Saturday 7 May 2016

Eurovision 2016: Armenia’s Iveta Mukuchyan, South Caucasus and more

When I first saw Iveta Mukuchyan’s music video of the song "Love Wave", I have to be honest, my first impression was like: oh well, ok-ish song, beautiful singer, problems with enunciation, but nothing special, apart from featuring hot enigmatic Swedish model Ben Dahlhaus.

I was hoping that presence of Ben on the stage in Sweden will do the trick to add an element of excitement and anticipation.

 *picture - via Ben Dahlhaus FB page 
*Ben Dahlhaus Instagram
But…

Only when I saw Iveta performing live during the Eurovision rehearsals, she really did make an impact on me. Her vocals are quite strong, and she owns the stage during the performance. Good job, Iveta.



It’s amusing to read comments dubbing her Armenian Beyonce :))

There is no doubts for me that she will easily qualify from the semifinal. The question is how far up top she will manage to reach during the finals. Wiwibloggs reviewers seem totally impressed.

Here is a music video of "Ari Yar" by Iveta Mukuchyan, full of diversity, and I like it. I want to see more such works from Iveta.



Btw, as part of Eurovision promotional tour, Iveta hosted Malta’s Ira Losco in Yerevan.

*picture via oikotimes

Here is the fact that was not highlighted by Public TV in Armenia: Ira Losco is a vocal advocate for LGBT rights.


I wish the day will come when I can say the same about Armenia representative at Eurovision. And I wish one day ‘Eurovision Armenia’ will proudly present such messages on their FB page.

Considering the high level of homophobia in Armenia and in line with the tunes of her song, I want to hear from Iveta a powerful all-inclusive message of love. Yes, with specific mention of LGBT people too.

Re other South Caucasus entries:

Azerbaijan: Samra is a beautiful singer with catchy song, but vocally she is the weakest among the South Caucasus entries.

Georgia: Nika Kocharov and Young Georgian Lolitaz are the least conventional among South Caucasus entries.

Great band, including musicians of mixed Georgian and Armenian roots.

*picture via esckaz

Here is a performance of "Gay Swimmer" (yes, you read it right! pay attention to the background of the picture above too) by the band.



However, I am not sure about the choice of their song “Midnight Gold” for Eurovision. Still, best of luck to Nika and Young Georgian Lolitaz.

Another singer to keep an eye on is Ukraine’e entry Jamala, of mixed Crimean Tatar (father) and Armenia (mother) origin. She will present with the song “1944” aimed at Russia, a tragic tale about deportation of the Crimean Tatars.

And finally, I really like France entry this year, and Russia’s Sergey Lazarev will certainly do well.

5 comments:

JK said...

Didn't Tamar and Stephanie voice support for LGBT rights last year? There was a pretty big backlash for it.

artmika said...

True. They did it after the contest, following US Supreme Court decision on same-sex marriage. My big respects to both Tamar and Stephanie. There is a good coverage of it on wiwibloggs: ARMENIA: GENEALOGY’S TAMAR AND STEPHANIE ENDURE SOCIAL MEDIA BACKLASH FOR SUPPORTING GAY RIGHTS

I expressed my respects to them and support on their FB pages and on Twitter, should have made a separate blog post too.

I hope one day we will witness similar and continuous support from Armenia representative at Eurovision before the Eurovision contest too.

JK said...

I'm so glad they did it. They had to have known that it was going to bring backlash but they did it anyway. Good on them I say.

There's no way of knowing Iveta's mindset. She was raised in Hamburg so she could be more open-minded. In this interview (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9tVIIdhIls), she says Stockholm has a lot of beautiful men... and women. ;)

But she probably doesn't want any kind of headache/backlash, especially before her performances.

artmika said...

Eurovision: the right to wave a flag and being political

artmika said...

Quote of the Day: Armenia’s Iveta Mukuchyan is “hot as f*uck”. Love Wave? More like a “love tsunami”