Baku hosted "Eurovision - 2012" opening ceremony - UPDATE - VIDEO - PHOTOS

Opening ceremony of the "Eurovision - 2012" song contest was held in "EuroClub".

The contestants arrived in EuroClub on buses and go down the red carpet.

The representative of Turkey Jan Bonomo welcomed the audience, going with the Azerbaijani flag.

People warmly welcomed the representative of Azerbaijan and Russia Sabina Babayeva and group "Buranovskie babushki".

Contestants from Ireland and Germany, Jedward and Roman Loeb talked with the fans and gave them disks with their own songs.

Speaking at the ceremony, the head of the competition, Jan Ola Sand greeted visitors with the opening of EuroClub, and wished success to the contestants.

According to him, perfect conditions for the Eurovision Song Contest organized in Baku. "This Contest will be long in the memory of the audience," - said Sand.

Leading the evening Leyla Aliyeva and Nargiz Birk-Petersen welcomed the guests and opened the evening concert. It was attended by the winners of "Eurovision - 2011" Eldar Gasimov and Nigar Jamal, who performed the song Running Scared. Then Alexander Rybak came on the scene. He performed his hit Fairytale.

The 57th Eurovision Song Contest will be held in the Baku Crystal Hall near State Flag Square. The semi-finals will be held in Baku on May 22 and May 24 and the final on May 26. The logo for the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest is 'Fire Flower', while the motto is Light your fire.

Azerbaijan won the right to host the prestigious European song contest after the victory of Eldar Gasimov and Nigar Jamal (Ell / Nikki) at Eurovision 2011 in Dusseldorf, Germany last May.