AZERBAIJAN: Residents and visitors to Azerbaijan's capital Baku await the Eurovision song contest final later this evening, amid high police security measures

Record ID: 218192

  • Title: AZERBAIJAN: Residents and visitors to Azerbaijan's capital Baku await the Eurovision song contest final later this evening, amid high police security measures
  • Date: 27th May 2012
  • Summary: PEOPLE WALKING ALONG EMBANKMENT, AGAINST BACKGROUND OF CRYSTAL HALL (SOUNDBITE) (English) WOLF, FAN FROM GERMANY, SAYING: "Well my favorite singer is the German one. Despite, I know that there is not a big chance that he wins but he is my favorite." PEOPLE WALKING ALONG BOULEVARD (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) BAKU RESIDENT, NARGIZ UMAROVA, SAYING: "I like all of them. Espec
  • Embargoed: 11th June 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Azerbaijan
  • Country: Azerbaijan
  • Topics: Entertainment
  • Reuters ID: LVA78VU6GR75UY86D47AQ5KD8F8C
  • Story Text: Fans awaited the grand finale of the 57th annual Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday, (May 26) in Baku, the capital of the host country, Azerbaijan.
    The participants of the contest will perform in the the new Crystal Hall, a state-of-the-art facility built earlier this year.
    Fans from various contest participating countries walked around Baku. Alexander Yudin from Russia voiced his support for his country's representative at this year's competition.
    "Favorites? We are from Russia, so of course (Buranovskiye) Babushki. But my daughter wants Greece to win," he said.
    The Buranovskiye Babushki, who will perform their song "Party for Everyone" in English, have been listed second, by bet makers, followed by Serbia, Italy and Ireland.
    Another fan, Wolf from Germany said that he would of course be behind the representative from his country, Roman Lob, who will perform the song "Standing Still".
    "Well my favorite singer is the German one. Despite, I know that there is not a big chance that he wins but he is my favorite," he said.
    A local resident Nargiz Umarova said that she enjoyed many of the international finalists, which also include, Swede Loreen, French Anggun, Italian Nina Zilli, Spanish Pastora Soler, and British Engelbert Humperdinck, but found a special appeal in the Russian contestants.
    "I like all of them. Especially the (Buranovskiye) Babushki, they are great, they sing at such an age," Umarova said.
    Security around Baku was tight as the city braces for the live show on Saturday night with an expected approximate 16,000 audience, and more than 124 million television viewers across Europe.
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