Darafeeva to be vaccinated to sing for Hugo Chavez

ERB has found out that Iryna Darafeeva would not be able to “judge” participants of the Eurovision selection tour because of her trip to Venezuela. It is not clear whether the singer will be allowed to go to Latin America though – she has not even been vaccinated against yellow fever yet. A National Belarusian exposition will be opened there soon. About 300 people are going to leave for Karakas. Iryna Darafeeva and her theatre will be representing Belarus together with ministers, heads of enterprises, scientists and journalists from official mass media. The singer confirmed that she had already started preparation for the trip. She is even learning songs in Spanish.

Іryna Darafeeva: “It’s not only me, there is a big delegation going to Venezuela. All my staff members are going too. I’m even learning songs in Spanish”.

The trip to Venezuela clashes with the first Eurovision selection tour. Being a member of the jury, Iryna Darafeeva had to make a choice whether to judge participants of the tour or to leave for Venezuela. The singer chose the latter.

Іryna Darafeeva: “I wrote an official letter to BT and informed them that I would not be able to take part in the first selection tour because of my trip. I also asked them to send me all the phonograms. I will listen to them and chose the songs I need”.

But it is necessary to be vaccinated before visiting Hugo Chavez. Yellow fever is a wide-spread virus disease in Latin America. You can be vaccinated against it only in polyclinic #19. It is done for free.

Іryna Darafeeva confessed to ERB  that all her staff members had already been vaccinated. But she hasn’t. She is not afraid of doing it. She just does not have enough time.

Іryna Darafeeva: “All my musicians are vaccinated. I will also do it if I have time”.

However, a medical centre “LODE” informed ERB that you also had to be vaccinated against virus A hepatitis and virus B hepatitis. It has to be done 18 months before the trip. So it is not clear how the Belarusian singer is going to do it all in time. But she is ready to put herself at risk for the sake of establishment of good relations between Venezuelans and Belarusians. She is sure that her songs will be able to do it.

Іryna Darafeeva: “Of course it will help. We will do everything we can!!”

The singer promises to give live performances. She believes that Venezuelans will understand all her songs even without knowing Russian or Belarusian.

Іryna Darafeeva: “A have a lot of songs in different languages! So the Venezuelan public will be satisfied. Belarusians know how to make their heart sing with them. Such music sounds wonderful in any language and you can always understand what songs are about. Do not worry – we will not let our country down”.

Nobody doubts that Darafeeva will not fail. But how much will the voyage cost to the country? You can only reach Karakas by plane. The “Belavia” company offers a flight from Minsk with two changes in Europe. The return ticket costs 1058 USD. The flight from Moscow to Frankfurt costs 1629 USD. Multiply it by the number of participants – 300. So only the flight is going to cost about 500 thousand dollars. It is difficult to say how much it will be if you add the hotel and other travelling expenses here.