Prepare your wallets: Eurovision ticket offices open

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Published: 16 March, 2009, 20:31

Get ready for the show! Tickets for Eurovision-2009 went on sale Monday March 16. The best-song-of-Europe contest begins in Moscow on May 12.

The least expensive tickets for day and evening concerts of Eurovision will be $7.50 US. Tickets for the semi-final concerts will cost from $23 US to $570 US. To see the final contest live, fans will have to pay $28 US up to $860 US.

These prices are much higher than tickets for last year’s Eurovision in Belgrade, Serbia. Then, the most expensive ticket sold through the official web-site was $90 US.

Unlike last year, there are no limitations for sales of tickets to foreigners. In 2008 in Serbia, only Serbs could buy tickets during the first two days tickets went on sale.

Each stage of the contest is expected to host about 20,000 people in Moscow. Of the 42 participating countries, only 25 will be chosen to compete for the title of Best Song in the final.

Russia was awarded the right to host this year’s international song-contest after Dima Bilan, the Russian singer, won the 2008’s Eurovision.

Voices of Europe

On Monday March 16 the final list of participants for the 2009 contest is expected to be completed by the heads of the participating countries’ delegations.

Forty-three countries were supposed to send contestants to Eurovision-2009, however Georgia has recently refused to take part in the competition.

Contest organizers labeled the Georgian Eurovision entry song, entitled “We don’t wanna put in”, of containing an anti-Russian political theme and asked Georgia to change the lyrics to make it neutral. However, Georgia has refused to change the text and dropped out of the competition.

Georgia was supposed to perform in Moscow in the first semi-final on May 12 along with singers from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sweden, Israel, Belgium, Andorra, Czech Republic, Montenegro, Iceland, Armenia, Bulgaria, Portugal, Switzerland, Macedonia, Finland, Belarus, Turkey, Romania and Malta.

The second semi-final will be held on May 14. Singers from Slovenia, Denmark, Azerbaijan, Netherlands, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Serbia, Norway, Ukraine, Greece, Poland, Croatia, Estonia, Moldova, Cyprus, Ireland, Slovakia and Albany will fight for their place in the final round.

France, Germany, Spain, and the UK, as the co-founders, and Russia as the latest winner, have already secured their place in the final.

In the upcoming contest Russia will be represented by Anastasia Prihodko – a Ukrainian singer.