Russia's Sergey Lazarev is the hot favorite to win this year's Eurovision song contest in Stockholm in May. Should this happen, EBU has demanded in negotiations behind closed doors guarantees for the safety of LGBT people who would follow the contest to Sotchi, St.Petersburg or Moscow, in whichever city Russia would host it in 2017, and that Russia will to suspend their antigay laws and regulations. Read more here.
This has got president Putin furious and he's apparently ready to order Russian withdrawal if EBU continues with its demands and has no intention to bend on its requests. On top of that it's also leaked president Putin is no fan of Sergey, and considers his image way too gay and un-Russian.
It's worth remembering that back in 2009 when Moscow hosted the Eurovision then prime minister Putin did visit the arena and seemed pretty interested and involved in the image Russia was sending to the world. Also, in the recent year's some politicians have voiced their concern about Eurovision being too gay and obscene, from Finland's Krista Siegfrids' lesbian kiss to Austria's Conchita Wurst. Let's see how this ends!
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