'Lose for your country': Spanish Eurovision entrant told NOT to win competition tomorrow because the country can't afford to host the lavish event
- Eurovision takes place in Baku, Azerbaijan, tomorrow night
By IAN SPARKS
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The Spanish Eurovision Song Contest entrant has been urged not to win because the cash-strapped country can't afford to host the lavish event next year.
Bosses of Spanish public television have told Pastora Soler 'to throw' her entry as the Government battle to cut national debt and bring public spending under control.
The 33-year-old singer said directors of state-run broadcaster TVE called her in to say: 'Please don't win. We don't want to pay for it in 2013.'
Don't make me favourite: Spanish Eurovision entrant Pastora Soler claims she was told not to win the competition this weekend - because they can't afford to host it next year
Under Eurovision rules, the winning nation must stage the pop contest in their own country the following year.
Soler's song Quedate Conmigo (Stay With Me) is the 28-1 outsider to come out on top in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Saturday with bookmakers William Hill.
Soler, who has had three hit albums in Spain, told ABC Punto radio: 'If we won, I think it would be impossible to stage the next edition because it costs so much money.
'I think it is not the moment, neither for Spain nor for Spanish public, to win Eurovision.'
Spain won the contest in 1968, then again the following year when it shared a four-way tie with the UK, the Netherlands and France.
This year's favorite is Sweden's entry by the singer Loreen at odds of 5-4.
The UK's entrant Engelbert Humperdinck is at odds of 14-1 to win.
Warming up: Ireland's entrants Jedward perform during rehearsal for the final show of the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest at the Baku Crystal Hall in Baku
Hoping for victory: British singer Engelbert Humperdinck representing the United Kingdom poses for a photograph during a press conference before the dress rehearsal
Countdown: The 2012 Eurovision takes place in Baku, Azerbaijan, this weekend
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