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Wales Online
Wales Online
Lifestyle
Eve Rowlands

Eurovision's Rylan clarifies voting rules for UK viewers

The second semi-final of Eurovision is well underway, with the grand final just two days away. And it's not just the musical performances impressing fans but the trio of talented women hosting it: Britain's Got Talent's Alesha Dixon, Ted Lasso's Hannah Waddingham (who gave a speech in fluent French!) and Ukrainian singer Julia Sanina.

At the start of the show, the three stars took to the stage to introduce the first act, and before the night truly kicked off, 44-year-old singer and former Strictly star Alesha Dixon gave viewers at home a run-down of just how to vote for your favourite act. But as she was broadcasting to countries across Europe, she gave the details of the official Eurovision text message voting system, forcing semi-final commentator Rylan Clark, who is co-commentating with Radio 2's Scott Mills, to clarify the methods by which to vote in the UK as text message voting does not work here.

As reported by The Express, she told BBC viewers live: "The power is in your hands. With great power comes great responsibility. Whether you vote via the official Eurovision app, by phone or by text message, the numbers you need are on the screen now."

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She added: ""The last two digits correspond to the song you are voting for, I know you are excited but you can't vote yet. You need to wait until all 16 acts have performed."

However, Eurovision fans cannot actually vote via text in the UK, which was confirmed by Rylan, who explained to viewers: "Now tonight, viewers in the UK can vote by phone or by the Eurovision app but, despite what Alesha said, you cannot vote by text."

It seems the voting rules of Eurovision are not that easy to follow, as another familiar face also had difficulty understanding the process - read more on that here. There are 16 acts hoping to earn a spot in the top ten going through to the grand final, which will take place in Liverpool at the M&S Arena on Saturday, May 13. The lucky acts will be revealed at the end of the show, which finishes on BBC One and BBC iPlayer at 10pm on Thursday, May 11.

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