Eurovision sells out in minutes

Israel's Dana International won the 1998 Eurovision Song Contest

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (Reuters) -- A total of 25,000 Eurovision Song Contest tickets for 2001 were all sold within an hour of going on sale.

The 25,000 tickets available to the public for next year's Eurovision song contest went on sale on Monday and were gone in 55 minutes.

National broadcaster DR, which hosts the 2001 Melody Grand Prix, said on its Internet Web site that all tickets had been sold in 55 minutes.

Billetnet, a computerised booking system run by some 350 post offices around the country, broke down due to overload.

Many Danes eager to buy tickets lined up outside post offices overnight.

Denmark will host the next Eurovision song contest after its entry, "Fly on the Wings of Love" performed by the Olsen brothers, won this year's competition in Sweden.

The Melody Grand Prix, annually one of Europe's most watched television programmes, will be held in May 2001 in Copenhagen's Parken football stadium.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Eurovision Song Contest

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