Pictorial: The wonderfully weird world of Eurovision!

If there is one thing that can be counted on about the Eurovision song contest, it's that absolutely nothing about it is understated. You think "Glambert" on American Idol is outrageous? Well, you ain't see nothing yet!

Presented below, in no particular order, are shots from the 2009 Eurovision contest, the semi-finals for which are currently underway in Moscow. The finals kick off on Saturday.

It should be noted that Eurovision, which is normally quite campy and usually gay-friendly, is considerably less gay-friendly this year as it's being held in notoriously homophobic Russia. Gay protesters have been warned by the government to not protest their horrendous treatment by the government, which has led bloody cracdowns on them in the past. Heck, even gay fans going to Eurovision have been told they might not be safe. 

Given that and the fact that Moscow's mayor, Yuri Luzhkov, has described gay pride events as "satanic" and prohibited all previous gay rights meetings there, one can ask if Eurovision should even be taking place in Moscow.

It's pretty easy to make the case it shouldn't, but perhaps having the event there will not only open a few Russian eyes to the fact that the world is a pretty diverse place - and that that isn't a bad thing but will bring more international attention to the problem and encourage Russian queers to be even more vocal in fighting for their rights. 

On to the pictures!