The Opening reception at the Vienna City Hall

Contributors: Jakov I. Leon

Posted 17 May, 2015, 17:30

The Official Opening Ceremony for the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 has been held in the Vienna City Hall, where all the artists and delegations were invited by the city authority, host broadcaster ORF and the EBU. The Red Carpet event and the Opening Ceremony was streamed LIVE at 17:50 CET on Eurovision.tv and on our Youtube Channel. If you missed the broadcast and our live coverage, you can still find all the content here.

Starting 18:00 CET, artists start to arrive at the Red Carpet. The delegations will be arriving approximately every three minutes. The Red Carpet ceremony will be opened by last year's winner of the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest Conchita Wurst. Last year’s host country of Denmark will be the first nation on the Red Carpet.
Here is the scheduled running order, so you can look out for your favourites.
Conchita Wurst (Winner of the 2014 contest and Green Room presenter)
Denmark
Netherlands
Lithuania
Ireland
Israel
Georgia
Armenia
Estonia
Mirjam Weichselbraun, Alice Tumler and Arabella Kiesbauer (Presenters of the 2015 contest)
Italy
Poland
United Kingdom
Germany
Finland
Australia
Switzerland
Austria
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Czech Republic
France
Hungary
Belarus
Malta
F.Y.R. Macedonia
Russia
Iceland
Greece
Belgium
Albania
Portugal
Montenegro
Norway
Serbia
Cyprus
San Marino
Azerbaijan
Latvia
Moldova
Romania


@18:01 And here we are, Conchita Wurst is first to appear on the Red Carpet, joining the hosts of the Opening ceremony, Kati Bellowitsch and Andi Knoll.
@18:15 Next to join are contestants from Georgia, Armenia and Estonia, greeting fans, posing for the Press, making selfies and giving a short statement for Eurovision.tv team.
@18:22 As the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest is a green event, all artists will be transported from their hotels to the Vienna City Hall by electronic vehicles.
Live from Vienna
Vienna Conservatory@18:32 And it's time for the hosts of this year's Eurovision Song Contest to introduce themselves: Mirjam Weichselbraun, Alice Tumler and Arabella Kiesbauer.
@18:37 While we are expecting more delegations to join, the artists from Italy, Poland and the United Kingdom, the greatest Eurovision hits are being performed live in the background by the Vienna Conservatory.
@18:42 Germany, Finland and Australia are next to arrive.
Eurovision stars greeting fans@18:45 Melanie from Switzerland is about to join other guests on the Red Carpet, as well as a delegation from the country which debuts in the Eurovision Song Contest this year - Australia.
The Opening ceremony@19:05 Artists from Sweden, Czech Republic and France just arrived at the Vienna City Hall.
@19:18 Some like it glamorous and some comfortable and barefoot. Maria from Iceland arrived, Boogie from Hungary and Daniel from F.Y.R. Macedonia.
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@19:27 Contestants from Albania, Belgium and Belarus are next to join.
@19:42 If you are watching our live stream from Vienna, then you will see artists from Portugal, Montenegro, Russia and Greece joining the Eurovision contestants who have already arrived.
@19:54 There are just a few more participants in the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest left. Next to arrive are Cyprus, Serbia and Norway.
@19:57 The San Marino delegation is here with a Eurovision legend Ralf Siegel. Elnur from Azerbaijan is posing for the Press and Aminata from Latvia arrived as well.
Red carpet at the Vienna City Hall@20:02 Police is on the Red Carpet, even from Moldova. Well, not really, it is all part of act. Eduard is arrested, but only for fun.
@20:06 Romanian delegation is the last to arrive. Voltaj is greeting the fans, but together with a boy from their video, trying to raise an issue about the children left by parents, who work abroad.
The Opening ceremony is almost finished@20:12 All the contestants have been also greeted by Jon Ola Sand, a supervisor of the Eurovision Song Contest and Edgar Böhm, an executive produce of the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest.
@20:30 It seems like the Red Carpet is finally overcrowded with the Eurovision stars, hosts and fans. They are all going to enjoy this evening first at the Vienna City Hall and later at the EuroClub in the Ottakringer Brewery, where they are going to join the fans at the party "Welcome to Austria".