The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), in which participating countries each submit a song to be performed on live television; then proceed to...
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The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), in which participating countries each submit a song to be performed on live television; then proceed to cast votes for the other countries' songs, in order to find the most popular song in the competition. Each country participates via one of their national EBU-member television stations, whose task it is to select a singer and a song to go forward to represent the country in the international competition.
The Eurovision Song Contest is being held in Moscow this weekend. Gay activists plan to hold a Slavic Pride march to coincide with the contest. Moscow city officials have warned that they will break up the march. There is a concern that the march might be targeted by anti-gay extremists. The British Foreign Office has released an advisory for travelers in Russia, warning of possible violence at the gay march this weekend. During the 2007 march gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell was among... Read Full Story
Police in Moscow have broken up a gay rights protest staged to coincide with the final of the Eurovision Song Contest. Campaigners gathered near a university and called for gay rights in Russia. They also condemned the treatment of gays and lesbians. Between 35 and 40 Russian LGBT activists have been arrested, including British human rights activist Peter Tatchell and Chicago LGBT activist Andy Thayer. Pride organiser Nikolai Alekseev was held down by 5 fully armed riot police and arrested... Read Full Story
MOSCOW - A boyish, fiddle-wielding Norwegian singer won the Eurovision Song Contest in Moscow on Saturday night, his bouncy ditty the highlight of the musical bonanza studded with pyrotechnic artistry and stunning electronic visuals on an epic scale. Twenty-five performers from across Europe competed in Moscow in a musical bonanza that is one of the most watched annual television events in the world, despite being written off by some as European kitsch - OMG! reports .
“ Fairytale... Read Full Story
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Critics may mock the Eurovision Song Contest for being kitsch, but at its core it is a growing business which is now going global. The Switzerland-based European Broadcast Union (EBU), an association of broadcasters from 56 countries, wants to expand the format for one of the most-watched annual television events in Europe to countries across the world. Bjoern Erichsen, director of the EBU's TV unit, told Reuters that investors have signed a deal to make a version of the... Read Full Story
Russia on Friday warned it would clamp down on an unsanctioned gay rights parade in Moscow that coincides with the Eurovision Song Contest final, but organisers vowed to press on with the demonstration. Russia is proudly trumpeting the annual pop extravaganza in Moscow on Saturday as the latest example of its ability to hold large-scale international events. But away from the lights and laser beams at the mammoth 80,000-capacity Olympiysky Arena, police, homosexual activists and extreme... Read Full Story
Russia on Friday warned it would clamp down on an unsanctioned gay rights protest in Moscow planned to coincide with the Eurovision Song Contest final in the Russian capital. Russia is proudly trumpeting the holding of the annual pop extravaganza in Moscow as the latest example of its international prestige. But away from the lights and laser beams at the mammoth 80,000-capacity Olympiysky Arena, a planned "Slavic Gay Pride" parade in central Moscow on Saturday risks showing up another... Read Full Story
The Czech Republic is pulling out of the Eurovision Song Contest due poor television ratings, the country's public service broadcaster said Friday. "The viewing rate was absolutely tragic. Unlike for instance Slovaks, our viewers did not accept this type of contest," Ladislav Sticha, spokesman for the state-run Czech Television, told AFP. The annual contest is watched by an estimated television audience of over 100 million people, making it one of the world's most watched events. This year's... Read Full Story
Twenty-five countries battled it out Saturday in Europe's hotly fought kitsch extravaganza the Eurovision Song Contest, as gay activists urged a boycott after Moscow police arrested dozens of them. Norway, Greece and Turkey were among the favourites to take first place in the contest, in which national acts have three minutes to wow juries and television audiences from 42 countries stretching from Iceland to Israel. Host country Russia used the event to put a fresh gloss on its image. Images... Read Full Story
Jade Ewen is representing the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 being held in Moscow with the finals this Saturday 16 May. The previous Eurovision song contest post has received a lot of interest we have to add “surprisingly”, hence the coverage of the UK entry, as we are a London UK based website, and do get all patriotic waving union jacks even if the contest is not our thing whatsoever!
A lot of hopes riding on Jade Ewens shoulders this weekend with this song “It’s My Time” as... Read Full Story
BERLIN (Reuters Life!) - Desperate to rescue itself from disappointing performances in recent years, Germany is sending two Americans to sing and dance in the Eurovision Song Contest in Moscow on Saturday night. Oscar Loya, a 29-year old American singer living in Munich, will represent Germany with the song "Miss Kiss Kiss Bang," a number drawing upon 1940s swing. Burlesque dancer Dita von Teese will join him on the stage. The German composer and producer of the song, Alex Christensen, is... Read Full Story
