WHEN Russia took the Eurovision Song Contest crown for the first time last year, the whole country basked in its musical success, promising a show in Moscow for the 2009 finals that would eclipse everything that had gone before.
But only a few days before this weekend's grand finale, things have turned ugly, with official homophobia and a boycott threat casting a shadow over the entire event.
Russian gay rights groups have said they will defy a ban from city authoriti
es and go ahead with a demonstration in central Moscow on the day of the final in an effort to draw attention to the discrimination and violence they say the country's gay people face every day.
Two years ago, a similar demonstration in Moscow resulted in human rights campaigners being attacked by a mob of neo-Nazis. The police eventually intervened – but only to arrest gay activists.
Already, one Eurovision contestant has said he will walk out of the competition if violence flares at the proposed demonstration.
"If we get to the final and the demonstration is suppressed by force, I will refuse to get on that stage in Moscow," Gordon, the singer and songwriter from the Dutch group De Toppers, told Dutch television. "If my kind of people are discriminated against in any way, then there is no reason for me to be here; I'll be on the first plane home."
Prominent British gay activist Peter Tatchell, who was assaulted and arrested at the demonstration in 2007, has added his weight to the campaign by announcing that he will attend Saturday's march, despite a ban on him travelling to Russia.
"I am joining the parade to show my support for the courageous Russian gay campaigners," said Mr Tatchell, who is the human rights spokesperson for the Green Party.
"All year round they risk arrest, imprisonment and queer-bashing attacks. These men and women are absolute heroes. I salute them."
Sergei Tsoi, a spokesman for Yuri Luzhkov, the mayor of Moscow, said the city had originally banned the march as gays "not only destroy morals within our society, but consciously provoke disorder".
In the past, Mr Luzhkov has described homosexuality as a "satanic practice".
Despite such official disapproval, gay right campaigners have also said they will try to persuade Eurovision participants to wear badges to demonstrate support for their cause.
The prospect of activists turning the Eurovision Song Contest – and the huge media ensemble that surrounds it – into a platform to showcase Russia's shabby record on protecting gay rights will come as an acute embarrassment to Moscow.
Despite the contest's being famed for its camp and sequined performers, Russia had hoped that its ability to put on a grand and spectacular show would overshadow any protests from the homosexual community. But this objective appears to be in danger of floundering in a growing wave of publicity concerning gay rights in Russia.
Human rights groups have long complained that gay people in the country have become the target of a campaign of violence and discrimination, which has united such disparate forces as neo-Nazis, Communists and radical Orthodox Christians.
Gay activities have also protested over the state's alleged complicity in their discrimination, despite their rights being enshrined in the constitution.
Last year, Mr Luzhkov said he favoured a ban on what he called the "propaganda of the views of sexual minorities", while gay rights campaigners have taken the Moscow city authorities to the European Court of Human Rights seeking 1.7 million (£1.5 million) in compensation for the 155 demos and meetings they claim the city has banned.
