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The Eurovision Song Contest’s first semi-final of 2019 got underway this evening, with 17 countries hoping to secure their place in the grand final this Saturday. On hand to present the
coverage for the United Kingdom were BBC Radio presenters Scott Mills, 45, and Rylan Clark-Neal, 30, with four of Israel’s most famous faces hosting the ceremony. Half way through this
evening’s coverage, presenter Bar Refaeli, 33, was speaking to the viewers and fans watching the semi-final from all corners of the globe. However, she was thrown into a frenzy when her
co-host Assi Azar, 39, decided to cause a bit of mischief, making a few unexpected appearances behind her. _ _ After Australia’s entrant Kate Miller performed her song Heidke with Zero
Gravity, Bar praised the performer, before making a quip about the stage arrangements. The presenter old viewers: “If you want to know how to fly like that, well go to acrobat college or
something like that, I don’t know what to tell you.” As she continued, Assi could be seen peeping his head behind her from the side of the camera and pulling faces. Assi’s appearance didn’t
go unnoticed by Bar, who said: “But if you want to learn more about tonight’s…” before being stopped in her tracks by her co-host. Bar’s face suddenly turned from a gleeful smile to a more
serious stance as she told Assi to “go away,” before breaking into laughter as she tried to continued her script. It seems Assi’s prank threw the presenter all together as she struggled to
read the rest of the script. After stumbling on her words and finishing her segment, Bar jokingly scorned Assi, telling him: “Assi, what are you doing?” Making one last attempt to get
himself seen, Assi jumped in view of the camera again before the footage cut to Rylan giving an update from backstage. 16 European countries performed this evening, with the inclusion of
Australia, all hoping to impress the viewers at home. Only viewers from the countries participating in tonight’s semi-final had the ability to vote this evening, with host country Israel and
two of the Big 5, Spain and France, also casting their votes. 10 of the performers will go through to the final from tonight’s show, with another 10 joining them from the second semi-final
set to take place on Thursday from Tel Aviv. The latest odds from bookmakers Coral given before this evening’s semi-final placed the Netherlands as the frontrunners in this year’s
competition, with their chances at winning at 2-1. However, the UK will have some work to do as they currently sit at 100-1 ahead of the final on Saturday with All Together Now winner
Michael Rice representing the nation. Betway bookmakers have the UK’s odds at 150-1, with a spokesperson explaining Brexit may have something to do with the backing from fans. “As for the
UK, it’s bad reading for Michael Rice who is a complete outsider at 150/1. “The Brexit debacle probably doesn’t make the UK the most popular nation in Europe at the moment, and it looks as
though he’ll need a small miracle if he is to sing Britain to its first Eurovision title in over twenty years.” _THE EUROVISION SONG CONTEST 2019 FINAL AIRS SATURDAY AT 8PM ON BBC ONE._