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"One of the hot favourites, Ruslana and her dancers perform such a stomping
number with Wild Dance that they cracked the stage during a rehearsal."

Agence France-Presse (AFP), Istanbul, Turkey, May 13, 2004

ISTANBUL - Dancers clad in costumes like leather-clad hobbits, a duo poised
for a boat wedding and a line-up of crooning male heartthrobs - these are
some of the attractions the Eurovision song bonanza is offering this year.

The annual contest, often mocked for its glitzy pop overdrive, opens on
Wednesday evening in Istanbul, the ancient Turkish city straddling both
Europe and Asia on the picturesque Bosphorus.

Organizers this year were forced to hold the semi-final stage in the face of
an unprecedented number of countries that showed interest in the song
bonanza, often derided for the quality of its music and political bias in
voting.

Ten nations qualified on Wednesday for the final of the Eurovision song
contest, knocking out 12 other aspirants from the annual event, watched by
millions of fans across the continent.

The 10 winners - Albania, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece,
Macedonia, Malta, the Netherlands, Ukraine and Serbia and Montenegro -
will join 14 other nations which have already secured places for Saturday's
final.

The 14 others are Austria, Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Iceland,
Ireland, Norway, Poland, Romania, Russia, Spain, Sweden and Turkey.
Under the rules of the event, organizers only gave a random list of the 10
nations which mustered the most support from the tele-voting, without
revealing the ranking of the 22 contenders in the semi-final.

Bidding farewell to the competition are Andorra, Belarus, Denmark, Estonia,
Finland, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Monaco, Portugal, Slovenia and
Switzerland.

As if in keeping with Istanbul's historic scenery, many contenders have
opted for ancient ethnic tunes and costumes.

Take Ukrainian star Ruslana, for instance, who is expected to turn out like
Lord of the Rings heroes in medieval-style leather clothes.

One of the hot favourites, Ruslana and her dancers perform such a stomping
number with Wild Dance that they cracked the stage during a rehearsal.

Zeljko Joksimovic and his orchestra will follow suit for Serbia and
Montenegro with a distinctive blend of pop music and ethnic Balkan melodies,
using ancient instruments.

For those keen on something more modern and upbeat, Greek heartthrob Sakis
Rouvas, also a top favourite, has much to offer with his song Shake It and
an electrifying floor show.

Spain's Ramon is also set for an eye-catching performance, while Jari
Sillanpaa of Finland has promised a touch of tango, imported straight from
the north.

Many other countries such as Britain, Germany, Iceland and Macedonia have
sent male soloists to the contest.

Belgium's Xandee and Swedish diva Lena Philipsson are among the female
contenders who could yet still steal the show from the men.
The host country will be represented by the band Athena, set to do battle
with a rock song.

It is a sharp contrast to Turkey's winner last year, pop diva Sertab Erener,
who wowed the crowd with an exotic mix of belly-dancing and pop.

To underscore Eurovision's theme of romance and oft-overpowering
sentimentality, the long-time sweethearts Diana and Simon who make up the
Slovenian duo Platin are planning to tie the knot on Thursday on a boat
cruise on the Bosphorus, in a kind of Eurovision "reality show".

Ruslana of Ukraine rehearses for the semi-finals of the 49th
Eurovision Song Contest, to be held between 12-15 May [2004] in
Istanbul AbdiIpekci Sport Salon. Turkey hosts the pan-continental Eurovision song contest opening Wednesday, keen to boost its image in the eyes of a European public often sceptical over the Muslim nation's bid to join the EU.(AFP/Mustafa Ozer)