Nul points! Eurovision nations that have given UK the best and WORST scores since song contest began

The countries giving the UK the highest and lowest scores in the Eurovision Song Concert have been revealed as Liverpool prepares to host the massive event in partnership with Ukraine on Saturday.

After Sam Ryder’s hugely successful Spaceman performance at last year’s event in Italy, where he finished in second place, Eurovision fans are crossing their fingers. Mae Muller’s I Wrote A Song will prove to be the winner in 2023.

As the final 26 acts prepare to take the stage on Saturday night, a new analysis by MailOnline has revealed which countries may turn their backs on the UK, and which could send their precious points elsewhere.

The UK is hosting the competition this year after Ukraine took first place in 2022 but was unable to host the event itself due to the Russian invasion last February.

The competition is a collaboration between the two countries, with award-winning Ukrainian singer Julia Sanina hosting alongside Britain’s Graham Norton.

In the first semi-final on May 9, Rita Ora, Rebecca Ferguson and Ukrainian singer Alyosha performed.

Mae Muller (pictured) will represent the UK on Saturday night with her rendition of I Wrote A Song

The second semi-final on 11 May saw performances by Mariya Yaremchuk, Ukraine’s choice for the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest, rapper OTOY and 14-year-old Ukrainian Junior Eurovision representative Zlata Dziunka.

The number of countries involved in the Eurovision Song Contest has fluctuated widely since its debut with only seven countries in 1956 compared to 40 in the previous year’s competition. This year there will be 37.

During this time, there are certain countries that have consistently awarded British entries points – even when most other countries have not. There are also those who have consistently cut the UK out of its share – even when the UK scored high or even won.

MailOnline has calculated the average points given to the UK per year and country – and the results make for some surprising reading.

The country that gave the UK the worst scores in the Eurovision Song Contest is Montenegro. The small country may have entered the competition 12 times, but they have only given the UK two points in total – or 0.17 points per year.

Not far behind is Belarus, which has awarded the UK six points in 16 matches, or 0.38 points per year.

But luckily for the UK when it comes to scoring, Belarus was handed a three-year ban in 2021.

Montenegro is also not participating in the Eurovision Song Contest this year.

Next is Serbia, with only 0.73 points per year, followed by both Andorra and Moldova with a round one point per year.

Sam Ryder takes the stage during last year’s Eurovision song contest

Bucks Fizz stole the show in the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest as they stormed into first place

British singer Lulu poses for the 1969 Eurovision Song Contest, where she went on to win with Boom Bang-a-Bang

Sandie Shaw finished first in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1967 with her hit Puppet On A String

British pop duo Jemini performed the song ‘Cry Baby’ at the 2003 contest in Riga – but despite their best efforts, they finished in 26th place with the dreaded zero points

Just five years after Jemini came Adam Abraham who fared only slightly better – finishing 25th with 14 points

Josh Dubovie also finished 25th in 2010, with just 10 points at the competition in Oslo, Norway

While Moldova is taking part in this year’s contest, Andorra, which last competed in 2009, had to confirm that it would not be taking part despite the country’s best efforts to return to the contest.

Croatia and Montenegro were the countries in the 2022 line-up to award the UK zero points, despite Sam Ryder finishing second overall.

Serbia and Armenia gave the UK just one point each, meaning they are also among the countries unlikely to score Mae Muller highly.

Statistically, Morocco is the country that has been nicest to the UK.

Despite only participating in the Eurovision Song Contest once in 1980, the country gave Britain’s Prima Donna eight points, lifting the band to third place overall.

Britain’s turbulent Eurovision history means that all other countries have given far fewer points each year they’ve competed with the UK.

Excluding Morocco, the country that gave the UK the most points on average is about as far from Europe as it gets. Australia has given 5.14 points to the UK every year since entering the Eurovision Song Contest in 2015.

Next up is the UK’s neighbour, the Republic of Ireland. Ireland has taken part in 54 Eurovision competitions and has given the UK an average of 4.84 points per year in that time. Thanks Ireland!

The third friendliest country won’t help the UK much on Saturday night. Although it has awarded an average of 4.76 to UK entries, it last competed in 1993.

Luxembourg may be a friend, but not one that can give Mae Muller a boost in the standings this year.

The top five friendliest countries in the Eurovision Song Contest are completed by Malta, which has averaged 4.6 points in its 35 performances, and Israel, which has averaged 4.16 across its 45 entries.

But these aren’t the only countries the UK has scored highly.

When Spaceman was staged in 2022, Austria, Ukraine and Azerbaijan were among the countries that gave it the highest scores of 19 and 20 points.

They’re all back this year, but so are some of the countries the UK scored the lowest.

This includes Croatia, Serbia and Armenia, as well as Slovenia, which awarded Sam a paltry two points.

Mae Muller, 25, has stiff competition if she wants to make it to the top of the leaderboard this time.

Current favorites to win are Sweden with Loreen’s Tattoo, at odds of 2/5, according to Ladbrokes.

Not far behind is Finland at odds of 5/2, followed by last year’s winner Ukraine at 8/1.

By comparison, the UK is tied for 10th in bookmakers’ predictions at 33/1.

But it could be much worse – Lithuania’s entry currently has the least chance of winning, Ladbrokes shows, at staggering odds of 300/1.

In this year’s semi-finals, Ireland failed to make it to the grand final. The countries that were eliminated were Ireland, Latvia, Malta, Azerbaijan, Netherlands, Iceland, San Marino, Greece, Romania, Denmark and Georgia.

The Eurovision Song Contest is unpredictable – and there’s no way of knowing exactly where the UK will finish on the leaderboard by the end of Saturday night.

All of the UK will hope that Liverpool’s charm works as magically as Muller’s hit, and will help, but some of the recent ‘zero points’ score firmly in the past.