Turkey's Hadise leads first batch of Eurovision finalists in Moscow

The 10 entries to qualify were Turkey, Sweden, Israel, Portugal, Malta, Finland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Romania, Armenia and Iceland after voting by television viewers and juries across Europe.  Â

 

Turkish entry "Dum Tek Tek" by pop singer Hadise, featuring oriental rhythms and belly dancing, is seen as one of the favorites in the annual extravaganza of music and camp being hosted by Russia this year.

 

Hadise and her team cheered and waved red-and-white Turkish flags after her qualification was announced, television pictures showed.

 

Fifteen out of 25 finalists are now known. Russia, France, Germany, Britain and Spain are automatically given the right to compete in Saturday's final, while the remaining 10 finalists will be chosen on Thursday.

 

The countries eliminated in the first semifinal were Andorra, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Macedonia, Montenegro and Switzerland.