BASEL, Switzerland, May 17, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - In a blaze of laser lights, artists from 26 countries were preparing to rip the roof off at Saturday's Eurovision Song Contest final, the world's biggest live music television event.

  An estimated 160 million people across Europe and beyond are expected to tune in for the TV extravaganza, where kitsch, drama, pyrotechnics and histrionics take centre stage.

  Sweden has long been the bookmakers' hot favourite to win the 69th edition of the glitzy contest with the comedy trio KAJ's "Bara Bada Bastu" song on the delights of sweating it out in a sauna.

  But after two semi-finals and strong performances, Austria, France, Finland, the Netherlands and Israel are fancying their chances of causing an upset at the St. Jakobshalle arena in Basel.

  And there could always be a surprise in store, with Estonia, Albania and host Switzerland all thought to have an outside chance when the viewers' votes come in.

  Mystery also surrounds whether Canadian megastar Celine Dion -- who won Eurovision in 1988 when competing for Switzerland -- might make an emotion-drenched return, despite concerns around her struggles with Stiff Person Syndrome, a painful autoimmune disorder.

  - Adrenaline, poetry, booming beats -

  Hardcore fans snapped up the 6,500 highly coveted tickets for Saturday's showpiece final.

  Eurovision director Martin Green said the excitement had built to a fever pitch.

  "The staff and crew are exhausted but super happy," he told AFP.

  "What energises us all is going to see those artists sing, and you just get this shot of adrenaline. Some of those performances just rip the roof off."

  The 26 songs in contention are a showcase of Europe's different musical scenes.

  They include Portuguese guitar ballads, Maltese divas, Lithuanian alternative rock, Austrian operatics, Italian singalongs, Greek power ballads, ethereal Latvian choral folk and German booming beats.

  "I find the final line-up quite diverse, with both up-tempo entries and ballads, and some slightly more poetic moments," said Fabien Randanne, a music journalist for France's 20Minutes newspaper and a Eurovision veteran.

  "It's very difficult to say which way the viewers' hearts will go," he told AFP.

  With KAJ the heavy favourites, punters are betting on a range of aspects, such as the winning language or the best performers from a region.

  "There's a lot of interest in the top five," Ladbrokes betting chain spokesman Alex Apati told AFP.

  "Sweden are priced so short, punters are looking for value elsewhere."

  - Flames and hot coffee -

  Norway's Kyle Alessandro opens the show in a burst of flames, followed by Luxembourg's Laura Thorn in an LED dolls' house, and Estonia's wobbly-legged Tommy Cash, with his light-hearted cod-Italian "Espresso Macchiato".

  After a whirlwind tour around the continent, France, San Marino and Albania have the final slots.

  The TV spectacular starts at 1900 GMT, with two hours of performances, before the nail-biting drama begins as the votes come in from around the continent.

  Separate jury and viewer votes from each of this year's 37 participating countries -- with equal weight -- plus an extra vote from the rest of the world combined, will decide who wins the coveted microphone-shaped trophy.

  The juries' votes are already in, based on Friday's untelevised full dress rehearsal held in a packed St. Jakobshalle.

  Though sworn to secrecy on the numbers, Eurovision voting supremo Thomas Niedermayer said this week's semi-finals -- when 20 countries progressed and 11 were eliminated -- had been "really close".

  "It was even much closer than the points make it appear. So it has been an exciting race and it's going to be a close race for the winner."

  - Leather-clad lust -

  Israel's participation in Eurovision 2025 has drawn small-scale protests in Basel over the war in Gaza.

  Its entrant Yuval Raphael, singing "New Day Will Rise", survived the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that sparked the Gaza war, hiding beneath bodies as Hamas gunmen attacked a music festival, killing hundreds.

  A pro-Palestinian rally is scheduled in Basel two hours before the competition begins.

  Finland's leather-clad Erika Vikman has been gaining momentum during Eurovision week with the raunchy "Ich Komme", about falling into the trance of lust -- finishing with the singer hoisted in the air on a spark-emitting golden microphone, thrilling the audience.

  "I feel very loved when I'm in front of them and I want to give love to them also," she said.

  Ukraine won Eurovision in 2022 and trio Ziferblat are hoping the arena crowd response can inspire them to reclaim the trophy.

  "We need to share emotions with them -- and that will go through the television screen," guitarist Valentyn Leshchynskyi told AFP.

  The winning country gets to host next year's Eurovision jamboree.