SYSTEM OF A DOWN INTERESTED IN EUROVISION 2009
oikotimes.com
June 23 2008
Greece
After Armenia received its best result ever this year with Sirusho,
the world-famous rock band System of a Down shown a keen interest in
representing the country in Russia next year. However, the soloist
of the American band, Serj Tankian, has openly stated in a recent
visit in Finland that this will be under one condition: if they will
be able to use Eurovision as a way to make the much-debated Armenian
Genocide issue known. "Esc would be an excellent way to make this theme
known. We must seriously think of this." said Tankian in response to
a question posed by Finnish News Agency.
System of a Down is very politically active and are noted for
the liberal political views expressed in their songs, tackling
myriad subjects including the War on Drugs, religion, drug use, and
especially censorship. They have actively campaigned to get Turkey
to recognize the controversial Armenian Genocide and the subject is
often-tackled in their songs. They are also a part of the Axis of
Justice, a non-profit political activist organization fighting for
recognition of the polemical issue, believed to have taken part in the
early 20th century. Ironically, the band has many Turkish fans as well.
Previously similar themes have been tried at Eurovision with mixed
success. In 1976 Greece sent the song Panaghia mou, Panaghia mou
about the invasion of Cyprus, in 1993 Bosnia-Herzegovina performed
Sva bol svijeta about the war in the region, and it is also believed
by experts that the 1996 United Kingdom entry Ohh Ahh Just a little
bit also has a hidden message about genocide.
With previous song titles such as Violent Pornography, This Cocaine
Makes Me Feel Like I’m On This Song, Peephole and Fuck the System,
System of a Down would perhaps be censored by the EBU rule about bad
language that previously forced Silvia Night to officially change the
lyrics of her song, while the EBU would probably choose to believe
the political message was a reference to ancient Armenian bedtime
stories or an ending relationship.