Showbiz scandal of the day? Sirusho to Eva Rivas: ‘be more modest'

In an interview with Public TV, commenting on her performance at Eurovision 2010, along with other statements, Eva Rivas said no other Armenian representative at Eurovision got such a reception.

Armenia’s most successful to date Eurovision entry (4th place) - Sirusho, hit back today by advising Eva to be “more modest” and “recognise others’ achievements”.

Interestingly, Tert.am which published Sirusho’s commentary, has since removed the page. Below you may read it in full (in Armenian).

Սիրուշոն Եվա Ռիվասին խորհուրդ է տալիս մի քիչ համեստ լինել

15:54 • 05.06.10

«Վերջերս լսեցի մի հարցազրույց նրա մասնակցությամբ։ Նա մի նախադասություն ասաց, թե մինչ այդ Հայաստանի ներկայացուցչի կատարումը և ելույթը չեն արժանացել նման ընդունելության։ Կարծում եմ, որ մեր բոլոր մասնակիցները շատ լավ են ներկայացրել Հայաստանը։ Պետք է, երևի, մի քիչ ավելի համեստ գտնվել և նկատել մյուսների հաջողությունները», – ասաց Սիրուշոն՝ Tert.am-ի խնդրանքով մեկնաբանելով Եվա Ռիվասի մասնակցությունը «Եվրատեսիլում»։

Խոսելով մրցույթի մասին՝ Սիրուշոն նշեց, որ այն լավ մրցույթ է և պետք է դրական վերաբերվել դրան։
«Ինձ մոտ տրամադրությունն այդպիսին է եղել։ Երբեք այդ մրցակցության զգացողությունը չի եղել։ Դա է, երևի, արդյունքը, որ հորիզոնականս բարձր է եղել։ Կարևոր է հանգստությունը, բարի վերաբերմունքը բոլորի հանդեպ», – եզրափակեց նա։

Հիշեցնենք, որ 2008թ. Սիրուշոն ներկայացրեց Հայաստանը «Եվրատեսիլում» և զբաղեցրեց 4–րդ հորիզոնականը։.

I have to agree that during that interview Eva sounded too self-confident and lacking self-criticism towards her own performance and show. Of course, one may argue that Sirusho didn’t face a jury vote, and we will never know what her and any other for that matter participant’s final place would be had they faced the same 50% televotes / 50% jury votes. I have to confess, however, that so far Sirusho’s Qele-qele remains my favourite Armenian entry at Eurovision.

Internet users & Eurovision fans obsessed with searching for Eva Rivas 'sex tape' and 'nude pictures'

As usual around Eurovision time, number of visits to my blog growth exponentially. This is not the news, has been the case since I started blogging several years ago. What is news, however, is the type of keywords internet users search to visit my blog. [keyword search via internet search engines is one of the ways people access my blog]

Apparently, many net users and Eurovision fans became too obsessed by Armenia representative looks and ‘apricot stones’, and they started digging for more.

Top three Eva Rivas related searches were for:

1. “Eva Rivas nude”
2. “Eva Rivas naked”
3. “Eva Rivas porn”.

Related were searches for “Eva Rivas nude pics” (or “naked pics”), “Eva Rivas sexy photos” and even “Eva Rivas porn video”. Some were searching for “Eva Rivas boob job” and “Eva Rivas boobs”. There were even searches for “Eva Rivas gay”, “Eva Rivas transexual” [spelling as in original keyword] and “Eva Rivas transvestite” (!!) People actually wonder... Oh, my... :)

Of course, there were more predictable searches about:

“Eva Rivas height” [“Eva Rivas tall”, “Eva Rivas how tall”, “Eva Rivas feet”, “Eva Rivas how tall is she”]
“Eva Rivas”
“Eva Rivas wikipedia”
“Eva Rivas biography”
“Eva Rivas pictures”
“Eva Rivas wiki”
“Eva Rivas Angelina Jolie”
“Eva Rivas Armenia”
“Eva Rivas, sayat nova - tamam ashkhar”
“Emmi and Eva Rivas”
“Eva Rivas eurovision”.

There were also few searches for “Eva Rivas tattoo”.

However, all these searches were far-far behind the top three I indicated at the beginning.

In fact, over these past few days “Eva Rivas nude” keyword pushed the more appropriate for my blog “gay Armenia” to No. 2.

Eurovision 2010 2nd semi: Eva Rivas, South Caucasus and Turkey

I said it before, and will repeat it here: Eva, you look stunning, although I do not agree with her fashion director re dress.

