12.00 Bosnia and Herzegovina invited everyone to the press conference, which had to be postponed until the next day because of the official opening of the Eurovision Song Contest in Mariyinskiy Palace. The contestants managed to rouse the curiosity of the guests and journalists by promising them a little surprise. This time the gift for everybody was not souvenirs but a huge cake with fifty candles lit by the contestants. The press conference ended with the song “Happy Birthday, Eurovision”.

13.45 In the Sports Palace it was possible not only to see live performances of the contestants, listen to their rehearsals, as well as press conferences, but also to take part in various quiz contests and promotions. The company Nemiroff, an international sponsor of Eurovision, organized a contest among Ukraine’s guests regarding their knowledge of Eurovision-2005’s country-participants. All of the winners received memorable prizes.

15.00 The contest’s announcers, DJ Pasha and Masha Yefrosinina, successfully rehearsed the introduction to the 2005 Eurovision Song Contest.


11.40 The official opening ceremony of the international Eurovision Song Contest took place yesterday at 7 p.m. at Mariyinskiy Palace. Invited guests and journalists were greeted by Deputy Prime Minister for Humanitarian Affairs Mykola Tomenko. Among the invited guests were Minister of Culture Oksana Bilozir, Minister of Internal Affairs Yuriy Lutsenko, Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration Oleh Rybachuk, and the president of the National Television Company of Ukraine, Taras Stetskiv. The hosts of Eurovision-2005, Maria Yefrosinina and DJ Pasha, appeared to be at the center of attention of the press fraternity, giving interviews to journalists and posing for photographers with evident enjoyment. And they were not alone, as practically all participants of the Eurovision contest actively communicated with mass media representatives and photographed with guests, singing their contest (and non-competition) songs in between the toasts (or instead of them)… And eventually, the official part of the Eurovision opening ceremony was crowned by grandiose fireworks.

12.00 The contestant from Russia, Natalia Podolskaya, believes in the magic combination of figures. May 21 is Natalia’s father’s birthday and the Eurovision contest final will take place the same day. As for Podolskaya herself, she was born on the May 20, and 20 is the number under which Russia is performing in the competition final. The contestant’s friends also sincerely hope for her victory because if you subtract «20» from «21», you will get «1», which means first place in Eurovision Song Contest 2005.


12.00 A wreath-laying ceremony was held yesterday at Babyn Yar and a prayer was recited to honor the memory of those who tragically perished during the Second World War. Though Eurovision is a festival of joy and laughter, the contest’s participant Sheri from Israel said that she would always remember what had happened and always find time to come and pay tribute to the memory of those who didn’t come back from the war.

14.20 The entertainment club Arena has become one of the main centers for the cultural events taking place in the Eurovision-2005 song contest. Every evening Arena’s visitors can watch representatives from various countries spending their parties singing, dancing, in a word – fun in full swing. Every country also acquaints the visitors with their Eurovision representative’s creative work by way of organizing mini-concerts. For example, yesterday the contest’s participants from Romania and Belarus entertained the audience and afterward everyone ate a festive cake and shared impressions.

15.00 SHOW BILL OF EUROCAMP CULTURAL-ARTISTIC EVENTS

May 16 — Opening of Trypillian ceramics master-class (workshop). Studio of the Kolo-Ra society (14:00);
May 17 – Treating Eurovision guests with a 40-kilo cake from the Dnipro restaurant (at 4 p.m. on the stage); and opening of the Knyazha Doba (Prince’s Era) exhibition and a master-class (workshop) by Valentyna Sazonova;
May 18 – Performance Day of the National University of the Kyiv Mohyla Academy (NaUKMA) in Eurocamp (performance by the Chumaky Men’s Choir, show performance of the Hopak Ukrainian hand-to-hand combat section, performance of “Life is a Dream” based on the play by P. Kalderon of the same name in a performance of NaUKMA’s Theater Center, show performance of the Spas (The Festival of the Savoir) martial arts team, stage version of the Spudeyske Bratstvo’s (Spudey Society’s) project “Naddnipryanske Vesillya” (“Wedding on Middle Podniprovya” (adjacent to the Dnipro River.))
May 19 – Beer Festival;
May 20 – Festival of “Mister Varenyk (traditional Ukrainian meal) and Mistress Makytra (large ceramic pot)”;
May 21 – “Pomarancheviy” (orange) Carnival;
May 22 – Closing of Eurocamp: Final Concert.

CONTINUAL ACTIVITIES OF THE CULTURAL-ARTISTIC PROGRAM:
International Shevchenko Days;
Sales exhibition of Ukrainian painters’ works;
Art-installation of modern art;
Master-classes of Ukrainian and Latin American dances under the direction of the Kristi ballet;
Folk groups’ performances;
Activity “Your photo with Eurocamp logo”;
Trypillian ceramics sales exhibition. Studio of the Kolo-Ra society;
“Ukrainian Night” Super Action – a walk along the river Dnipro to a cozy Chervona Kalyna (Red Arrowwood) restaurant complex, a vivid arrangement with a reproduction of Ukrainian traditions and customs; includes national meals and drinks;
Contest-festival of sand sculptures and Land Art;
Graffiti Contest.


