On September 13th, it was announced that the EBU Reference Group had agreed with Russian Channel 1's proposal to use Moscow's Indoor Olympic Arena as the venue for the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest. As the name suggests, the venue was built for the Olympic Games, which were staged in Moscow in 1980 and the arena hosted the major indoor sports, including basketball and boxing. It is part of a complex of sports buildings, including the adjoining swimming pool. As well as several basketball tournaments, the venue has twice staged the final of the Davis Cup international tennis tournament and has also hosted the World Indoor Athletics Championships in 2006.

Over 10 million Euros will be spent on refurbishing the venue and while the Olympic Indoor Arena (known locally as the "Olimpiysky") may not win any awards for beauty, it offers an attractive option for hosting the Eurovision Song Contest in many respects. The venue is so large that up to 80,000 people can occupy its space, however when smaller indoor sports are held at the arena, less floor space is used and the capacity varies between 10,000 and 16,000 people. For the final, there will be 20,000 in the arena, but it is believed that some sections will be closed off for the semi-finals, somewhat reducing the capacity. There will be about 2,500 participants, including those involved in the opening act and the interval and together with the organisers and the press, expectations are for up to 8,000 thousand guests. 

A second advantage is that the venue is close to the city centre and it is served by a nearby metro station (Prospect Mira) which is just a ten to fifteen minute journey from the downtown stations. The third advantage is that the venue is big enough to host the Press Centre, which is a treat for journalists trying to cover the event, following the long excursions between the stage and press areas in Helsinki and Belgrade.

On the left you can see a map of the local area which surrounds this year's venue. While most people will use the local Metro station (Prospect Mira) to get to Olimpiysky but there is also a nearby tram stop at the junction of Schepkina and Durova  and a bus stop stop at the junction of Durova and Prospect Mira, however while the tram and bus provide a more scenic form of transport, they are slower and more difficult to negotiate than the metro. The complex also has parking space for 500 cars and 250 buses and the delegate hotels will have transport to and from the venue.

Local attractions include the botanical park with a lake that provides an oasis of quite, while the municipal mosque is also nearby. For those not willing to try the many local restaurants, there is a branch of the interne national McDonalds fast food outlet and according to the latest "Big Mac index", prices are among the lowest in the world.

Work has already started on transforming the venue into the configuration that will be used for the Eurovision Song Contest. The work is being co-ordinated by the Stockholm based M&M Production management company and you can follow the progress of the work on a daily basis at the Eurovisiondiary website. The venue does have its own official website but unfortunately its only available in Russian.

The ticket sale was launched on Monday March 16th, through Channel One's website, in ticket offices of the Olympiyskiy complex and on the  websites of official ticketing partners of the contest: Parter.ru, Kontramarka.ru, Ticketland (city ticketing offices of Moscow), Kassir.ru, Concert.ru, Showtrade and also via telephone of official call-centre.

The contest will be the first use of e-tickets in Russia. They will have several degrees of protection, including a hologram and barcode information on time and location in the hall. The authenticity of the tickets will be scanned with electronic reading devices at the entrance to the venue.

This year tickets were sold separately and not in packages, as in Belgrade. Prices for rehearsals vary from 300 to 1,800 roubles (10-40 Euros). Tickets for the Semi finals (12th and 14th May, with the shows beginning at 23:00 Moscow time) range from 800 to 20,000 roubles (15-450 Euros). Tickets for the final on Saturday May 16th, range from 1,000 to 30,000 roubles (20-650 Euros). The 650 euro tickets are for the VIP area and includes not only the seats in the parterre, but also special parking and separate pass to the hall. There will be ten price categories for all events. The average ticket price for the final is 150 Euros, semi-finals will be 95 Euros, rehearsals of the final will be priced 25 Euros, semi-final rehearsals 10-15 Euros.

A telephone of the official call-centre of the contest is + 7 495 363 6060 and its staff will answer all questions on the reservation and purchase of tickets (including tickets for foreign visitors).  Requests in both Russian and English can be answered.

Tickets for the semi-finals and rehearsals are still available and remaining tickets for the final will be released in the weeks building up to the contest.