Swedish singer Mans Zelmerlow has triumphed at this year's Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna, beating Russia's Polina Gagarina.

Zelmerlow won with his upbeat pop track Heroes, which was accompanied by innovative animated visuals.

Italy were third, followed by Belgium. Australia finished fifth in the country's first Eurovision appearance.

The UK's 1920s-influenced swing act Electro Velvet finished 24th out of the 27 participants with five points.

A record number of countries took part, including Australia - which was invited to compete for the first time to mark the event's 60th anniversary.

Electro Velvet said: "Obviously it is disappointing to finish on the right hand side of the board, but we have had the most amazing, brilliant, unforgettable time being part of this unique competition in this special year.

"We put our hearts and souls into representing our country and would like to thank everyone back at home and around the world that got behind us.

"It really means a lot and of course we also want to congratulate Sweden and Mans Zelmerlow on their well-deserved victory."

Zelmerlow was the bookmakers' favourite throughout the build-up to this year's contest.

"I'm so happy and I want to say thank you for voting for me," he told the crowd. "I want to say we are all Heroes, no matter who we love, who we are or what we believe in - we are all heroes."

It was Sweden's sixth Eurovision win - meaning they are now just one victory behind the contest's record holders Ireland, who have won seven times.

The result also means the annual extravaganza will be held in Sweden next year - just three years after it last hosted the show.

This year's contest was held in the Austrian capital's Wiener Stadthalle following Conchita Wurst's win last year.

But this year, the hosts, along with Germany, finished with zero points - the first time since 2003 that any country has drawn a blank.

Russian contestant Gagarina was beaten by Zelmerlow after being neck-and-neck for much of the voting.

Italian pop opera trio Il Volo, who have enjoyed chart success around the world, finished third. Belgium's 19-year-old Loic Nottet managed fourth.

And it was a respectable night for Guy Sebastian, one of Australia's biggest pop stars, who came fifth after being sent to represent his country.

After the show, Eurovision organisers revealed there had been irregularities with the votes from the juries in Macedonia and Montenegro.

The points awarded by each country are normally determined by a combination of a jury and a public vote.

A statement said: "The jury results of FYR Macedonia and Montenegro for the grand final have been excluded after consultation of PricewaterhouseCoopers, the contest's independent voting observer, and upon the decision of the executive supervisor and the chairman of the reference group.

"In both countries, televoting applied for 100%. The exclusion of two juries will be further discussed in the next reference group meeting in June."

Around 200 million viewers were thought to have tuned in to the event on television, and it was screened live in China for the first time.

* The top of the leaderboard:

•    1. Sweden. Mans Zelmerlow - Heroes. 365 points

•    2. Russia. Polina Gagarina - A Million Voices. 303

•    3. Italy. Il Volo - Grande Amore. 292

•    4. Belgium. Loic Nottet - Rhythm Inside. 217

•    5. Australia. Guy Sebastian - Tonight Again. 196

Source: BBC