Irish Eurovision fans are gearing up for the grand final, which will see Ryan O'Shaughnessy compete against 25 other countries.

He will perform third last with his song 'Together' in Lisbon's Altice Arena.

As host country, Portugal drew its starting position - eighth - during a meeting in March.

Organisers say the running order was decided to ensure "each act has the opportunity to stand out".

"The producers look at the genre of music, whether a song is performed by a solo singer or group, the use of props, music tempo and various other aspects of each act," they say.

The show will be opened in traditional Portuguese style by musical performances, followed by a flag parade of all participating countries.

Twenty-six acts take part with the so-called 'Big Five' - France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom - as well as host country Portugal already pre-qualified.

Last Tuesday, Ireland and another nine countries qualified in the first semi-final.

While on Thursday, another 10 out of eighteen acts won their ticket for the grand final.

Fans in Lisbon's Altice Arena | Image: Andres Putting & Thomas Hanses

During the show, people are being encouraged to use the #Eurovision and #AllAboard hashtags on social media.

After all songs have been performed, people can vote for around 40 minutes.

Voting can be done by telephone and text message through numbers shown on screen - as well as via the Eurovision app.

You can vote up to 20 times, but you cannot vote for the country you are voting from.

Televotes make up 50% of the result - the other 50% was determined by a professional jury.

The contest is being shown on RTÉ 1 and BBC One from 8.00pm.