Scotsman, United Kingdom
May 20 2006
Britain turns to rap to regain former Eurovision glory
LONDON (Reuters) – Humiliated three years ago with “nul points” and
placed nowhere ever since, Britain is seeking a return to Eurovision
Song Contest glory by turning to rap.
Its torch-bearer for Saturday’s Eurovision Song Contest final is Daz
Sampson with a track called “Teenage Life”, complete with backing
singers in school uniform.
Britain has won the contest five times over the past half-century and
has come second a record 15 times, but recent results have been
dismal.
Jemini’s 2003 offering, the out-of-tune “Cry Baby,” was judged its
worst offering ever, garnering not a single vote and coming a richly
deserved 26th.
James Fox did a little better in 2004, coming 16th but last year
Javine Hylton again plumbed the depths by coming 22nd.
Rapper Sampson, a self-confessed Eurovision fan, is determined to
improve matters.
“So-called political voting does go on but nowhere near as much as
people in the UK say,” he admits. “I think we hide behind that a bit.
“The fact is, for the past 10 years or so we haven’t sent anything
good.”
Britain qualifies automatically for the final, along with France,
Germany and Spain, as the four biggest countries in the event.
HEAVY METAL
This year’s contest takes place in Athens following Greece’s first
ever Eurovision victory in 2005.
Among the more bizarre finalists are Finland’s Lordi, a heavy metal
band who perform in monster masks and costumes. Their song “Hard Rock
Hallelujah” may just give the Finns their first ever win after over
40 years of trying.
Others are going for more tried and tested entrants.
Ukraine, which won in 2004 on only the second attempt, spent months
looking for the perfect entrant and song before coming up with Tina
Karol, one of the biggest stars in the former Soviet state.
Contest debutants Armenia have sent Andre, an award-winning singer
who has performed all over the world, while Bosnia and Herzegovina’s
entrant, Hari Mata Hari, “the nightingale of Sarajevo,” is another
well-known regional performer.
Spain and Ireland are following suit.
Spain will be represented by Las Ketchup, best known for their 2002
global chart-topper The Ketchup Song, and Ireland is hoping for a
Eurovision comeback with Brian Kennedy, who recently sang at George
Best’s funeral and scored a top three hit in the UK with a cover of
Josh Groban’s “You Raise Me Up.”
The other qualifiers from Thursday’s semi-final are Russia,
Lithuania, Sweden and Turkey.
PASSPORT TO FAME?
The contest has produced its fair share of stars: most famously it
launched the career of Abba when they won with Waterloo in 1974, and
Bucks Fizz enjoyed plenty of chart success following their 1981
victory.
But often the winners fail to make much of an impact on a global
scale, with many slipping back into obscurity after their moment in
the spotlight.
Recent examples include Latvia’s 2002 winner Marie N and 2004’s
Ukranian victor Ruslana, who might be big stars at home and in
neighbouring territories but haven’t made much impression on UK
audiences.
Many UK performers have also disappeared without trace, from 1998’s
Imaani to 2001’s Lindsay Dracass.
“Admittedly the end result was a big disappointment,” says former UK
representative Nicki French, who came 16th in 2000 with “Don’t Play
That Song Again.”
“But it didn’t seem to matter to the real diehard fans of the
contest,” she added. “Since my participation, I have performed as a
special guest for numerous Eurovision events in various countries,
including Germany, Sweden and the UK — and the diary always gets a
fair bit busier in May nowadays.
“I would dearly love to have the chance to do it again, only
hopefully with a better placing at the end.”

