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The official Opening Ceremony for the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 was held at the Euroclub on 10 May at 21:00.
A Red Carpet reception was de rigueur,
when the contestants arrived one after the other in a parade up the Red
Carpet into the Euroclub. Media reps and fans lined the Red Carpet on
each side, and many contestants obligingly stopped a every few metres
for snapshots and to reply to questions.
Some
contestants from previous years' ESC also attended, among others Dima
Koldun (Belarus 2007), Ani Lorak (Ukraine 2008) and Carola (Sweden
2006).
Food
and booze were plentiful from buffet tables, side tables, the bar as
well as from scurrying polite waiters and waitresses with delectable
trays weaving through the attendees. You know it's good service when
you only need to stand in one place and grub & hooch would arrive
on trays while empty plates & glasses are removed at the same time 
Many
contestants freely mingled in the crowd, with some like Inga &
Anush (Armenia), Jade Ewen (UK) and De Toppers (the Netherlands) being
followed by an entourage of camera crew and managers, while others like
Elena Gheorge (Romania) were seen simply walking around the buffet
tables proving that the food was, literally, finger-lickin' good.
Performances
by previous years' ESC contestants were backed by video clips from
those contests on big screens. Carola opened the show with a
performance of her three Eurovision entries (1983, 1991 and 2006).
Ruslana (Ukraine 2004) and Dana International (Israel 1998) opened
their respective acts with their Eurovision entries followed by songs
from their new albums. The now grown-up girls of t.A.T.u (Russia 2003)
in charming cocktail dresses also performed, and Maria Serifovic
(Serbia 2007) brought memories of those heady spring days in Helsinki
when the video clip showed the magnificent Helsinki stage in the
Hartwall Areena. Also seen was Teach-In (the Netherlands 1975) with
their famous song "Dinge-Dong".
And
finally the Russian winner Dima Bilan performed his entries from 2006
and 2008, followed by this year's Russian contestant Anastasiya
Prikhodko.
The
party then continued with music by invited bands and dj's, by which
time tired ol' me decided to call it a nite and leave, only to find a
crush at the exit door, but it was a welcomed crush because I was stuck
behind Malena Ehrman (Sweden) 
All in all a great start to the Eurovision Song Contest 2009, so let the games begin!
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but because Igor Cukrov's (Croatia) co-performer and his back-up singers were missing while he stood alone on stage looking..well, just looking.