Uncounted votes, violation of rules: What to expect from Azerbaijan during Eurovision 2015?
Vienna holds a song contest Eurovision 2015 on these days. Russian news website RIA Novosti published an article about the "Eurovision scandals," referring also to the incidents between Armenia and Azerbaijan during the competition.
The article reads that the day before the final of Eurovision 2009 the organizing committee of the competition removed monument - symbol "We - our mountains," from the Armenian participants' station break (''card'') under the pressure of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry. The author of the monument - symbol is the Armenian sculptor Sargis Baghdasaryan. The decision was motivated by the fact that the monument is not in Armenia but in Nagorno Karabakh.
In response to this decision, while announcing the results of the contest the Armenian announcer, the singer Sirusho, held a photograph of the monument "We - our mountains," and the photo was also flaunted in the background which depicted the monument, the presence of which in the video presentation of the Armenian contestants of Eurovision, sisters Inga and Anush Arshakyan, caused Baku’s demarche.
The article notes that after the final of Eurovision 2009, Armenian Public Television turned to the organizing committee of the competition with the requirement to punish the broadcaster of Azerbaijan. The vote project manager of the Armenian Public Television, Ruben Muradyan, declared that during the broadcast of Eurovision 2009 final – held in Moscow on May 17 at night – the Azerbaijani TV did not show the phone number on which people could vote for the Armenian entry, which is a flagrant violation of the rules of competition. In 2012, Armenia refused to participate in Eurovision in Baku.
RIA Novosti also reminds that during Eurovision 2013 the Russian entry, Dina Garipova – who got the 5th place in the contest – did not receive any points from Azerbaijan during the final vote count. According to the statement made by the Azerbaijani side, Russia was to get no less than 10 points from them. The Foreign Minister of Russia, Sergey Lavrov, declared on May 21, 2013 that Moscow was annoyed by the incident during Eurovision Song Contest 2013. The Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov called the incident a 'detective story.' He presented the data of the 3 largest telephone operators in Azerbaijan who had said Russia took the second place after Ukraine according to the results of voting.
Related:
The Quietus: Eurovision 2015 entry of Armenia is Armenian Genocide victims’ descendants’ manifesto
Azerbaijan is trying to please Turkey, arranging provocations against Armenia in ‘‘Eurovision – 2015’’
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