Exclusive: Domingo admits one Russian to his Operalia

Here’s the dilemma:

Placido Domingo has accepted lavish Putin hospitality in Moscow since his career crashed in America, for reasons we need not repeat.

But how was he to run his next Operalia competition in Latvia, which is under military threat from Moscow, without offending Putin?

Solution: allow one Russian into the competition. Just the one to show there’s no bias.

Here are the competitors:
Maria Brea, soprano, Venezuela
Fleuranne Brockway, mezzo-soprano, Australia
Maire Therese Carmack, mezzo-soprano, USA
Anthony Ciaramitaro, tenor, USA
Thomas Cilluffo, tenor, USA
Louise Foor, soprano, Belgium
Juliana Grigoryan, soprano, Armenia
Jongwon Han, bass-baritone, South Korea
Yewon Han, soprano, South Korea
Jenni Hietala, soprano, Finland
In-Ho Jeong, bass, South Korea
Duke Kim, tenor, USA
Daniils Kuzmins, baritone, Latvia
Yunuet Laguna, soprano, Mexico
Jack Lee, baritone, UK
Kangyoon Shine Lee, tenor, South Korea
Seonwoo Lee, soprano, South Korea
Anthony León, tenor, USA
James Ley, tenor, USA
Maria Novella Malfatti, soprano, Italy
Raven McMillon, soprano, USA
Megan Moore, mezzo-soprano, USA
Madison Nonoa, soprano, New Zealand
Youngjun Park, baritone, South Korea
Grzegorz Pelutis, bass-baritone, Poland
Serena Sáenz Molinero, soprano, Spain
Emily Sierra, mezzo-soprano, USA
Richard Trey Smagur, tenor, USA
Vasiliy Sokolov, baritone, Russia
Jihoon Son, tenor, South Korea
Bat-Erdene Sosorbaram, bass, Mongolia
Robert Stahley, tenor, USA
Nils Wanderer, countertenor, Germany
Hongni Wu, mezzo-soprano, China
Oğulcan Yilmaz, bass-baritone, Turkey