The Blue Carpet ceremony for the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest took place yesterday in front of the MAAT (Museu de Arte, Arquitetura e Tecnologia) in Lisbon.
The red carpet, appropriately blue this year, is the annual highlight ahead of the live shows of the Eurovision Song Contest. It is an important moment for the participating artists — they meet press and fans alike, and it is the last chance to party before the more serious business of dress rehearsals and live shows.
With the theme of the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest revolving around the oceans, the organisers chose to replace the traditional red carpet with a blue carpet.
The 43 acts taking part in the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest walked down the Blue Carpet, along the banks of the Tejo River.
Last year’s contest, held in Kiev, hit the headlines when Ukrainian authorities banned the Russian singer, Julia Samoylova, from entering the country because she had previously performed in the disputed region of Crimea. Samoylova says that her song I Won’t Break and its staging are about “unity with nature and with each other”.
The current favourite to win the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 is Israel’s Netta Barzilai. Her song is called Toy. Aisel will represent Azerbaijan with the song X My Heart.
The Eurovision Song Contest 2018 Grand Final takes place on May 12th. There will also be two semi-finals, on May 8th and 10th, to decide who joins the Big Five (Spain, France, Germany, Italy and The UK) and hosts Portugal in the Grand Final.
