A peaceful Danish Viking, an Estonian soprano in a giant dress and a gay-themed dance will be on display at Saturday's Eurovision final in Portugal, which is toning down the frills at the annual song contest. Favourites include Cyprus' fiery song "Fuego" by Eleni Foureira and Israeli singer Netta Barzilai's "Toy", whose lyrics "I am not your toy" sum up the concerns of many women who have adopted the MeToo movement against sexual harassment.
The 25-year-old former singer in the Israeli Navy band accompanies the up-tempo song with trills, clucking sounds and chicken-like dance moves. The final gets under way at 8:00 pm (1900 GMT) at Lisbon's riverside Altice Arena, Portugal's largest entertainment venue.
Highlights will undoubtedly include Denmark's red-bearded Rasmussen, whose song is based on a legend about a Viking who refused to fight, and a special dress worn by Estonian soprano Elina Nechayeva which flows down from her waist, beyond her feet and out across the stage.
The dress comes to life with lightening displays and laser effects while she sings.
Eurovision was first held in 1956 with the aim of uniting Europe after World War II. Today it has a combined global audience of around 200 million people - more than the Super Bowl in the United States - and has served as a global launching pad for the likes of ABBA and Celine Dion.
This year's final won't be seen in China though.
The European Broadcast Union has barred a Chinese video service, Mango TV, from airing the event after it edited out a romantic dance sequence by two men from Ireland's entry in the first semi-final on Tuesday, and blurred out rainbow flags in the audience. Ireland made it to Saturday's final.
Despite an ever-increasing number of TV music contests such as Pop Idol, fans say the show - the longest-running international TV competition according to Guinness World Records - is in a category of its own.
"I love the different countries coming together," Bhushan Joshi, a 35-year-old doctor from Sydney who came to Lisbon for the song contest, told AFP.
"I think it transforms the city because you have peope from all over the world just being happy."