The Telegraph, United Kingdom
May 20 2006
You need friends to win in Eurovision
By Ed West
(Filed: 20/05/2006)
The latest act in the Yugoslav drama plays out tomorrow when tiny
Montenegro votes on independence from Serbia. And while Croatia’s
tragic schism with the Serbs was provoked by football rivalry, the
final nail in the federation’s coffin is karaoke.
These old allies, who fought together against Croats, Albanians and
Nato, are on the point of rupture over their joint representative at
the Eurovision Song Contest, held tonight in Athens. In the Serbian
version of A Song For Europe, Montenegrin judges were accused of
tactically voting for compatriots No Name ahead of Serbian favourites
Flamingoes, leading to uproar from a hostile Belgrade crowd and the
terrified Montenegrin boy band being escorted out by security.
With typical Balkan bloody-mindedness, the Serbians withdrew
altogether, and neither country got to appear. To add insult to
injury, their place was allotted to the best semi-finalist… Croatia.
Controversy has been a staple of Eurovision, established 50 years ago
by the European Broadcasting Union in the spirit of fostering
European unity. And while the British treat Eurovision as a joke, for
Europe’s small nations it is their moment in the sun. After wins for
Estonia in 2001, Latvia in 2002 and Ukraine in 2004, tomorrow Armenia
arrives on the big stage, and nationalist controversy is already
rampant. Neighbouring Azerbaijan is none too happy that Armenian
entrant André has listed his place of birth as “Republic of Nagorno
Karabakh”. An Armenian MP has also complained that the song,
containing Turkish words, is not “Armenian enough”.
But really, instead of trying to absorb Nagorno, Armenia’s government
should establish it as a separate state, thereby creating a voting
buddy. That’s the way Eurovision works: a Cypriot entry could simply
walk on stage and belch, and still be sure of 12 votes from the
Greeks.
Various research papers have identified patterns of voting blocs,
including the Viking, Slavic and Balkan groups and even an
impressive-sounding Spanish-Andorran alliance. Lordi, Finland’s entry
and the contest’s first-ever death-metal band, may not do for all
tastes, but they can be confident the Swedes will help out, as they
did for most of Finland’s previous attempts, including Chirpy Chirp,
the mysterious Pump Pump and the bizarre, accordion-led reggae
interpretation Reggae OK.
Likewise, seven-times winner Ireland can always rely on a generous
score from the UK, almost as if it were a clause in the 1921 Treaty.
And Germany often favours its eastern neighbours with guilt points
(there probably is a German word for it), while everyone in Europe
gives generously to Israel’s interesting renditions. (No one is
exactly sure why Israel is even in Eurovision, save for the suspicion
that it would not do well in a Middle Eastovision, least of all with
a trans-sexual diva like Dana International.)
So if Eurovision is all about friends, what about Le Royaume-Uni? As
with the Common Market and European Football Championships, Britain
failed to enter the first Eurovision, which subsequently developed a
French feel. Indeed, we have long suspected that the whole thing is a
continental carve-up.
Back in 1988, Scott Fitzgerald was way ahead of his Swiss rival with
just two votes to go, but failed to get any reward from the Yugoslav
or French panels. The following day on radio phone-ins many callers
claimed that communist Yugoslavia had favoured neutral Switzerland
over Nato Britain, while no explanation was needed for the French
decision.
And with ever greater eastern participation, Britain has declined
from annual favourite to third-rate mediocrity, the low point coming
in 2003 when Jemini’s Cry Baby left the UK pointless, although
everyone was too busy focusing on Russian teen lesbians Tatu, who
finished third behind a Turkish “oriental-style rap” and a Belgian
entry sung in an imaginary language (an good way to settle the
Flemish-Walloon conflict).
The Belgians could do this because the restriction on singing in a
foreign language, designed to protect national culture but in reality
a Canute-style Francophone struggle against Americanisation, was
dropped in 1999. It worked: Poland was first to break the Old Europe
stranglehold by singing in the language of rock and roll, and came
second on its debut.
At the other end of the scale, the Swiss had one of their worst
results when they performed a number in the country’s tiny Rhaeto
Romantic tongue.
In retrospect, the greatest tragedy of Eurovision was that it gave
the world the “Swiss” representative Celine Dion. (French-Canadian
Dion is not the only foreigner to have triumphed: in 1980 and 1987
Ireland won with Australian Johnny Logan, while Estonia’s winner was
a West Indian who could not speak a word of the language, and remains
the only black singer to ever win Eurovision.)
So how can Britain take back the title? Or – a better question – do
we in fact want Daz Sampson’s Teenage Life to bring the prize back to
Blighty? With the expense involved in hosting Eurovision, winning has
become something of a white elephant. In one episode of Father Ted,
the Irish judges deliberately choose an abysmal dirge by Craggy
Island’s finest to lose for Ireland.
This trick was strongly rumoured to have actually happened in 1979,
when the Spanish judges gave maximum points to main rivals Israel. So
do not fear if we are left without friends in Europe; in the long
term it will cost us less.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Journal of Turkish Weekly, Turkey
May 20 2006
Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey transport ministers to discuss
Baku-Tbilisi-Akhalkalaki Railway Print
Friday , 19 May 2006
Over the first week of June 2006 the Transport Ministers of
Azerbaijan, Turkey and Georgia will meet to discuss the ways for
further impanation of the Baku-Tbilisi-Akhalkalaki project, Turan
Morali, the Turkish Ambassador to Azerbaijan, told Trend in an
exclusive interview.
“The meeting to be held in Baku will take resolution on establishment
of a joint company or consortium on construction. Moreover, the
participation share of the countries in the project will also be
defined,” the Ambassador said adding that feasibility study of the
project has been developed.
Upon taking a resolution on the commencement of the construction of
the road, there should be achieved an agreement on the model of
financing the construction.
In this stage Ankara will appeal to one of the international
financial organizations.
The Baku-Tbilisi-Akhalkalaki project stipulates the rehabilitation of
the exiting railway, as well as the construction of new railway
section.
It is reported that Turkish Government desires to see Armenia in
regional transportation projects, however Armenia refuse to recognise
Turkey’s and Azerbaijan’s national borders. In addition, about 20
percent of Azeri territories have been under Armenian occupation.

FOREIGN MINISTERS OF ARMENIA AND AZERBAIJAN MET IN STRASBOURG
ArmRadio.am
19.05.2006 11:42
Yesterday RA Minister of Foreign Affairs had a meeting with his
Azeri counterpart Elmar Mamedyarov. The OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs
Yuri Merzlyakov, Steven Mann and Bernard Fassier were present at the
meeting. Later the Ministers continued the talks with the mediators
in a separate format. The meeting of Armenian and Azerbaijani Foreign
Ministers was meant to prepare the visit of representatives of Foreign
Ministries of US, France And Russia to the region scheduled later
in May. Principles and approaches of the settlement were discussed
at the Strasbourg meeting. The Armenian side assesses the meeting
as positive, despite the existence of unsettled issues, the Press
Service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs informs.