15.00 The song “Touch my Flame” (“Torknys moho polumya”) was composed especially for the Eurovision-2005 contest, the contest’s participant from Great Britain, Gavin, said at a press conference. Answering a question about which country-participants will be included in the top-10, Gavin mentioned Cyprus and Greece.

18.00 At a press conference, the GreenJolly group’s participants did not just sing “revolutionary” songs, but also treated everyone to a “revolutionary” Ukrainian dish – holubtsy (stuffed cabbage leaves.) Right after the group’s rehearsal, representing Ukraine in the Eurovision-2005 song contest, the boys told a press conference about their promo-tour in Europe and introduced their new drummer Serhiy to the audience. They were accompanied by Svitlana Bazhanova, the head of the Ukrainian delegation, Oksana Pavlyk, the ensemble’s manager, and the Soul B ballet.

Roman Kalin, the group’s leader, said that during the promo-tour, covering 13 countries (Andorra, Spain, Malta, Romania, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Portugal, Latvia, Greece, Cyprus, Albania and Poland) the group’s members became certain that they would made the right choice for a song for Eurovision. The song “Razom nas Bahato” was a great success everywhere and audiences turned out to be very enthusiastic, and not merely for the comparatively simple melody and words. Roman emphasized that the song, having become a symbol of the Orange Revolution, conveys an important message. Namely because of this, to its words were added words from other languages so that as many people as possible could understand what it was about. Filled with the idea of freedom and human dignity, the song “Razom nas Bahato” declares that all people must be free and not merely in their choice but in their thoughts and perceptions as well. “But this doesn’t mean that we are appealing to anarchy,” Kalin said. “Razom nas Bahato” is a song of the freedom-loving Ukrainians and of all freedom-loving people,” he added. Right after that the boys surprised the audience, playing a pipe (sopilka) and performing a freedom anthem.
The first thing that interested foreign journalists was whether the musicians plan a tour of Ukrainian cities when their promo-tour is completed. As it turned out, right after Eurovision-2005 the group GreenJolly will release their new album, comprised of songs from the 8 years of the group’s existence. They intend to perform the album’s repertoire in Ukrainian cities (Lviv, Zhytomyr, Rivne, etc.) starting May 25.
According to Roman Kalin, GreenJolly, as well as ordinary Ukrainian people, are happy to host the Eurovision jubilee song contest in their capital city and they are certain that the contest will be held on a high level.
The musicians also said that after Ruslana’s victory last year, they feel at home with taking part in Eurovision and expressed hope that their performance in the revolutionary style for the “pop music Eurovision” (quoting Roman Kalin) will be remarkable enough for the Europeans to memorize.
Further on the boys performed a Ukrainian wedding song, “Hutsulka”, and when they sang the guests were treated to holubtsy, the most revolutionary dish of all Ukrainian meals in the GreenJolly group members’ opinion. Finally, the musicians shared their life goals. They said that music was to fill their lives completely. That is why GreenJolly, having forsaken their previous professions, are determined to realize their creative potential in the musical sphere.



13.00 The Estonian group’s producer jokes, saying that he is the father of the five girls. “I have to keep an eye on them without fail. The girls try to sing by themselves, to perform several songs for viewers from the hall,” the group’s producer said. Truthfully, the group “The Tribe of the Sun” has competitors at Eurovision. They are Estonian girls who will represent Switzerland at the contest. But it will be a friendly competition, and they’ll keep their fingers crossed for the group from Switzerland.


11.00 Initially the Israeli singer sang in Hebrew. Sheri Maymon’s fans liked namely this version of the song most of all when they chose Sheri to participate in the Eurovision-2005 contest. Now some English words have appeared in the song’s text and it has given rise to many questions from journalists. Truthfully, Sheri promised journalists that she would probably return to the old text of the song, but that would happen only in the contest’s final.

12.30 Polish representatives will have a chance to sing in Polish, Russian and Romanian. Ivan & Delfin members shared the secret that the song “Czarna dziewczyna” took its origin from the song “Ochi chornye” (“Black eyes”). The contest’s participants are certain of the Slavonic roots of their song. But we will see flaming gipsy folk dancing instead of traditional Polish dances.

14.00 The Austrian group will perform on Maydan Eurocity today at 1 p.m. and at 3.30 p.m. The boys are absolutely sure of their victory, but they sang a song “We are the champions!” before the rehearsal to lift everyone’s spirits. By the way, a real love story of one of the group’s members has been put into the song, which the participants will sing at Eurovision.
On May 17, Ukraine will see Ruslana’s charity concert. The Lithuanian contest’s participants will eagerly take part in the concert as well.


17.15 The Moldavian group Zdob shi Zdub generated public excitement among Ukrainian journalists.
Their group consists of a drummer, who is 60 years old, the contest’s participants reported at the press conference. They added that the age didn’t stand in the way; the granny plays the drums very well.


