An eight-woman group from the central Russian republic of Udmurtia has been selected to represent Russia in this year's Eurovision Song Contest in Baku in May.
The Buranovo Grannies (Buranovskie Babushki) beat out 24 competitors, including a duo featuring 2008 Eurovision winner Dima Bilan, during the televised qualifying tournament on March 7.
The singing, dancing grannies dress in brightly colored national costumes and blend modern pop sounds with a more traditional choral style.
Their winning song, "Party for Everybody," includes a chorus in English but is otherwise sung in their native Udmurt, a distant relation of Finnish spoken by some 325,000 people.
The women say they will use any winnings to help build a church in their village of Buranovo.
-- RFE/RL Newsroom
The Buranovo Grannies (Buranovskie Babushki) beat out 24 competitors, including a duo featuring 2008 Eurovision winner Dima Bilan, during the televised qualifying tournament on March 7.
The singing, dancing grannies dress in brightly colored national costumes and blend modern pop sounds with a more traditional choral style.
Their winning song, "Party for Everybody," includes a chorus in English but is otherwise sung in their native Udmurt, a distant relation of Finnish spoken by some 325,000 people.
The women say they will use any winnings to help build a church in their village of Buranovo.
-- RFE/RL Newsroom