Dana International may not be the bookies' favourite to win this year's Eurovision Song Contest, but Israel is more interested in the competition than any other country involved.

According to travel website Skyscanner, there has been a 192 per cent increase in Israeli internet searches for Dusseldorf – the city in which the contest is taking place this year.

Portugal is almost as enthusiastic, with a 147 per cent boost.

In contrast, there have only been 20 per cent more such searches from the UK, while France – this year's favourites – has shown no increase at all.

Israel first entered Eurovision in 1973 and has since triumphed three times, including with the transsexual singer Dana International and her song Diva in 1998.

Dana will return to the competition this year, competing in the semi finals tomorrow night to secure a place in Saturday's finals.

The bookmaker Paddy Power is currently offering odds of 200 to one on her winning the contest, while UK entry Blue are looking at an eight to one chance of success.