Finals set for Eurovision Song Contest

ATHENS, Greece, May 19 (UPI) -- Thirteen countries have been bounced from the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest in Athens, Greece, including favorite Kate Ryan of Belgium.

But Ireland's Brian Kennedy -- who performed the venerable contest's 1,000th song on live TV Thursday night -- moved on to the finals with singers from Sweden, Britain, Russia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Turkey, Finland, Armenia, Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, the BBC reported Friday.

In all, 20 singers will compete in the Saturday night finale with the winner to be chosen by public text and phone votes.

In addition to Belgium, eliminated Thursday night were singers from Portugal, Bulgaria, Monaco, Netherlands, Poland and Belarus.

Also failing to make the cut were singers from Cyprus, Estonia, Iceland, Slovenia, Albania and Andorra were knocked out.