Armenia

As a few of the Armenian blogs becomes active in support of Armenia’s first entry to the Eurovision Song Contest, more and more cultural and political disagreements are beginning to emerge in the Diaspora, and also in Greece. Over at Cilicia.com, much of the reason for this is because some ethnic Armenians consider that the entry by local singer Andre sounds too “Turkish” rather than Armenian, and I have to admit that he does sound like a Tarkan wannabe.

It is hardly possible to associate Armenia with Europe with that song contrary, it is easier to associate Armenian with Turkey or Azerbaijan as many people currently do. I tried to do my best (unsuccessfully) to listen to that song from start to end . Not only it has nothing to do with Armenian or Armenia ( lyrics are in English, music 99% Turkish) but it is also out of date i.e. it is a copycat of past Turkish Eurovision songs.

Still, in the comments section of the post in question, Raffi Kojian makes the valid point that both Armenian and Turkish culture have borrowed heavily from each other as well as other cultures. Indeed, with the exception of Komitas, is there any such thing as pure Armenian music anyway? Morever, has any country really developed a musical tradition that is pure and free from other influences?

Is it possible to say ANYTHING without being subjected to scorn? Turkey’s milked the European/Asian thing forever now, is it ok if we do too? Is it ok if Europeans realize we’re right here in their backyard and decide to come by and check out our country in person? Is it ok if Andre - whos song I have never even commented on - sings something that actually borrows from neighboring countries who influence the music here, just as we influence theirs?

At the same time, Harmick over at Blogrel has created a site to support Andre and is urging Diasporans in Europe to vote for Armenia’s entry in order to wave the flag. The argument is that a victory for Andre will publicize Armenia and push the country closer to Europe even though some commentators over at Cilicia.com argue that it would instead create the impression of close cultural ties with Turkey and the Middle East.

Ha-ha, can’t agree more with Anna! Who gives a damn about this Eurovision contest, anyway? When Raffi described it as some kind of Super European Cup, my jaw dropped. Come on, neither critics of the song (ya, I heard a clip and was not impressed) nor the supporters should make it an ARMENIAN question, almost an IDENTITY question: it is exactly “just a cheesy song competition”! One day a good song will be presented, another day - a not so good one, not a big deal…

We’ll grow out of it, of course, but it is so amusing to watch this “national battle” now and recall it in, say, 10 years!

Personally, I also don’t care. If people think the song is good then let them vote for it regardless of who the singer is and where he comes from. However, given that Georgia pulled out of Eurovision because it would require a financial commitment of over $500,000, I would still like to know how much Armenia’s entry has cost the country and where the money came from.

Georgia will not participate in musical contest “Eurovision-2006″. This was declared by general director of “Eurovision-Georgia” company Vano Tarhishvilli.” Georgia can not take part in contest because organizers couldn-t gather a sum of 500 thousand euro necessary for preparation of Georgia participation in “Eurovision” contest”, - announced Tarhinshvilli.

“A sum of 500 thousand euro for preparation expenses was determined by the necessity to order a song appropriate for “Eurovision” standards”, to make a video and to record mini-album, to demonstrate hit during concert tours and then perform it on a contest with dignity”, - pointed out Tranhishvilli.

On the other hand, that’s also because in the UK we generally take the competition as a joke and certainly not representative of real contemporary musical culture in Europe. Don’t think I’ve been able to stand more than 15 minutes of watching it, to be honest.

The credibility of the show has been called in to question in some countries - (UK for example sees it as a comedy show but nonetheless keeps good viewing figures, Italy has declined to enter since 1997); conversely “new Europe” nations see it as a chance to showcase their nation and culture. This may or may not have a bearing on “Political and Regional Voting Patterns” as described above.

Meanwhile, some other more serious concerns are emerging now that Andre is in Greece. According to A1 Plus, after Azerbaijan protested his inclusion in the competition, some unexpected political concerns have been raised by members of the Greek-Armenian community.

“A1+” received a letter from the Greek information agency “Hayastan” which on behalf of part of the Armenian community living in Greece complains of the activity of Vahram Kazhoyan, RA Ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to Greece. According to the agency, “because of him the Armenians in Greece live in a tense atmosphere.”

The letter explains that the reason of the tense atmosphere is that with the support of Ambassador Kazhoyan Andre participates only in events held for the members of the Dashnaktsutyun (Armenian Revolutionary Federation) party.

“The singer is practically isolated from the local Armenian community and all its cultural and educational centers with the exception of those which operate under the sponsorship of the Dashnaktsutyun,” the letter says. “The two cases which caused much indignation were the following. On May 14 the Armenian Embassy organized a concert for the Armenian community with the participation of Andre and a number of singers from Armenia at which only the members of the Dashnaktsutyun party were allowed to be present. The second case was that Andre did not visit the ‘Galpaqyan’ college of the AGBU, whereas he visited the schools operating under the sponsorship of the Dashnaktsutyun party.”

According to several sources the staff of the Armenian Embassy in Greece is also displeased with the attitude of Ambassador Kazhoyan which causes problems in the Armenian community.

Well, culture can often be political, and this seems particularly true in the case of Armenia. So, while I don’t particularly care about this competition, I do see it representative of the chaos and politically-linked sponsorship of contemporary culture in the Republic. Whatever. Soon this contest will be over, and I don’t particularly care what the outcome is.

This entry was posted on Monday, May 15th, 2006 at 3:54 am and is filed under Blogging, Entertainment, Europe, Georgia, Caucasus, Politics, Music, Culture, Turkey, Armenia. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.