I love acoustic music, and quite frankly who doesn't. Heck, back when MTV actually showed music, "Unplugged" was one of my favorite shows. So when a few of the contestants put out acoustic versions, I jumped all over that.
First of is Sabina Babayeva (Azerbaijan) who gives "When the Music Dies" a little flamenco flair. It doesn't have the same power notes as the official version, but her voice is just gorgeous.
Iris (Belgium) also shines in "Would You." I really think it suits her voice a lot better, and the entire song seems a bit sweeter and less generic pop.
Roman Lob (Germany) gives yet another swoon-worthy performance of "Standing Still." I swear, if this song played on American radio, people would think it was the new single by The Fray.
And as a bonus, here's the acoustic version of last year's winner, Ell & Nikki's "Running Scared" (Azerbaijan). There's harmony in that song I never knew existed before!
We're down to our last six contestants! Just as a quick refresher, last year's winning entry automatically qualifies for the finals. Additionally, the five countries that contribute the most money to the EBU ("The Big Five") also gain automatic slots. The rest of the countries need to battle it out in the semi-finals. I guess money can't buy happiness, but it can certainly buy a lot.
Azerbaijan
First Appearance: 2008
Highest Place: 1st (2011)
Sabina Babayeva - "When the Music Dies"
Wow. A stunning blend of traditional Azeri folk music (listen to those instruments) with Western music, with great pipes to back it up. It should continue Azerbaijan's streak of placing in the top 10, and it might make a run to keep the contest in Baku next year.
Italy
First Appearance: 1956
Highest Place: 1st (1964, 1990)
Nina Zilli - "L'amore è Femmina (Out of Love)"
Wow. Again. If Babayeva is the Azeri Adele, I suppose that makes Zilli the Italian Amy Winehouse. The song is original, catchy, and she nails it (translation available here). Don't bet against the contest going back to Rome next year. As a note, Zilli originally announced that she would be singing "Per Sempre" before changing to the current song. I'm really not sure which one I like more.
Spain
First Appearance: 1961
Highest Place: 1st (1968, 1969)
Pastora Soler - "Quédate conmigo"
Yeah, so the Finalists are making it really difficult to pick a favorite. So ballads can really be hit or miss, and this is definitely a hit. One of the ways I try to judge a song is to see if I can feel the emotions without knowing what on earth they're singing about, and this one definitely passes the test (translation available here). Eurovision to Barcelona again? And as a fun fact, all of Spain's entries have always been either totally or partly in Spanish
France
First Appearance: 1954
Highest Place: 1st (1958, 1960, 1962, 1969, 1977)
Anggun - "Echo (You and I)"
How did Lady Gaga get into the competition? Seriously, if that song and video don't scream Gaga, I'm not sure what else does (translation available here). France is looking to bounce back from some rather disappointing placement lately, and they've picked one of their biggest stars to do it. This won't do too badly (nothing like a fun, upbeat, catchy dance number), and it will be interesting to see if anything comes of Anggun's self professed claim that 98% of her fans are gay with Azerbaijan's poor gay rights record. Bit of trivia: Anggun was born in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Germany
First Appearance: 1956
Highest Place: 1st (1982, 2010)
Roman Lob - "Standing Still"
Following in the footsteps of Lena, Germany's sending another young performer. Maybe I'm a sucker for the smooth vocals and the dreamy eyes, but that's probably where he's going to pick up his votes. It won't win, but it probably won't do too poorly either. Also, does anyone else think this sounds exactly like The Fray?
United Kingdom
First Appearance: 1957
Highest Place: 1st (1967, 1969, 1976, 1981, 1997)
Englebert Humperdinck - "Love Will Set You Free"
So Humperdinck, despite being a bajillion years old isn't even the oldest singer thanks to those crafty Russian babushkas. The song is really great, and despite being a bajillion years old, Humperdinck's still got it. It's certainly better than Blue. Humperdinck, Humperdinck, Humperdinck!