But I do have BIG problem with that dancing act, not Eva’s, but the male dancer on the background. It was extremely distracting, and out of place. It was bad. Eva could do perfectly without any background dancer.

During her performance I was like: please-please, cameraman, do not show the dancer, just focus on Eva. OK, Jivan was great too.

Eva’s moves improved a lot, she was more confident on the stage, you could see she feels the stage, and she did not do that belly dancing stuff which I was referring to and criticising in my previous post. And the result was really good.

She seemed a bit nervous, though, and vocally not as good as she could be. I hope she would rest her voice till the finals, because she can sing much better.

Safura: Yes, she looks pretty, and the song is nice enough, but vocally she was not good. That back singers were awful and out of tunes. Although I prefer her dancer to Eva’s, still, the dancing act looked out of place. Safura could not move on the stage at all. It was as if she was placed on the stage without knowing what to do with it. And that glove she was wearing was simply horrific. Worse than I expected.

Re Georgia: OK performance, but nothing remarkable. The main thing I did not like about Georgia was the abundance of crosses. It’s not a Georgian church, Sofia, it’s Eurovision.

I absolutely loved Turkey’s performance. I can now confidently say that my second favourite from this semi-final is Turkey with maNga rock band. I was singing along, and after. Thumbs up.

Overall, I have to confess, it feels great that South Caucasus (+ Turkey) made it through to the final. They all deserved it, especially when you compare with other participants of the 2nd semi.

Here is my top 3 for the final:

1. Armenia
2. Belgium
3. Turkey, Iceland (can’t decide between these two, they are very different, but I like them)

The OKs are the following countries (in no particular order): Greece, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Albania, Moldova. Romania made me smile a lot tonight, the same way as Moldova did during the 1st semi. It was something :) Re automatic finalists: Germany is very cute and charming, albeit overrated. I actually like Spain too. It’s sweet. UK is decent but nothing special.

Eva Rivas will be performing at No. 21 on 29 May (final). When asked after the draw "Who do you think is the hardest competition for you in the final?", she replied: 
"You are a provocateur, you know that? (laughs) We who are competing in the Eurovision Song Contest are all friends and it would not be fair [to] say who is my hardest competition."

P.S. Btw, was nice to see so many Armenians right next to the stage. Also, good to spot a mixture of Turkish and Armenian flags waving when it was announced that Turkey went through to the final. That’s a kind of spirit - competitive but friendly - I like to see during Eurovision song contest.

*pictures - via Eurovision.tv

Eva Rivas on a mission to promote UK government’s 5-a-day healthy eating target (Eurovison fans)

Let’s see what Eurovision fans are discussing re Armenia entry this year. Below are just few of my picks which made me smile.

One of the frequently discussed topics about Eva Rivas: “how tall is she?”. Predictable, yes. But the curiosity of Eurovision fans doesn’t stop here. They also wonder: “Is she a human?”

“Has anyone seen Eva Rivas's birth certificate? Is she really a woman?”

“She's actually two women put on top of each other :)”

“Once more. Shes an Avatar :)”

Apricot Stone, well, apricots to be precise, inspired an exchange by health conscious fans.

“Just assume Armenia wins... are we going to have a whole bunch of songs about Fruits next year? Perhaps a Healthy ESC-week with fives-a-day :D?”

“Probably Azerbaijan will withdraw,pretending to be on the vegetable side :p"

Here I disagree. 5-a-day target of healthy eating by the UK government implies peaceful coexistence and consumption of both fruits and vegetables :)

Good luck, Eva! And wish you all have fun time tonight. It's the second semi-final, afterwards. Excitement :)

Eurovision 2010: Armenia Eva Rivas and Azerbaijan Safura - my subjective comparisons

based on impressions from first rehearsals

Music and Lyrics: Music-wise, I prefer Apricot Stone by Eva Rivas, but not sure about the lyrics. While objectively it [the lyrics] may be better than Safura’s, I think “Drip Drop” is more appropriate for the type of contest Eurovision is. I am not convinced that singing about “motherland” fits well with the Eurovision. As to the music of Safura’s song, I find it boring.

Dress: I know, we have not seen the final version of dresses yet, so difficult to judge what will be on the menu, but so far I was pretty disappointed fashion-wise for Eva Rivas. Even if it’s a rehearsal, wearing a tracksuit is a big no. During the second rehearsal she changed it into a more appropriate trendy one (see picture above), still... not impressive. I can’t say I am particularly happy with Safura’s dresses, but they are classier.

