Putin wishes success to Azeri Eurovision stars
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has wished
success to the two singers who will represent Azerbaijan at the
2009 Eurovision song contest.
During rehearsals of the duet, featuring 19-year old Aysel Teymurzada and Arash, an Iranian-born ethnic Azeri singer and songwriter at Moscow`s Olympic complex on Saturday, Putin unexpectedly appeared with Konstantin Ernst, General Director of Russia`s ORT channel (Channel 1). Having walked onto the stage, the Russian premier shook Aysel and Arash`s hands and wished them to success at the competition.
The hosts of the upcoming contest, which will be held in Moscow, have already been named. The presenters of the Eurovision semi-final, due May 12 and 14, will be super-model Natalya Vodyanova and popular ORT host Andrey Malakhov. The final, to be held on May 16, will be hosted by well-known singer Alsu and show host Ivan Urgant.
We recall that Alsu once performed at Eurovision, ranking second at the 2000 contest.
A total of 42 European countries are joining the contest, but only 25 of them will proceed to the final.
Meanwhile, a ranking of Eurovision 2009 performers has been conducted on the Web. The online vote ranked the participants of the annual contest on a point-based system. Aysel and Arash were rated eighth, with 72 points.
Turkey`s Hadise topped the ranking with 339 points. Alexander Rybak of Norway came in second (319 points) followed by Greece`s Sakis Ruvas (221 points). Anastasiya Prikhodko of Russia was rated sixth, while the Armenian Inga-Anush duet was 27th with 11 points.
During rehearsals of the duet, featuring 19-year old Aysel Teymurzada and Arash, an Iranian-born ethnic Azeri singer and songwriter at Moscow`s Olympic complex on Saturday, Putin unexpectedly appeared with Konstantin Ernst, General Director of Russia`s ORT channel (Channel 1). Having walked onto the stage, the Russian premier shook Aysel and Arash`s hands and wished them to success at the competition.
The hosts of the upcoming contest, which will be held in Moscow, have already been named. The presenters of the Eurovision semi-final, due May 12 and 14, will be super-model Natalya Vodyanova and popular ORT host Andrey Malakhov. The final, to be held on May 16, will be hosted by well-known singer Alsu and show host Ivan Urgant.
We recall that Alsu once performed at Eurovision, ranking second at the 2000 contest.
A total of 42 European countries are joining the contest, but only 25 of them will proceed to the final.
Meanwhile, a ranking of Eurovision 2009 performers has been conducted on the Web. The online vote ranked the participants of the annual contest on a point-based system. Aysel and Arash were rated eighth, with 72 points.
Turkey`s Hadise topped the ranking with 339 points. Alexander Rybak of Norway came in second (319 points) followed by Greece`s Sakis Ruvas (221 points). Anastasiya Prikhodko of Russia was rated sixth, while the Armenian Inga-Anush duet was 27th with 11 points.
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