So this is a really tough group for me to pick a favorite. If I'm going to choose, I'll narrowly go with Italy over Spain.
Eurovision was developed by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) in the 1950s as a way to help unite the war-ravaged countries of Europe. Surely, with such spunky diplopop, the countries would find a way to put aside their difference and unite in music. Right?
Wrong.
Armenia's late departure from the 2012 Eurovision content, to be held in May in Baku, Azerbaijan, illustrates the very real political and social issues lurking just below the surface of disco and glitter. Although originally slated to appear, Armenia withdrew from the competition on March 7, 2012, claiming that Azerbaijan had been unable to guarantee the safety of the Armenian delegation.
So what brought Armenia and Azerbaijan to this point. The answer, like most questions in politics, comes down to land.
Armenia and Azerbajan are located between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea in the Caucasus Mountains region.
The territory in question is a region known as the Nagorno-Karabakh, a self-governing region internationally recognized as being within the borders of Azerbaijan. However, while recognized as being within Azerbaijan, the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh is de facto independent from Azerbaijan.
A close of the disputed territory
While territorial disputes between what is now Armenia and Azerbaijan have long historic roots, including before, during and after World War I, the modern conflict can be traced back to the growing influence of the Soviet Union in the Caucasus region. When both Azerbaijan and Armenia came under Bolshevik control, Stalin originally planned to allocate the Nagorno-Karabakh region to the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic, along with the Nakhchivan region (the part of Azerbaijan on the far left side of the map) as well as the territory between the two. However, hoping to placate Turkey, Stalin changed the borders, allocating both Nakhchivan and Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijan and, in many ways, wedging Armenia between the two. The Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast was formed in the Azerbaijan SSR, with its borders drawn so as to include as many Armenian villages as possible while excluding majority Azeri territories, and separated from the Armenian SSR by a strip of Azerbaijani territory.
Hence, Nagorno-Karabakh is predominantly ethnic Armenian in a country that is predominantly ethnic Azeri. By the time the Soviet Union collapsed in 1989, Nahorno-Karabakh as 76% ethnic Armenian. The Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh (as noted earlier, the region is self-governmening and all but independent from Azerbaijan) self reports that it is currently 95% Armenian. Increasing the difficulty, the ethnic Armenians are predominantly Christian, while the ethnic Azeri are predominately Muslim.
Firm Soviet control contained the conflict, but with the crumbling of the USSR in the late 1980s, tension between the two nation-states began to rise. Ethnic Armenians alleged that the Azerbaijan SSR attempted to settle the region with ethnic Azeris. In 2002, Haydar Aliyev, a former Soviet official, admitted to attempted Azerification of the region, claiming, "We opened the institute and began sending Azeris from nearby districts there rather than to Baku. We also opened a big shoe factory. Stepanakert [the capitol of Nagorno-Karabakh] had no sufficient labor force, so we began sending there Azeris from places around the region. By doing this I tried to increase the number of Azeris and to reduce the number of Armenians."
In 1988, the Armenian majority began to revolt against Azeribaijan rule, and the local government voted to merge the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast into the Armenian SSR. Armed conflict between Armenians and Azeris ensued, with the Soviet Union granting the Azerbaijan SSR more leeway in controlling the territory. In 1991, Azerbaijan abolished the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast, bringing the territory under direct control of the Azerbaijani government. In November, the ethnic Armenians responded by voting to form an independent state, and by December, full-scale war began between Azerbaijan and the Armenian-supported former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast. By 1994, Armenia controlled 14% of Azerbaijan, and for the first time, Azerbaijan regonized Nagorno-Karabakh as an independent actor in the war. On May 12, 1994, a ceasefire was declared and peace talks began. By this time, fatalities and refugees numbered in the thousands, with claims against the Armenians for engaging in ethnic cleansing against the Azeri. Despite calls from the UN, Armenia has still not withdrawn from Azerbaijan.
