AZERBAIJAN: Ukraine's Eurovision entry Gaitana performs during the dress rehearsal ahead of the second semi-final on Baku Crystal Hall stage, hoping to make it through the final to be held on May 26

Record ID: 218226

  • Title: AZERBAIJAN: Ukraine's Eurovision entry Gaitana performs during the dress rehearsal ahead of the second semi-final on Baku Crystal Hall stage, hoping to make it through the final to be held on May 26
  • Date: 24th May 2012
  • Summary: BAKU AZERBAIJAN (MAY 23, 2012) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF JOURNALISTS ENTERING CRYSTAL HALL TO WATCH DRESS REHEARSAL
  • Embargoed: 8th June 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Azerbaijan
  • Country: Azerbaijan
  • Topics: Entertainment
  • Reuters ID: LVA1W4VYUCLYU7Y1T3F1CQVYHLS5
  • Story Text: Performing her song "Be My Guest", Ukraine's Eurovision Song Contest entry Gaitana rehearsed on Wednesday (May 23) on the eve of the second heat of semi-finals that she hopes will put her in contention for the grand prize of the song contest on May 26.
    Gaitana, born to a Congolese father and Ukrainian mother, lived in the Republic of Congo as a child and later moved to Ukraine. She has become extremely popular in Ukraine and performs mostly in Ukrainian. But, earlier in the year, Gaitana came under fire from nationalists in Ukraine who said the black singer was not the right choice to represent their nation, despite her being chosen by a professional jury and television viewers in Ukraine.
    On Wednesday, however, her energetic performance was warmly received by journalists watching the rehearsal for Thursday's (May 24) semi-finals. And the singer wore a white fringed dress with a floral wreath--a traditional token to the country she represents.
    Thursday's semi-final will include 18 entrants from Belarus, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Macedonia, Georgia, Lithuania, Malta, Norway, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, the Netherlands, Turkey and Ukraine.
    Ten contestants go through to the final.
    In the first semi-final heat on Tuesday (May 22), Romania, Moldova, Island, Hungary, Denmark, Albania, Cyprus, Greece, Russia and Island were chosen to go on to compete in the Eurovision final to be held on May 26. The winners were determined by a 50/50 combination of viewer sms voting and a jury panel.
    Azerbaijan, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and United Kingdom will join the contest at its last stage on May 26.
    Another Ukrainian singer, Ruslana, who won the Eurovision 2004 contest, calls Gaitana was one of the best singers and candidates "in the whole history of Ukraine for as long as the country participated in Eurovision Song Contest."
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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