In a leather dress with a "fiery" hem: Yulia Sanina opened the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 in Liverpool with a powerful performance. Photos and videos

The first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 has started in Liverpool. The honour of opening it fell to the famous Ukrainian singer Yulia Sanina, who will also host the show. The frontwoman of the famous rock band The Hardkiss lit up the stage of the international competition with a powerful performance of the song "Mayak".

OBOZREVATEL learned about this while watching the live broadcast. Sanina took to the stage in a luxurious leather outfit.

The black dress with a "fiery" hem was created for the artist by the famous Ukrainian brand GUDU.

Yulia Sanina's performance symbolised the "unification of two countries" - Ukraine and the UK. While the singer performed the song, the stage was illuminated in blue and yellow.

After the performance, Sanina was joined by Alisha Dixon and Hannah Weddingham. They will host the semi-finals and the final of the competition.

OBOZREVATEL is providing live text coverage of the first semi-final. Follow all the key moments with us.

Recall that on May 7, the grand opening ceremony of the large-scale song contest took place in Liverpool, UK. Read here to find out how the participants from 37 countries surprised us.

You can find out where Ukrainians can watch the second semi-final of Eurovision 2023 here. And when the grand final will take place and what you need to know about it - read our article.

Earlier, OBOZREVATEL wrote that a week before the final, Ukraine dropped in the bookmakers' rankings. Find out what place TVORCHI duo is predicted to take and who "pushed" our country down here.

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