According to Azerbaijani news website news.az, quoting the general director of Ictimai TV, Ismayil Omarov, the EBU will hold a meeting in Geneva on June 20th in order to discuss the final venue and dates for the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest, to be held in Baku. The provisional dates for the contest to take place are May 22, 24 and 26 2012.
In a press conference held today, Mr Omarov went on to say that the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest will be "the most beautiful, grandest contest".
He also referred to suspicions on Azerbaijan using financial resources to earn its first Eurovision win: "I ask you not to focus on finance. This is a victory for Azerbaijani culture, music, Eldar and Nigar. Eldar and Nigar were considered the favourites and this turned out to be right", Omarov said.
Regarding the visas for tourists and eurofans wishing to visit the country next year, Mr Omarov explained that "given the interest of the international community and, especially, Europe in this contest, all diplomatic bodies abroad will be tasked with issuing visas and other travel documents for Azerbaijan in a timely fashion. Moreover, the latest changes to visa issuance procedures will allow online visa applications to Azerbaijani embassies".
A member of the Azerbaijani government, Deputy Minister of Communications and IT Iltimas Mammadov,has confirmed that the country's telecom networkis readyfor the contest: "Viewers voted in the contest via all mobile operators. The ministry started this process three years ago. As a result, modern technology has been installed by Public TV and other bodies".
Moreover, Eldar and Nigar, who also attended the press conference,thanked those who had believed in them and congratulated the Azerbaijani people on the victory. Besides that, Ismayil Omarov stated that he would "regret" the likely absence of Armenia from the competition next year.
Thanks to Orki Ibrahimli for the submission of the information.
