These pictures were taken at the gala opening ceremony for the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest.
All of the acts were in their best outfits for this annual tradition of walking down the red carpet to attend this official event. Hundreds of well-wishers were there to see their favourite acts pose for photographs. This is a selection of them.
Ell & Nikki
Rona Nishliu from Albania
Trackshittaz from Austria
Litesound from Belarus
Iris from Belgium
Maya Sar from Bosnia & Herzegovina
Sofi Marinova from Bulgaria
Ivi Adamou from Cyprus
Ott Lepland from Estonia
Pasha Parfeny from Moldova
Pernilla Karlsson from Norway
Anggun from France
Roman Lob from Germany
Eleftheria Eleftheriou from Greece
Jónsi & Gréta from Iceland
Izabo from Israel
Anmary from Latvia
Nina Zilli from Italy
Jedward from Ireland
Donny Montell from Lithuania
Sabina Babayeva from Azerbaijan
Kurt Calleja from Malta
Kaliopi from FYR Macedonia
Tooji from Norway
Joan Franka from the Netherlands
Buranovskiye Babushki from Russia
Valentina Monetta from San Marino
Zeljko Joksimovic from Serbia
Max Jason Mai from Slovakia
Can Bonomo from Turkey
Sinplus from Switzerland
Gaitana from Ukraine
Pastora Soler from Spain
Eva Boto from Slovenia
