Albert Muscat,
Malta
Stage visual effects consultant
“I’m pleasantly surprised, to be honest. I never imagined that the place would be so clean — that was my first impression. My second impression is that the people are very friendly — like the Maltese. It’s not expensive, because normally when we go to other Eurovision countries they put the prices up. Here, the prices remain the same, and everyone speaks English, so we don’t have problems with communication. It seems to be a very safe place.”
Eduard Martinez,
Spain
IT manager
“The city is very clean, organized and modern. But sometimes I have difficulties because not everyone speaks English. Also, I’ve noticed people are looking at me all the time. They must think I look like a foreigner.”
Cristina Ash,
United States
Peace Corps volunteer
“The first time I came to Kyiv was over a year ago and I remember thinking it was charming and everything was so old. I fell in love with the architecture and the people. I’m from a small town, and for me, it was hard to get used to such a large city and to have to get on the metro.”
Gerald James Borg,
Malta
songwriter
“I was here 15 years ago because I was a guest of Oleksandr Ponomaryov (the first singer to represent Ukraine at Eurovision, in 2003. I composed one of his songs and was his guest here before we went to Eurovision. Because of the time I spent with Oleksandr I have an affection for Ukraine.”
Adam Chytla,
Poland
Consultant
“This is my first time in Kyiv. I haven’t got to go to many sightseeing places yet. What I noticed is that the names of streets are very hard to read and pronounce. All the words seem to be very long!”
