he first of two Eurovision semifinals will start on Tuesday at Moscow`s Olimpiisky Indoor Arena with ten places up for grabs in both, the competition organizers said.

Moscow won the right to host the event for the first time after Russian pop singer Dima Bilan took first place in last year`s Eurovision, held in Belgrade, with his song Believe. A total of 42 countries are taking part in the competition, which officially opened on Sunday, with 25 of them going through to the final.

Russia along with the so called Big Four - Germany, the U.K., France and Spain - have already qualified.

During the first semifinal, nine finalists will be selected in an SMS vote with one being chosen by the jury.

A total of 18 countries will be trying to get through to the final (in order of appearance): Montenegro, Czech Republic, Belgium, Belarus, Sweden, Armenia, Andorra, Switzerland, Turkey, Israel, Bulgaria, Iceland, Macedonia, Romania, Finland, Portugal, Malta and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

This year Russia will be represented by Ukrainian singer Anastasia Prikhodko.

Over 8,500 police and security officers will be on duty at the venue during the competition.
sections: Culture