ANDRE GOES TO THE FINAL OF “EUROVISION-2006”
ArmRadio.am
19.05.2006 11:45
Sharp at midnight yesterday the semifinal of the 51st “Eurovision” song
contest started in Athens. At its first entry Armenia was represented
by Andre, who performed “Without your love” song. According to the
draw, Andre was to open the contest.
The official “Eurovision” website writes, “Armenia is in the contest
for the first time and has been drawn to open the show – talk about
a baptism of fire. But in front of a capacity crowd and millions of
TV viewers, Andre performs with a confident swagger… A great debut.”
According to “Eurovision” rules, the singers are graded by TV
viewers. The result of the voting revealed that Andre was among
the top ten, which means he will represent Armenia at the final on
May 20. Other countries that went to the final include Macedonia,
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Lithuania, Finland, Ukraine, Ireland, Sweden,
Turkey and Russia.
The finalists to perform on May 20 include also 14 countries that best
presented at “Eurovision-2005.” These include Switzerland, Moldova,
Israel, Latvia, Norway, Spain, Malta, Germany, Denmark, Romania,
Great Britain, Greece, France and Croatia.

NATO DELEGATION HERE IN ARMENIA
ArmRadio.am
19.05.2006 12:15
NATO delegation is in Armenia to give preliminary evaluation of
the accomplishment of the Individual Partnership Actions Plan with
the alliance.
Currently the delegation is having meetings at the Ministries of
Foreign Affairs and Defense.
To remind, Armenia’s Individual Partnership Actions Plan with NATO
was ratified by the North-Atlantic Council on 16 December, 2005.

OSCE SECRETARY GENERAL WELL INFORMED ABOUT THE DESTRUCTION OF ARMENIAN CEMETERIES IN NAKHIJEVAN
ArmRadio.am
19.05.2006 13:40
“I am well informed about the fact that the destruction of Armenian
cemeteries in Nakhijevan caused strong emotions in Armenia. The
Catholicos of All Armenians expressed his deep sorrow on this
occasion. We intend to work actively in the direction of resolving
the conflict to eliminate the roots of such phenomena,” OSCE Secretary
General Marc Perrin de Brichambaut told in his interview to MEDIAMAX
Agency.
In response to the question whether the OSCE is going to pay greater
attention to expressions of intolerance in our region, Marc Perrin
de Brichambaut said, “You raised a very important question. If the
existing political conflict acquires also a cultural nature, it will
become a rather complex factor.”

SEARCH FOR THE BLACK BOXES OF THE CRASHED A-320 CONTINUES IN THE BLACK SEA
ArmRadio.am
19.05.2006 14:05
Yesterday weather conditions allowed to lower the RT-1000 robot into
the Black Sea to search for the black boxes of the crashed the A-320
According to the data of the operative staff, they come across some
fragments, which resemble the black boxes of the crashed A-320. Some
fragments are suck into mud, which slows down the search works,”
the source informs.
Currently the pilot of the robot has been given the opportunity to
have a little rest. If weather allows, the underwater search will be
resumed, ITAR-TASS informs.

VOLUME ONE OF RICHARD HOVHANNISYAN’S “THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA” TRANSLATED INTO ARMENIAN
ArmRadio.am
19.05.2006 14:53
Now we can read volume one of Richard Hovhannisyan’s English-language
“The Republic of Armenia” book also in Armenian. The Armenian
translation of the book was presented today at the Union of
Writers. The inclusive history of 1918-1919 has been created on the
basis of rich archive materials, which point out the declaration of
republic in 1918 and the challenges of the time.
It took the writer about 30 years to write the three-year story of
the republic.
The book thoroughly presents the territorial disagreements over
Borchalu, Akhalkalak, Kars, Ardahan, Nagorno-Karabakh, Zangezur
and Nakhijevan.
“Richard Hovhannisyan’s historic investigations were considered
prohibited literature in Soviet era,” noted Ashot Melkonyan, Director
of History of the National Academy of Sciences.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

REPRESENTATIVES OF THE “UNION FOR THE SAKE OF ARMENIA” CONTINUE TO MEET THE CITIZENS
ArmRadio.am
19.05.2006 15:10
Representatives of the newly created “Union for the sake of Armenia”
Party and members of the “People’s Deputy” faction continue to meet
not only residents of marzes but also the citizens of Yerevan. This
time the meeting was held in Nor Nork community of Yerevan. The meeting
was attended by intellectuals, businessmen, NA Deputies and students.
One of the major aims of the Party is regional development, which
envisages serious consideration of problems in marzes. Another issue
is the organization of healthcare in the regions.
Member of the “People’s Deputy” faction Vladimir Badalyan said during
the meeting that all existing problems can be resolved via improvement
of the economic situation in the country.