OSLO, Norway – Musicians from 25 countries were vying for pop supremacy Saturday in the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest — but even the annual extravaganza showed the strains of Europe's financial woes.
Oil-rich Norway has spent 200 million kroner ($31 million) to host the traditionally glitzy and elaborate songfest, but several countries have pulled out of the competition, including the Czech Republic, Montenegro, Andorra and Hungary.
Observers also fear that the voting for the winner — a political consideration even in the best of times — will be affected by the continent's simmering financial tensions. The Greek government debt crisis and a subsequent European Union-led bailout has strained relations within the 27-nation bloc.
"It may be the Germans won't vote for the Greeks this year because they are not so popular in Germany right now," said Inge Solmo, a Norwegian Eurovision expert.
The competition is decided by a panel of judges and telephone voting by the participating countries. Fans cannot vote for their own nation's entry.
The Mediterranean country's woes were compounded when a Greek private TV channel had its accreditation revoked after it broadcast unlicensed footage of a dress rehearsal for the final.
Still, organizers expect some 125 million TV viewers to watch Saturday's final — the 55th anniversary of Europe's largest song competition.
Bookmakers favor Azerbaijan's 17-year-old chanteuse Safura, but a Google Eurovision predictor program has projected that Germany's Lena Meyer-Landrut will win.
Earlier this week, 34 contestants were whittled down to 20. They will compete in the final with five pre-qualified countries — last year's winner, Norway, and the contest's four perennials: Britain, Germany, France and Spain.
Norway is hosting the 2010 contest near Oslo because its representative, fiddler Alexander Rybak, won last year in Moscow.
Politically motivated voting, as well as bloc voting, has been fairly common in Eurovision. Former Soviet bloc countries have tended to support one another, helping the region win five of the last nine contests.
The victorious nation wins the right to host the next year's event — an honor that austerity-minded governments may decide to refuse this year.
"If Azerbaijan wins, I don't know how they could finance the show next year," Solmo said.
If the winning country can't or won't host the show, Eurovision officials have in the past turned to Britain's BBC or the national broadcaster of another wealthy country to be the host, he said.
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