17.30 The contest’s participant from Israel will sing Jewish songs to pay tribute to the memory of those who died during the Second World War. The event will take place tomorrow at 3.30 p.m. in Babyn Yar. Sheri Maymon likes her native town very much and appeals to everyone to come and honor the memory of these people, who perished tragically.


12.00 Luminita Anghel, a contest participant from Romania, opened today’s rehearsals at the Sports Palace. To everybody’s amazement, the musicians, participating together with Luminita, will play using various spare auto parts and housewares. These unconventional musical tools are in high harmony with the style of the participant’s performance.

14.45 Andorra’s residents are sure that it’s possible to comprehend the sense of life only having looked inside of it ourselves. In line with their concept “to live” means living in harmony with oneself. Probably, particularly because of this, Andorra decided to follow the country’s traditions and present the song "La mirada interior" at the contest. The song’s name is translated as “A Look inside yourself” (“Pohlyad u sebe”.)

15.00 “Eurovision is a contest that traditionally unites people and all nations in the song contest. And we don’t experience any discomfort because of the fact that Estonian girls are part of our group,” the members of the Swiss group Vanilla Ninja emphasized. The Swiss know only Ruslana among Ukrainian singers. They liked Kyiv very much, especially Ukrainian Schumacher drivers on the roads.

16.15 Boris Novković is considered to be one of the best footballers of the Croatian football club. He is a contest’s participant who will represent his country at Eurovision-2005. The soloist at once received an offer to enter the Eurovision Stars football team at a press conference organized by the Ukrainian Consulting Group.

17.30 Bulgaria will take part in the contest for the first time in the history of the Eurovision Song Contest. The group Kaffe will represent the country. Their soloist has become the most sexually appealing man of the year. The contest’s participants will sing a lyric song and of course they are counting on victory in the contest.


10.00 The first rehearsal at the Sports Palace was a sign of the beginning of the project for holding the Eurovision-2005 jubilee contest in Kyiv. The contest’s performers from Austria were the first to rehearse on the stage.

12.00 When the first rehearsal was over a press conference with the Austrian group Global Kryner’s took place. The contest’s participants told about their project with its main concept of combining popular music and traditional Austrian and Cuban tunes.

15.30 “Portuguese residents will vote for the Ukrainian group as well”, said the contest’s performers from Portugal. “The case is that many Ukrainian people live in Portugal who will support Ukrainian singers. It’s most likely that Ukraine and Portugal will count the same number of votes,” To Be’s group members said. The contest’s participants hope to carry the main prize to Portugal, having relied this year on a popular direction in music.
Whereas Lithuania (represented by the group Laura and the Lovers) will distribute condoms instead of the traditional distribution of candies and the group’s firm attributes (flags, T-shirts and caps).


17.45 The contest’s participants from Latvia, Karlis Bmeisters and Valters Frydenbergs, have composed a song dedicated to Eurovision-2005. The boys sing about the sense of life, about the winners and the defeated, about that war shouldn’t break out in their song “The war is not over”. In the refrain the boys use gestures of the deaf, since they are certain that many people, including the deaf, will watch Eurovision.

18.00 Rehearsals of three more Eurovision participants were successfully completed. This is the participant Lise Darly from Monaco, whose arrival had been undecided for a long time due to the death of the Prince of Monaco. Another participant – from Belarus - Angelica Ahurbash, came to Kyiv together with her producer Filip Kirkorov. The last day of the participants’ rehearsal, May 17, coincided with Angelica’s birthday. This very birthday is most likely to become her most memorable day. Well-known Mia Michaels will be Angelica’s choreographer. The participant from Holland prefers singing soul music. Glennis Grace will sing the song “My Impossible Dream.”

19.30 The contest’s participants from Belgium and Iceland rehearsed their performance. Nuno Guilherme de Figueiredo Resende, the representative from Belgium, surprised the audience by his singing skills and by his knowledge of foreign languages. But it’s the first time that he has participated in Eurovision. On the contrary, the representative from Iceland is no newcomer to the song contest. She even took part in Eurovision in 1999. In addition, Selma Bjrnsdttir has successfully tried herself out in the genre of musical staging.

20.30 This year the Estonian group won’t sing traditional Estonian songs; we will hear pop music in their performance. The group’s members liked Kyiv at once, especially the metro. “There are so many people! We’ve heard that it’s the deepest metro in the world,” said Suntribe. Speaking about the cheerful Norwegian boys from the group Wig Wam, they will sing a rock song, which is unconventional for Eurovision. “We very much hope that we’ll be supported in Norway and in Ukraine,” the boys said.

21.00 The official Euroclub opening was held on May 12. This is a special club that has joined together all of Eurovision’s participants and accredited mass media representatives. After the rehearsals the participants take a rest and have a good time in the Arena club. When the official Euroclub part was over, The Kyiv sky was embellished by a festival salute, signaling the opening of Euroclub-2005.