Top Security
Who will protect whom at Eurovision?According to the Eurovision 2005 song contest press service, police officers of the Interior Ministry will patrol the outer perimeter of the area where Eurovision events will be held. Traffic police will control road traffic on the territory surrounding the Sports Palace and on the approaches to it, and will escort foreign sightseeing groups.
The Ministry for Emergency Management will ensure fire safety and provide medical assistance to Eurovision guests and participants, and will also control the use of pyrotechnics and lighting.
The State Security Department will protect VIP guests and check equipment safety. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) will prevent possible terrorist attacks and handle safety-related emergencies.
Security inside the Sports Palace will be provided by a private firm to be selected through tenders. According to the press service, the European Broadcasting Union insists that security guards should not wear military or similar uniforms, so the creative directors are now designing a new standard uniform. There will also be female security guards, according to Podrobytsi. Aside from the Sports Palace, contest participants and foreign guests will be placed under tight security at 13 hotels and at the Euroclub, where Eurovision participants will relax after their performances.
Last week Europe’s leading television and radio stations began airing a new version of the song “Razom Nas Bahato” [Together we are many] to be performed at Eurovision by the Ukrainian band Gryndzholy [Greenjolly]. The video for this song was shot at the Kryla Studio (producer Olena Hantsiak-Kaskiv, director Andriy Novoselov, cameraman Jan Hoffman). In the video Gryndzholy paint a gray world in bright colors. Officers of the Ministry for Emergency Management took part in the filming. At the end of the video, the musicians light fireworks and animate the gloom with bright colors. The composition “Razom Nas Bahato” is a metaphor about freedom to which everybody aspires.
The new version has two new verses in English, and in the Ukrainian part “Yushchenko” has been replaced with the words “virymo, znayemo, mozhemo” [we believe, we know, we can]. The words “bydlo” and “kozly” have been replaced with “my vzhe razom” and “my nazavzhdy” [we are together; we are forever]. The group will sing the chorus “Razom nas bahato” in Polish, German, Russian, Spanish, Czech, and French.
The contest will have three hosts: Eurovision 2004 winner Ruslana Lyzhychko, boxer Vitaly Klychko, and DJ Pasha.
