Organisers of the Eurovision Song Contest have installed special 'anti-booing' technology at this year's event, to muffle any potential dissent during Russia's performance.
In an effort to avoid a repeat of last year, when the country's Tolmachevy Sisters were booed during their performance of "Shine" in protest at Russia's actions in Ukraine and stance on gay rights, the production team have installed "sound reducers" to mask audience noise, the Moscow Times reports.
Polina Gagarina is representing the country in the final in Vienna on Saturday (May 23) with "A Million Voices."
"It was very embarrassing for us last year when this happened, as it is not in the spirit of the contest," Jarmo Siim, Communications Coordinator for Eurovision told the paper. "We are here to build bridges, as the motto [of the contest] says."
While few technical details of the anti-booing technology has been revealed, Siim said there were several options to reduce unwelcome sounds from the crowd. However, he said that "Plan A is to use regular audience sound."
Gagarina herself insisted she wouldn't hear any booing either way, thanks to her earphones. "Normally I just have one earphone in when I perform so that I can hear the audience and feel the energy of the arena," she said, adding that Eurovision requires artists to use two.
She recently posted a video of herself with last year's winner, Austria's Conchita Wurst.
A video posted by Polina Gagarina (@gagara1987) on May 18, 2015 at 8:04am PDT
This year, the Eurovision Song Contest will be presented for deaf people in the International Sign Language for the first time.
The 60th edition of the contest kicks off in Vienna at 8 p.m. local time (CEST).