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Buranovo Grannies fill Baku audiences with positive energy

The artists from the Udmurt Repbulic were the sixth this time
Photo EPA/ITAR-TASS
Photo EPA/ITAR-TASS

BAKU, May 27 (Itar-Tass) — The Buranovo Grannies made their second appearance on the Baku Crystal Hall stage with flying colors.

The artists from the Udmurt Repbulic were the sixth this time. They wore Udmurt national costumes. Despite the fact that the song marathon has been under way for two weeks, the grannies looked fresh and cheerful at the final show. Their hit ‘Party for Everybody’ filled the entire hall with enormous positive energy. The audience welcomed the Russian artists with a storm of applause. Such a stormy welcome astonished the Buranovo Grannies in the semi-final but they were much more relaxed and confident in Saturday’s final.

Journalists who had packed the Eurovision media center and many fans of the Russian folk group couldn’t help jumping from their sits when they heard the “grannies” singing. They applauded and sang along with them.

The ‘Buranovo Grannies’ are one of the main favorites of this year’s Eurovision song contest. Bookmakers put their chances high, giving them the second place.

“Even if they don’t win, many of us have given them the leadership in our hearts. We adore them,” Aigyun Gasanova, a journalist from Baku, said.

Before the final the ‘grannies’ had visited the grave of their idol, Muslim Magomayev.

Earlier on Saturday, the ‘grannies’ enjoyed watching a documentary film about themselves titled “From Buranovo to Baku” on the Russia television channel, the group’s manager Maria Tolstukhina told Itar-Tass.

The Eurovision-2012 final kicked off in the capital of Azerbaijan at 23:00 Moscow time on Saturday. Singers from 26 countries are taking part in the song contest.

The final was preceded by a colorful show. The audiences heard the winners of last year’s Eurovision song contest, Ell & Nikki, who sang their “Running Scared” song that brought them victory in 2011.

Bookmakers predict that Swedish singer Loreen (“Eurphoria”) is hot favorite to win this year. The second place is given to Russia’s Buranovo Grannies. Italian Nina Zilli with her song “Out of Love” or Serbian singer Zeljko Joksimovic with the song “Nije Ljubav Stvar” (Love is Not a Thing”) are predicted to be the third.

Security was tightened in Baku on the day of the Eurovision final. Twenty-three thousand people who came to the Baku Crystal Hall were supposed to carry identification papers. All the people had to go through a thorough security check. Traffic in the vicinity of the Baku Crystal Hall has been restricted since daytime.

Thousands of people, including foreign guests and tourists, who failed to get tickets for the final are watching it on big screens in a seaside park.

The Eurovison-2012 final is being broadcast in 46 countries. About 150 million TV viewers will be able to watch it live.