MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti political commentator Vera Politkovskaya) - Emotions are running high when it comes to the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest, scheduled to take place in Moscow on May 16. Many analysts maintain that this event has long ceased to be a song contest.
Apart from the scandal caused by Ukrainian singer Anastasia Prikhodko becoming Russia's representative at Eurovision following a national qualifying round, the public is becoming increasingly interested in the song "We Don't Wanna Put In," a song pop group "Stephane and 3G," Georgia's representative, wants to sing at the concert. Those who are closely following the events believe that they should not be allowed to perform because "put in" sounds like "Putin." Using a stage for expressing political views is simply dishonest. Eurovision's Charter defines it as a strictly creative contest that should not have any political connotations.
Prikhodko's producer Konstantin Meladze (brother of popular singer Valery Meladze) said that Prikhodko's participation in the contest is "timely." He is right - Prikhodko will definitely prevent Russia from winning it. It is enough to mention that she is going to compete with Patricia Kaas from France, Sakis Rouvas from Greece, and Jade Ewen from Britain. Ewen's song was composed by the famous Andrew Lloyd Webber. It will be hard for Prikhodko to outperform them, if the audience will focus on songs rather than something else.
Voting for neighbouring countries is another headache hindering the contest's objectivity. Greece and Cyprus traditionally vote for each other; Norway votes for Sweden; Belarus gives 12 votes to Russia; Bosnia and Turkey, Croatia and Malta, Belgium and the Netherlands, France and Portugal are doing the same.
As a result, few music fans will choose to watch television for several hours on a warm May night, as has been the case many times before. It will not be pleasant to watch Russia fail in front of the eyes of Europe. It will not be easy to patriotically support our representative because she is not quite ours.
Few music contests reveal really talented musicians and singers. Today, much depends on good producers or money. Well-to-do contestants can hire professionals to promote their names.
Many are pessimistic about the decreasing quality of songs and singers despite the increase of high-tech innovations in the music industry. Russia's representative is a case in point. She does not have an ear for music and tries to make up for it by an exaggerated routine on stage.
Thanks to technical innovation in the music industry, it is for everyone to emit something similar to a song. Music producers can turn anyone into a singer on a by-order basis.
The opinions expressed in this article are the author's and do not necessarily represent those of RIA Novosti.
