It’s a slightly better song than last year and a superior stage show. Minuses? The novelty value is lost and the boys’ vocals really are brutal. Then again, when they qualified as the final act on Tuesday, they were given a minute of cartwheeling TV time that no other act had. I’ve upped this from two stars to three on the back of that. They could do better than last year’s eighth and are our best hope in a long time. Close to the waterline… but ultimately, no cigar.