Although peace talks continue, lead by the Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group, isolated skirmishes continue between Azerbaijani and Armenian forces, including an attack by an Armenian sniper against Azerbaijani forces, resulting in one death, and an Azerbaijani drone being shot down in Nagorno-Karabakh airspace in 2011. And the territory remains one of the most heavily land mined areas in the former Soviet Union, and there are still around half a million refugees and displaced persons. Yet even after 20 years, leaders remain hopefully that a lasting peace can be achieved. Armenia and the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh retain close ties, although Armenia has resisted internal pressure to formally unite Armenia with Nagorno-Karabakh. The close ties, however, can be evidence in the fact that the former President of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (1994-1997), Robert Kocharian, served as both prime minister (1997-1998) and then the president of Armenia (1998-2008).
Current status of the dispute
So, what does all this have to do with Eurovision? Well, as we all know, the best way to handle a centuries long dispute is through passive-aggressive sniping at a singing competition.
In 2006, the Armenian singer listed his birthplace as Nagorno-Karabakh, a statement which was later removed from the official Eurovision website due to complaints by the Azerbaijan government. In 2009, the introduction to Armenia's entry included a picture of Nagorno-Karabakh. Again, the Azerbaijan government complained. In retaliation, the Armenian representative who relayed Armenia's results, 2008 competitor Sirusho, read the scores from a clipboard featuring an image from Nagorno-Karabakh while presenting in front of the same image (video below). In addition, Azerbaijan's postcard featured disputed territories in Iran, which Armenia stated created a double standard, as its own postcard did not include the disputed territory.
Additionally, the EBU fined the Azerbaijan affiliate for blurring the number of the voting line for Armenia as well as for disrupting the signal during the Armenian song, with a threat that Azerbaijan could be banned from the competition if such activities continued. Azerbaijan, however, claimed that the breaches of procedure were due to technical difficulties.
We're still not done with 2009, by the way. In August, 2009, the EBU began investigating complaints that Azerbaijani citizens who had voted for the Armenian entry had been detained and questioned by Azerbaijani security personnel for being a security threat, a claim which Azerbaijan denied. Although the EBU did not sanction Azerbaijan, it did note that such questioning was "unacceptable" and it strengthened its privacy rules to protect voter identities.
In the lead up to the 2012 content in Baku, the capitol of Azerbaijan, 22 Armenian singers, including former Eurovision contestants, demanded a boycott of the contest after an Armenian soldier was reportedly killed by an Azerbaijani sniper (it was later confirmed that the dead was the result of friendly fire), claiming "We reuse to appear in a country that is well known for mass killings and massacres of Armenians, in a country where anti-Armenian sentiments have been elevated to the level of state policy."
In decided to finally pull the Armenian entry (although it had already been confirmed as participating), the Armenian EBU affiliate stated, "Despite the fact that the Azerbaijani authorities have given security guarantees to all participating countries, several days ago the Azerbaijani president made a statement that enemy number one for Azerbaijan was Armenians. . .There is no logic to sending a participant to a country where he will be met as an enemy." A member of the Azerbaijan government shot back, stating "The Armenian refusal to take part in such a respected contest will cause even further damage to the already damaged image of Armenia."
The EBU, diplomatic as always, released the following statement: "We are truly disappointed by the broadcaster's decision to withdraw from this year's Eurovision Song Contest. Despite the efforts of the EBU and the Host Broadcaster to ensure a smooth participation for the Armenian delegation in this year's Contest, circumstances beyond our control lead to this unfortunate decision."
Well, cats and kittens, another edition of the Eurovision Song Contest is behind us, and what a long strange trip it's been. From boy bands from the UK to Irish twins to Greek rappers, this year's contest has truly memorable. Here's your intrepid hero's recap, thoughts, comments, and lessons we've learned. And as always, there's plenty of videos.
