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CNN: "EUROVISION SONG CONTEST FINALS HAVE INSPIRED CLASHES ON THE STREETS OF THE CAPITAL, BAKU"
http://times.am/?l=en&p=7654
The world media and international organizations are concentrated
on human rights violations and the general situation in Azerbaijan
because of the "Eurovision 2012". Many articles and reports have
already been published on this topic. CNN has typed another large
article about the Eurovision 2012 and Azerbaijan.
"With the recent headlines emerging from Azerbaijan, you could
be forgiven for assuming something more dramatic than a singing
competition was about to descend on the country.
In recent weeks, the Eurovision Song Contest finals, which take place
Saturday, have inspired clashes on the streets of the capital, Baku,
between Azerbaijani police and opposition activists, and accusations
by state-controlled media in Azerbaijan that a German "conspiracy"
was waging an "information war" against the hosts", the article starts.
Then it continues with information about Armenia. "That followed a
boycott of the contest announced by neighboring Armenia in March,
after the shooting of a soldier on their shared border.
It's all a far cry from American Idol. But Eurovision has always
carried higher stakes than its sequins and songs in made-up languages
would suggest".
"Armenia's withdrawal from this year's competition is the result
of tensions that have festered since a war with Azerbaijan over the
disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh in the 1990s, which left between
20,000 and 30,000 people dead. But it is not the first boycott to
hit the contest:, it continues.
Speaking about the Eurovision contest in general the author of the
article refers to the problems in Azerbaijan again.
"The new arrivals have not been welcomed by everybody. Their success
has fueled suspicion among Eurovision's old guard that the contest
has become plagued with tactical "bloc voting" -- where groups of
countries vote tactically, essentially rigging the voting.
In 2008, British broadcaster Sir Terry Wogan wuit his Eurovision duties
after 35 years, saying the event was "no longer a music contest."
Research published by a British academic in 2006 would appear to
support his position.
Dr Derek Gatherer's analysis of Eurovision voting patterns between
1999 and 2005 concluded that bloc voting in the contest had increased.
He identified three major voting blocs from which a winner was usually
produced: The Balkan Bloc (Croatia, Macedonia, Slovenia, Greece,
Cyprus, Serbia and Montenegro, Turkey, Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Albania and Romania), the Warsaw Pact (Russia, Ukraine, Belarus,
Poland, Georgia and Moldova) and the Viking Empire (Norway, Sweden,
Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania).
By contrast, France, the UK, Germany, Spain and Italy -- the so-called
Big Five who make the biggest financial contributions to the contest,
and are given an automatic place in the final ---- did not belong to
a bloc, and so had not won since the UK's victory in 1997, according
to Gatherer.
At the time the paper was published, Gatherer successfully predicted
that Serbia would win in 2007. However since then, Big Five member
Germany has also been successful.
Many Eurovision pundits reject the notion that voting patterns are
a reflection of something untoward. Fricker says it is natural for
countries to vote for neighbors with whom they may share cultural
affinities, as the votes reflect public tastes".
http://times.am/?l=en&p=7654
The world media and international organizations are concentrated
on human rights violations and the general situation in Azerbaijan
because of the "Eurovision 2012". Many articles and reports have
already been published on this topic. CNN has typed another large
article about the Eurovision 2012 and Azerbaijan.
"With the recent headlines emerging from Azerbaijan, you could
be forgiven for assuming something more dramatic than a singing
competition was about to descend on the country.
In recent weeks, the Eurovision Song Contest finals, which take place
Saturday, have inspired clashes on the streets of the capital, Baku,
between Azerbaijani police and opposition activists, and accusations
by state-controlled media in Azerbaijan that a German "conspiracy"
was waging an "information war" against the hosts", the article starts.
Then it continues with information about Armenia. "That followed a
boycott of the contest announced by neighboring Armenia in March,
after the shooting of a soldier on their shared border.
It's all a far cry from American Idol. But Eurovision has always
carried higher stakes than its sequins and songs in made-up languages
would suggest".
"Armenia's withdrawal from this year's competition is the result
of tensions that have festered since a war with Azerbaijan over the
disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh in the 1990s, which left between
20,000 and 30,000 people dead. But it is not the first boycott to
hit the contest:, it continues.
Speaking about the Eurovision contest in general the author of the
article refers to the problems in Azerbaijan again.
"The new arrivals have not been welcomed by everybody. Their success
has fueled suspicion among Eurovision's old guard that the contest
has become plagued with tactical "bloc voting" -- where groups of
countries vote tactically, essentially rigging the voting.
In 2008, British broadcaster Sir Terry Wogan wuit his Eurovision duties
after 35 years, saying the event was "no longer a music contest."
Research published by a British academic in 2006 would appear to
support his position.
Dr Derek Gatherer's analysis of Eurovision voting patterns between
1999 and 2005 concluded that bloc voting in the contest had increased.
He identified three major voting blocs from which a winner was usually
produced: The Balkan Bloc (Croatia, Macedonia, Slovenia, Greece,
Cyprus, Serbia and Montenegro, Turkey, Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Albania and Romania), the Warsaw Pact (Russia, Ukraine, Belarus,
Poland, Georgia and Moldova) and the Viking Empire (Norway, Sweden,
Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania).
By contrast, France, the UK, Germany, Spain and Italy -- the so-called
Big Five who make the biggest financial contributions to the contest,
and are given an automatic place in the final ---- did not belong to
a bloc, and so had not won since the UK's victory in 1997, according
to Gatherer.
At the time the paper was published, Gatherer successfully predicted
that Serbia would win in 2007. However since then, Big Five member
Germany has also been successful.
Many Eurovision pundits reject the notion that voting patterns are
a reflection of something untoward. Fricker says it is natural for
countries to vote for neighbors with whom they may share cultural
affinities, as the votes reflect public tastes".