The countdown is on for the 55th Eurovision song contest that kicks off tonight in Norway. Israel’s entry Harel Skaat is one of the lucky singers to make the final round. Contestants from Azerbaijan and Germany are said to be the top favorites.
Musicians from 25 countries will participate in the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest in Norway including Israel’s contender Harel Skaat.
Over the weekend Israel’s Foreign Ministry submitted a complaint with the contest’s organizers for failing to display the map of Israel, despite the fact that the countries of all contestants are shown when they are introduced.
Oil-rich Norway has spent $31 million to host the traditionally glitzy and elaborate songfest, but several countries have pulled out of the competition, including the Czech Republic, Montenegro, Andorra and Hungary.
Some believe the financial woes in Europe may affect the vote, others say that as the years have gone by the votes have become more and more politically orientated.
"It may be the Germans won't vote for the Greeks this year because they are not so popular in Germany right now," said Inge Solmo, a Norwegian Eurovision expert.
The competition is decided by a panel of judges and telephone voting by the participating countries. Fans cannot vote for their own nation's entry.
Organizers expect some 125 million TV viewers to watch Saturday's final — the 55th anniversary of Europe's largest song competition.
Favorites include Azerbaijan's 17-year-old Safura, another is Germany’s Lena Meyer-Landrut will win.
Earlier this week, 34 contestants were whittled down to 20. They will compete in the final with five pre-qualified countries — last year's winner, Norway, and the contest's four perennials: Britain, Germany, France and Spain.
Norway is hosting the 2010 contest near Oslo because its representative, fiddler Alexander Rybak, won last year in Moscow.
The winning country wins the right to host the next year's event — an honor that austerity-minded governments may decide to refuse this year.
"If Azerbaijan wins, I don't know how they could finance the show next year," Solmo said.
If the winning country can't or won't host the show, Eurovision officials have in the past turned to Britain's BBC or the national broadcaster of another wealthy country to be the host, he said.
(AP contributed to this report) |
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