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TO RUSSIA, WITH LUV - PAUL ANNOUNCES RUSSIAN SHOW LIVE ON MSN 19.03.2003
PAUL McCARTNEY TO PLAY HIS FIRST-EVER RUSSIAN CONCERT FOR 100,000 FANS IN MOSCOW'S RED SQUARE

PAUL McCARTNEY is to play his first-ever concert in Russia - performing to 100,000 people in Moscow's Red Square on May 24th.

The announcement finally marks the end of a 40-year wait for Russian fans who grew up in the former Soviet Union where Beatles and Wings songs were banned across the U.S.S.R.

The giant show will also mark a personal dream-come-true for Paul McCartney, who wrote The Beatles' rocker Back In The U.S.S.R. in the Sixties.

"I've long wanted to play in Russia but for a number of years when the Communists were in power, they didn't want me to. I'm delighted that at last I can play there", said Paul, who made the announcement today (Wednesday) during a MSN global online chat with fans on the eve of the start of the European leg of his Back In The World tour.

During the Sixties and Seventies The Beatles were banned by the Soviet powers. Radio play of Beatles songs was forbidden, newspapers could not write about the group, there were no TV broadcasts about The Beatles and stores were not allowed to sell their albums. Although the Soviet allowed airplay and the sale of records by other artists including Elvis Presley and Rolling Stones, The Beatles were forbidden as the freedom of thought in their songs was deemed to be seditious to the Communist state.

But now Russia will at last get the show that the Soviets didn't want the people to see. And the concert planned for Moscow will make up for the wait - Paul McCartney's Russian gig will include more than 20 Beatles classics in the 36-song, three-hour-long all-hits set that will span Paul's Beatles, Wings and solo career.

Said Paul: "I've never even visited Russia as a tourist, so it's exciting for me now to be getting to perform there with a band and finally be singing Back In The U.S.S.R. and all these other songs for people who, I've got a feeling, might just be ready for it".

And as a bonus, during the MSN chat today Paul announced a competition for one fan to win a prize of not only attending the Moscow show - but also to be in the show, onstage in front of the 100,000 crowd as one of the pre-show troupe of dancers and theatrical performers. For details of the competition, go to www.msn.co.uk/mccartney/

www.paulmccartney.com

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