Eurovision cover up

German public television confirmed that Dita von Teese, the US striptease artiste who was hired to join the German-entered performance of "Miss Kiss Kiss Bang", has been ordered to "show less of her bosom."

This followed a complaint from the European Broadcasting Union, which stated the song -- or rather Dita von Teese's outfit -- was not suitable for family viewing.

"The EBU told us we should take account of cultural differences between ourselves and other countries," said Thomas Schreiber of German public broadcaster ARD.

Frontal nudity is common on German television.

Von Teese will apply her feminine touch to the song performed by "Alex Swings, Oscar Sings!" -- a duo made up of Alex Christensen from Hamburg and Oscar Loya from the US.

Germany has only won the contest once since Eurovision began in 1956, although it has participated in all of them except one, in 1996. Last year Germany was placed 23rd out of 25 entries.

It will be looking to do better than that this year, however Norway, Turkey and France are favorites to win.

More than 20,000 people were expected to watch the final live at the Olimpiyskiy Indoor Arena in Moscow, while an estimated 100 million television viewers were expected to tune in across Europe and the world.

cg/dpa

Editor: Andreas Illmer