KIEV: More than 7,000 of music fans from 52 countries have already purchased the tickets for this year’s Eurovision Song Contest slated for May in Kiev, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Viacheslav Kyrylenko announced on Friday. “The largest number of tickets was sold in the United Kingdom, Germany, Russia and other countries. We expect a plenty of foreign guests,” Kyrylenko told a cabinet meeting. With more than two months until the contest, 21 percent of the 70,000 tickets for the show have been already sold, Kyrylenko said, adding that Ukrainians bought about half of them. Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko said earlier that the Ukrainian capital has a total of 265 hotels, which can accommodate some 23,000 of Eurovision fans. Singers from 43 countries will participate in the 62nd edition of the annual Eurovision contest, equalling a record number of participants set in 2008 and 2011. The semi-finals of the music competition will take place on May 9 and May 11, while the Grand Final will be held on May 13. The Eurovision Song Contest sometimes popularly called Eurovision but not to be confused with the Eurovision network that broadcasts it, is the longest-running annual international TV song competition, held, primarily, among the member countries of the European Broadcasting Union since 1956.