Performers from 26 countries - including Ireland's Mickey Joe Harte - prepare to step on stage tonight at the Eurovision song contest in Latvia, as Russia vowed its hot favourite, the controversial t.A.T.u. duo, would perform as planned.
Rumors that the multi-million-record selling duo would miss the event first flared last night when one of its members, Julia Volkova, missed a dress rehearsal, reportedly due to serious problems with her vocal cords.
Volkova was also absent from today's final rehearsal, as the clock ticked to the broadcast of the contest from 8 p.m. Irish time to an expected 100 million television viewers worldwide.
"She will be certainly be on stage this evening. She did not come to rehearsals because she wanted to save her voice," Ms Irina Stepanova, a spokeswoman for the Russian delegation, said as show time approached.
"We know that she will be there," said Ms Solvita Vevere, who is responsible for public relations at the competition, said.
t.A.T.u. , whose name is an abbreviation of the Russian "Ta lyubit Tu," or "This girl loves that one," has a carefully-crafted image of two teenaged lesbians rebelling against the grown-ups' world.
On the eve of the contest, the duo headed most of the provisional ratings provided on websites dedicated to the annual pop-song fest.
Ireland's entry, We've got the World, ranks a close second favourite in the European betting market at 5/1. At home, however, the odds are reversed with Harte's Donegal air priced as low as 9/4 favourite with some bookmakers.
Some 170 relatives and friends of the Lifford contestant flew out yesterday morning on a chartered flight for the event. Mickey Joe's mother Finola, wife Louise and children Kayleigh, (11) and Kyle, (8), were among those making the journey with what promised to be the largest ever travelling party to a Eurovision Song Contest.
The 26 participating artists will perform on an ultra-modern 35-metre high, 1,200-metre-square stage, decorated with curves, astronomic spheres and mobile projectors at Riga's Olympic Skonto Hall.
The winner will be elected by television viewers from the 26 participating countries, who will not be allowed to vote for their own country's performer.
The winning country will be asked to host the contest next year.
AFP