The Eurovision song contest was officially opened in Baku

On May 19th in the Baku Euroclub there was an official opening ceremony of the Eurovision song contest 2012. The representatives of 42 countries took part in the red carpet ceremony. The guests of the competition were greeted by the winners of the Eurovision 2011.

According to the rules, the representatives of the countries were walking in the alphabetical order. The first was the Albanian delegation. The  representatives of Russia had to wait in line for about two hours. The ceremony, which was supposed to start at 9:00 pm local time, was delayed for an hour.

Unexpectedly Alexander Rybak, the Norwegian winner of Eurovision 2009, appeared on the red carpet. Alexander became the first artist who brought some excitement to journalists and  fans. Before  his appearance everyone was quiet. Alexander gave interviews, signed autographs and was photographed.

"I have never seen so much preparation for the Eurovision contest anywhere as in Baku. The city is being changed. Many people were afraid that it would not be ready. But in less than a year they built the arena for the Eurovision. It's impossible. Less than a year! It had never happened before in any country", - said Alexander Rybak  to the Vesti.Ru reporter.

The most expected guests of the opening ceremony were the singers of  "Buranovskiye Babushki". They appeared on the red carpet, when it was already dark. At first the artists were not seen in the crowd of journalists. The Russian delegation could be seen only  by the highly raised national flag, which was proudly held by the commentator Dmitry Guberniev.

The grannies brought a huge excitement to the journalists and fans. It was the first red carpet in the life of the Udmurt group, but the singers behaved as professional stars - smiling to the photographers, giving numerous interviews, singing songs, and giving autographs. After the red carpet grannies found themselves in the Euruclub. Prior to that, they admitted, they had not even known what it was.

The grannies did not wait for the beginning of the opening ceremony. After talking for half an hour with journalists in the VIP area of the club they headed for the exit. Over there they met the British singer Engelbert Humperdinck. Journalists and bloggers before the contest called him "the grandfather" of  the Eurovision.

On May 20th "Buranovskiye Babushki" will give the Russian party at the Eurovision. At that event the grannies promised to give a whole concert, where they will sing not only their hit - Party for Everybody, but also songs of The Beatles and the Queen in the Udmurt language, as well as folk songs.  The singer Oleg Gazmanov arrived in Baku to support our grannies. "Buranovskiye Babushki" will perform in the first semi-final at number 14. It will be held on May 22 on the stage of the Baku Crystal Hall.

Natalya Kiseleva, Vesti.Ru