Vote for the Roma group Gipsy.cz representing the Czech Republic at Eurovision 2009

The group Gipsy.cz will perform in the first of two semi-final rounds of the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 taking place in Moscow today. Gipsy.cz is competing for entry into the final, set for 16 May, with representatives from 17 other countries. Czech Television will broadcast the perfomance live at 21:00.

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Second rehearsal of Gipsy.cz for Eurovision
First rehearsal of Gipsy.cz in Moscow

Members of the group firmly believe they can not only move up to the semi-final, but that they can win the competition in Moscow. Booking agents and music critics say the favorite is probably going to be the representative of Norway, Alexander Rybakov, who is of Belarussian origin. Representatives of Greece, Sweden and Turkey are also among the favorites.

The Roma group, which did not make it to the national round last year with their song "Benga Beating", was nominated this year directly by Czech Television.

The group is fronted by Roma rapper and singer Radoslav "Gipsy" Banga. Vojta Lavička, a co-creator of the project, plays violin and sings in the band. Other band members are guitarist Tibor Žida, bass player Matěj Černý, drummer Oliver Lipanský and violinist Noemi Fialková.

This is the fourth time a Czech representative will compete for international success at Eurovision. Karel Gott participated in the contest in 1968 with the song "A Thousand Windows" ("Tausend Fenster"), but he was representing Austria. The winner of the first national round two years ago was the Czech rock band Kabát, which did not succeed at the international tournament. Czech singer Tereza Kerndlová did not make it into the final last year either.

Last year Russian singer Dmitrij Bilan won the competition with the song "Believe". European viewers who watched the live broadcast cast the deciding votes.