Camp, choruses and a Canadian: Here's what to expect at the Eurovision 2023 final

The 67th Eurovision Song Contest reaches its climax on Saturday with a grand finale broadcast live from the English city of Liverpool, with Canadians playing key roles in this year's edition of the globally-popular singing contest.

Montreal-born singer La Zarra, competing for France, is among the favourites in this year's contest for her Edith Piaf-esque chanson Evidemment.

She hopes to become the latest Canadian to win the contest, joining a club that includes fellow Quebecer Céline Dion, who won for Switzerland in 1988.

"Céline is Céline, I will never be her,"  La Zarra told CBC News in an interview. "It's just amazing to have my name in the same contest as her."

La Zarra said she was "shocked" when she was asked to represent France, but accepted the honour because she says France is her "adopted country" and where her career first took off.

"The French music, the francophonie, is so strong over there," she said, adding her music combines old French styles with touches of modernity.

"I'm really proud to be someone who is able to represent that in [Eurovision] because we are the only country singing in French this year," she said, but added: "I'm born and raised in Montreal; I will always be a Quebec, Canadian girl."

Canadians will be making their mark at this year's contest in other ways because, for the first time ever, people from non-contestant countries, including Canada, will be allowed to vote for the winner.

But there will also be mainstays of the competition that made it popular. There will be catchy choruses, a kaleidoscope of costumes and tributes to the spirit of Ukraine in a competition that for seven decades has captured the changing zeitgeist of a continent.

Here's what to expect as acts from across Europe — and beyond — vie for the continent's pop crown.

Who's competing?

This year, 37 countries sent an act to Eurovision, selected through national competitions or internal selections by broadcasters. The host country is usually the winner of the previous year's event, but 2022 runner-up Britain is hosting this time around on behalf of the winner, Ukraine.

Twenty-six countries will compete in Saturday's final at the Liverpool Arena, in the port city that gave birth to The Beatles. Six countries automatically qualify: last year's winner and the "Big Five" who pay the most to the contest — France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the U.K.

The other 20 finalists, chosen by public votes in two semifinals on Tuesday and Thursday, are: Albania, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Israel, Lithuania, Moldova, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia, Sweden and Switzerland.

Wait ... Australia?

Eurovision is about spirit, not just geography. Eurovision is hugely popular in Australia, and the country was allowed to join the competition in 2015. Other entrants from outside Europe's borders include Israel and Azerbaijan.

Who are this year's favourites?

It's hard to predict victors in a contest whose past winners have ranged from ABBA to Finnish cartoon metal band Lordi, but bookmakers say Swedish diva Loreen, who won Eurovision in 2012, is favourite to score a double with her power ballad Tattoo.

Alsong with La Zarra, Finland's Kaarija was a crowd-pleaser in the semifinals with his pop-metal party tune Cha Cha Cha.

And never underestimate left-field entries like Croatia's Let 3, whose song Mama SC! is pure Eurovision camp: an antiwar rock opera that plays like Monty Python meets Dr. Strangelove.

What happens during the final?

Around 6,000 fans will attend the final, hosted by long-time BBC Eurovision presenter Graham Norton, Ted Lasso star Hannah Waddingham, British singer Alesha Dixon and Ukrainian rock star Julia Sanina.

Each competing act must sing live and stick to a three-minute limit, but otherwise is free to create its own staging — the flashier the pyrotechnics and more elaborate the choreography, the better.

Russia's war in Ukraine will lend a solemn note to a contest famed for celebrating cheesy pop. The show will open with a performance by last year's winner, Ukrainian folk-rap band Kalush Orchestra. Ukrainian singer Jamala, who won the contest in 2016, will perform a tribute to her Crimean Tatar culture.

One person who won't be appearing is Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He asked to address the final by video — but organizer the European Broadcasting Union said "regrettably," that would breach "the nonpolitical nature of the event."

How is the winner decided?

After all the acts have performed, viewers in participating nations can vote by phone, text message or app — though they can't vote for their own country. This year for the first time, viewers in non-participating countries can also vote online, with the combined "rest of the world" votes being given the weight of one individual country.

National juries of music industry professionals also allocate between one and 12 points to their favourite songs, with an announcer from each country popping up to declare which has been granted the coveted "douze points" (12 points).

Public and jury votes are combined to give each country a single score. Ending up with "nul points" (zero points) is considered a national embarrassment. It's a fate the U.K. has suffered several times.