The Eurovision 2009 song contest has been officially opened in Moscow on Sunday, the contest's organizers reported.

Moscow won the right to be the owner of the event for the first time after Russian pop singer Dima Bilan took the first place in the last year Eurovision that was held in Belgrade, with his song “Believe”.

The start of the official opening ceremony at 10:00 p.m. Moscow time (6:00 p.m. GMT) and was broadcasted by Russia's TV Channel One.

Representatives of 41 European countries including singers from Israel will take part in the contest, to be held at the Olimpiysky Sports Complex, built for the 1980 Olympic Games, on May 10-16.

This year Russia will be represented by the Ukrainian singer Anastasia Prikhod’ko.

Over 9000 police and security officers will be on duty at the Eurovision 2009 Song Contest.

Ukrainian singer Svetlana Loboda is a well know modern singer that is very popular in our country. Her style is pop and she has written many of her songs. This year this girl will be the participant in Eurovision 2009 from Ukraine. The whole Ukraine will watch this contest with hope for Svetlana’s victory.