A troupe of old dancing grandmothers from an obscure Russian village, the Buranovskiye Babushki, were among the qualifiers from the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest in Baku this evening.

The first 10 countries to qualify for Saturday's final are Romania, Moldova, Iceland, Hungary, Denmark, Albania, Cyprus, Greece, Russia and the Republic of Ireland which qualified on the strength of the 'golden ticket'.

Another 10 countries will be selected in the second semi-final on Thursday – with Malta's Kurt Calleja among the contestants.

Moldova (left) and IrelandMoldova (left) and Ireland

They will be joined by the 'big five' countries for the final night -  France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Britain and host Azerbaijan. While the Russian grannies are the oldest women on stage, the UK's entry will be the oldest male - crooner Engelbert Humperdinck, 76, who first topped the UK charts 45 years ago in the era of the Beatles.

CyprusCyprus

The selection of the qualifiers from the semi-finals was made through voting which was divided between a jury and televoting.

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