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Wheelchair-bound singer Yulia Samoilova to represent Russia at 2017 Eurovision in Kiev

A total of 43 countries will participate in the Eurovision Song Contest this year. Semifinals will be held in the Ukrainian capital on May 9 and 11

Yulia Samoilova TASS

Yulia Samoilova

MOSCOW, March 12. /TASS/. Wheelchair-bound singer Yulia Samoilova will represent Russia at the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest in Kiev with the song Flame Is Burning, Russia’s Channel One said on Sunday.

A total of 43 countries will participate in the Eurovision Song Contest this year. Semifinals will be held in the Ukrainian capital on May 9 and 11. The grand final will take place on May 13. The show will be hosted by the International Exhibition Centre in Kiev, the country’s biggest exhibition center with an area of about 58,000 square meters.

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Yulia, who will turn 28 on April 7, has been using a wheelchair since childhood. In 2013, she won second place in the Factor A television project. She took part in the opening ceremony of the 2014 Paralympic Winter Games in Russia’s Sochi with the song Together.

The Eurovision Song Contest has been held annually since 1956, and each country member of the European Broadcasting Union sends its representative. Traditionally, the country whose singer has won the previous contest, hosts the next one.

Ukraine’s singer Jamala won the 2016 Eurovision song contest held in Stockholm in May with the song called "1944". Australian singer Demi Im was second.Russia’s Sergey Lazarev who sang the song "You Are the Only One" took the third place.

Kiev previously hosted Eurovision in 2005 after Ukrainian singer Ruslana won the 2004 contest in Istanbul.

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