No story about Eurovision 2011 can start without talking about the surprise winner. In the weeks leading up to the competition, betting odds favored France, with the UK and Estonia playing spoiler. Then, suddenly, along came the Crayola Twins from Ireland, Jedward, rocketing up to second place just behind the UK. As of the morning of the Grand Finale, at least according to the bookies, the competition was between Blue and Jedward. Then what happened? Jedward came in at 8th, Blue dropped to 11th, France came in at 15th, and Estonia tumbled down to 24th. And our winner...Azerbaijan!! (??) Here's your winner: Ell & Nikki performing "Running Scared":
So what happened? First and foremost, I'll go on record to say that the first time I heard this song, I thought it was nice, but nothing super special. But as I've listened to it more and more, it's grown on me, a lot. It's catchy, it's pretty, and they staged it well. But a closer look at the points reveals something.
[A note on Eurovision voting for those not in the know: Each country votes on their favorite act, although a country cannot vote for itself. The votes are combined with a score from a panel of jurists from each country, and the highest scorer receives 12 points ("douze pointe" in French). The next highest scorer gets 10, 8, etc....]
Azerbaijan only got 12 pwah pointe from three countries. Four other acts, including Jedward, got three douze pwahs, Italy took home four, and Bosnia took home five. This certainly wasn't the runaway of "Fairytale" from 2009, but even Lena last year captured nine douze pwahs. Russia in 2008 captured seven, and Serbia in 2007 also took nine. So what gives? Azerbaijan captured four 10s and and ten 8s. Comparatively, second place Italy took home five 10s and only one 8. Bosnia only took two 10s and one 8, while third place Sweden complemented its two douze pwahs with seven 10s. Jedward on the other hand, only took two 10s, and in fact, only scored points from 17 countries. Azerbaijan scored points from 30 countries. So it may not necessarily be that Azerbaijan, as nice as the song was, was everyone's clear favorite. It's just that enough people liked it enough to win. And while Jedward has the same number of high scores as Azerbaijan, it seemed more of a love it or hate it thing. And that was probably their downfall.
So what else did we learn from Eurovision 2011?
1. Celine Dion has returned to the Eurovision stage again. Oh wait, no, it's just Kati Wolf from Hungary. Our mistake.
Seriously, it's kind of creepy. The way she holds the mic, the hair, the voice, the lip quiver. Kati Wolf to Vegas?
We also believe she was robbed. She deserved higher than 22nd. She at least deserved higher than Finland.
2. Azerbaijan turned it out. Blue didn't. Say what you will about Ell & Nikki. They hit their performance. Blue on the other hand...it was...actually kind of sad, really.
Maybe had the vocals been there, perhaps it could have done better. Instead it just sounded like a mediocre song by a boy band that's gotten a little too old for that title. Oh wait...
3. Iceland perhaps had the best story that nobody knows If you watched Iceland's performance, you'd probably be thinking, "What is this on my screen?" But the story behind the performance is perhaps one of the most sadly under-reported story of the competition. In January, Sigurjon "Sjonni" Brink passed away mere days before he was to perform this song in the Iceland national selection finals. So his friends did what any group would do. They scrambled together and decided to perform the song in Sjonni's honor. They won in Iceland and placed 20th overall in Germany.
4. Lena's a badass. Seriously. Lena won handily last year with "Satellite," in the second largest margin of victory ever. She was 18 at the time.
She returned this year to compete again. And pulled out one hell of a performance, placing 10th overall. We look forward to seeing if she'll try to win again in the future, but even if she doesn't, "Taken By a Stranger" will remain one of the best songs from 2011.
5. Dana International got a raw deal Finally, speaking of former winners and being robbed, Dana International at least deserved to make it out of the semi-final. It's a shame really, that Jedward and Eric Saade made it through the second semi-final, leaving her behind. Especially Jedward.
Seriously. Here's the live version if there's any doubt left in your mind.
And really, that brings us to the end. There's more videos to talk about, to be sure, but at some point we have to draw a line. At least for now. Who knows? Perhaps there will be more commentary to come. Feel free to drop a comment with your own favorite songs, thoughts, or comments.
But for now, I'll sign off from Eurovision 2011 in the only appropriate way. With Moldova.
