eurovision, this year in russia! lets go!

Dima Bilan of Russia winning eurovision 2008 with the song "believe".

This week, the symbolic key to the Eurovision Song Contest was handed to Yuri Luzhkov, the mayor of Moscow, which will host the event next year for the first time. And although the contest is still six months away, the Russian capital is already making preparations for what is likely to become one of Russia's biggest international show business spectacles.

It doesn't happen every day that Russia is involved in a show business event of this caliber. So when native child and rising pop star Dima Bilan won at this year's Eurovision Song Contest in Belgrade, automatically giving Russia hosting privileges for the next contest, it shook the world of Russian entertainment to its very core. And even though critics of the contest play down its importance, stressing that most of its winners never go on to become European stars, the event never fails to attract a lot of publicity. This is arguably good for both the winners and the hosting nation alike.

After a brief dispute over which city should host next year's contest, Moscow or St. Petersburg, often dubbed as Russia's "cultural capital," the choice was made in favor of the former.

But Russia's road to hosting the contest turned out to be far from rosy. Last August, following the military conflict between Russia and Georgia over the breakaway republic of South Ossetia, culture officials in Estonia spoke about boycotting the Eurovision contest out of protest against Moscow's actions in the Caucasus. Later, Latvia discussed a similar step. Eventually all that talk amounted to nothing, raising just discussions whether it is necessary to mix politics with cultural events.

Meanwhile, the next thing Moscow authorities had to do was to reassure gays and lesbians that they should feel safe in Moscow during the contest next May. City authorities are rather notorious for banning gay parades, while in recent years, there have been quite a number of gay and fake gay acts performing at the Eurovision Song Contest.

Speaking in London during the international tourist exhibition World Travel Market 2008 last month, deputy head of the tourism committee in the Moscow government, Sergei Ananov tried to reassure potential audiences of the contest: "As long as people observe public order and don't impose their opinion on other people in a form that is against the law, such opinion won't be criticized."

Not everybody in Russia, however, seem thrilled that the country is hosting the Eurovision Song Contest, especially given the fact that its opening day coincides with a national holiday, the celebration of victory in World War II.

"I am deeply indignant about the fact that the Eurovision Song Contest will be held in Russia and I am even more indignant about the date, 9 May, our sacred holiday, Victory Day," Yevgeny Marchenko, a deputy of St. Petersburg's city parliament, was quoted as saying by the Russkaya Liniya wire service.

"I categorically oppose the holding of that contest in Russia, whether it would be St. Petersburg, Moscow or any other city."

Marchenko's also called to start collecting signatures against holding the contest in Moscow, which is unlikely to have any impact.

The Eurovision Song Contest will open on May 9 on Vorobyovy Gory hills in front of the Moscow State University and will close on May 16 in the Gostiny Dvor exhibition center.

Semi-finals will take place on May 12 and May 14 and the final on May 16 at the event's main venue, the Olimpiysky Sports Center, which has a seating capacity of between 12,000 and 20,000 and hosts most Moscow shows by Western pop stars.

there are also news on the upcoming asiavision song contest. im thinking of representing malaysia. hmm.. what about you?