A delegation of senior Ictimai officials met the EBU in Geneva last week to start discussions about the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest. Ictimai were presented with a detailed planning document, including venue requirements, information about security and accreditation, and provided with creative briefing by the EBU. The EBU Reference group will meet with Ictimai in Baku in August to discuss further details, at which point the venue is set to be confirmed. As yet, the EBU has not explicitly confirmed that the show will take place in Baku for certain, with this subject to Icimati being able to fulfill EBU requirements.

“Our Azerbaijani colleagues have updated us on the first steps they have taken in the lead up to the 2012 contest. Hosting this event is an enormous logistical and creative challenge, and we are happy to see their dedication to organize the best Eurovision Song Contest to date,” said Jon Ola Sand, Executive Supervisor of the contest on behalf of the EBU.

The official contest website, eurovision.tv, also expalined that “In line with standard requirements that have to be fulfilled to host the Eurovision Song Contest, the government of Azerbaijan has been requested by the EBU to provide guarantees about security during the event, as well as freedom of expression, according to Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights and in line with the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, to all participants, fans, accredited journalists and the individual citizens of the country that access official Eurovision Song Contest premises. The EBU also requested that all accredited individuals and ticket holders shall receive sufficient entrance visa for the required duration. Such guarantees are expected to be given in the weeks to come”. Such words are more than likely to refer to the question of Armenia’s participation, VISA entry requirements, and questions about press freedom in the would-be host country.