Singers from across Europe are ready to go for glory at the 51st Eurovision Song Contest final in Athens.

Mancunian rapper Daz Sampson, 32, is representing the UK with his song Teenage Life.

Other entries include Finland's masked metal band Lordi and Irish crooner Brian Kennedy.

The UK, France, Spain and Germany are among 14 automatic qualifiers, while 10 other countries made it through via the semi-finals on Thursday.

The biggest shock was the elimination of Belgian singer Kate Ryan, one of the favourites for this year's prize.

The winners and losers were chosen by a public text and phone vote.

The winner of the final is decided by each country giving points to their favourite entries - they cannot vote for their own entry.

The UK, France, Spain and Germany go straight into the final because they contribute the most to the European Broadcasting Union, which runs the Eurovision TV network.

The semi-finalists that made it through are Russia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Ukraine, Turkey, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Lithuania, Finland, Sweden and Ireland.

Hosts Greece, who won the competition last year, and nine top-scoring nations from the 2005 contest also had automatic entry to the final. They are: Croatia, Denmark, Israel, Latvia, Malta, Moldova, Norway, Romania and Switzerland.

Finnish rock band Lordi's masks, armour and jets of flame have attracted widespread attention in the run-up to the event.

"We'll scream louder. And turn the amps up," said lead singer Mr Lordi of his plans for the final.

The UK's Darren Sampson said he was pleased to be sending out a positive message.