Eurovision surge hits city today

Europe Market set up on Esplanade

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"Welcome! Hard Rock Hallelujah!" With those words, Helsinki Mayor Jussi Pajunen greeted guests who had come to Helsinki's Finlandia Hall on Monday evening to the official opening of the Eurovision Song Contest.
      After that, he stepped aside like the other Finns, and Eurovision divas who had arrived from various countries took control of the evening with their feathered fans and their alarming suntans.
      As of Tuesday, the Eurovision Song Contest will be making itself felt in Helsinki. The courtyard at Lasipalatsi will open for various events, and a special Europe Market opens in Esplanade Park.
      On Monday afternoon there was no Eurovision frenzy yet in the Esplanade Park. Jari Parhiala, Ville Rostoja, and Sami Vainikainen were given the task of erecting booths for the Europe Market. A total of 36 stands had to be set up during Monday, because everything in the park had to be ready on Tuesday.
     
If the perspiration was flowing at the Esplanade Park, there was also plenty of it at the Vuosaari Comprehensive School, where 1,000 pupils from music classes around Helsinki gathered for a rehearsal. The school is the only one with a gym big enough to fit the entire choir.
      "Although there were pupils from about 20 schools, the spirit and discipline of the group were magnificent. The song also went well", said Susanna Hallaste, music teacher at the school.
      The first problems did not emerge until the break, when the toilet capacity of the building proved inadequate to the task. The schoolchildren will perform a Eurovision potpourri on Friday at 1:00 PM on the Senate Square.
     
There was singing in the Kamppi area as well.
      At the Eurovision village on Narinkkatori square Linda Santanen and Anna-Riina Kylli successfully took part in the Eurovision karaoke. They sang the Eurovision hymn Hard Rock Hallelujah and won tickets to the semifinals.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Eurovision Song Contest events to close streets around Helsinki (7.5.2007)
  Eurovision Song Contest: a technical learning experience for Finnish professionals (4.5.2007)

Helsingin Sanomat