Moves: Eva Rivas progressed quite a lot since her first performance of Apricot Stone for the national final. She now moves and feels the stage much better. However, there is big room for improvement both for Eva and Safura. Frequently, Safura’s moves are somewhat awkward, and Eva Rivas should minimise or stop at all belly-dancing bit.

Show: Overall, I find Armenia’s show more interesting. Azerbaijan’s was a quality one but too predictable. However, that dancer guy is definitely much better (and hotter) in Safura’s show.

Look: Eva Rivas is beautiful in a stunning Angelina Jolie way, while Safura is beautiful in a cute teenager kind of way.

Vocals: Here where Eva Rivas is a clear winner. Her vocals were pretty good, especially during the first rehearsal. This is perhaps Safura’s ‘weakest link’, although she improved on vocals lately.

Overall impression:

I do not think Armenia will win, although with a good performance during the night, Eva Rivas might end up pretty OK. The chances for Azerbaijan win are much higher, if we trust bookies too. But it will all depend on other countries’ performances during the night too. Have not had time to closely follow other performances as yet, but will catch up during the coming days.

I am going to vote for Eva Rivas. I will most probably vote for a second choice too, both during the semi-final and final. I do not think it will be Safura, as I can’t say I am her fan, well, unless she does something extraordinarily amazing during the night. But she is lovely girl, and I wish her good luck. My second preference in voting will depend on me watching all other performances and how well they will do it during the day.

P.S. I am worried that due to last year KGB-style interference in voting by Azerbaijan officials, local Eurovision fans might be scared to vote for Armenia, even if they’d like to. Thankfully, we did not have anything similar in Armenia. I am sure Safura has already had fans in Armenia who will vote for her, if indications on Armenian Facebook are anything to go by.

*pictures - by Eurovision.tv (here and here)

Eva Rivas performs at gay party Pink Nation Exclusive in Antwerp, Belgium (Eurovision 2010)

Eva looks great, good performance, and she feels the stage much better now. Btw, I like her haircut. It suits her.

Go Eva!


Pink Nation Exclusive took place on 30 April in Antwerp, Belgium with the participation of various 2010 Eurovision performers, including Armenia's Eva Rivas.


Interview

Armenia chooses: Emmy & Mihran vs Eva Rivas for Eurovision 2010

UPDATE 14 Feb 2010: 
Eva Rivas will represent Armenia at Eurovision 2010 with Apricot Stone. (see also comments section below)
***
This Sunday 14 February, Armenia will make its choice as to who will represent the country in Eurovision 2010. You may listen to the songs of all 9 contenders here. It’s now clear that the choice is between Emmy & Mihran vs Eva Rivas.

Interestingly, if until last couple of weeks, no one had doubts that Emmy & Mihran will win our national selection, current ‘word of mouth’ favourite is Eva Rivas.

Overall, I am not impressed with this year’s choices on offer. I simply cannot see a winner song - a Eurovision winner song - among candidates. Whoever wins this coming Sunday, may struggle reaching the top ten at Eurovision, unless put on a great show...

I was really looking forward to Emmy/Mihran’s song. There was anticipation and good buzz surrounding it. However, I am not impressed, perhaps partly because I am not really into that kind of music. But regardless my musical genre preferences, it sounds similar to many other Eurovision tunes. It does not stand out. On the other hand, it’s a song you can dance in clubs; there are some catchy tunes there. And yes, both Emmy and Mihran are cuties ;) Emmy’s resemblance to Sirusho, and Mihran’s dancing experience with Madonna may certainly help for publicity purposes. Videos of support by famous personalities, like Ricky Martin and Ken Davitian are smart moves too.

Eva Rivas’s song is classier. I first heard of Eva when she performed Sayat Nova’s Tamam Ashkar which I think was a brilliant modern interpretation of the classic. The current choice of Apricot Stone is OKish but... I do not think it uses Eva’s voice to its full ability. Also, I do not think the frequent use of “motherland” word is necessarily a cool or appealing concept for Eurovision fans. She looks stunning though, as always. Appearance-wise, she somehow reminds me of Angelina Jolie.

I won’t be reviewing other choices on offer as I do not see them suitable for Eurovision or suitable at all. I must, however, say that Razmik Amyan’s song is the worst one. I mean, it’s really bad. Could not force myself to hear it till the end. Sorry, Razmik.

As it’s always happening around time of Eurovision related events, number of visits to my (directly or indirectly) Eurovision related posts surges substantially.

“Eva Rivas” is currently No. 1 keyword people search over the Internet to visit my blog. It pushed “gay armenia” keyword to the 2nd place. WOW (!). And it’s all because of one post I made back in November of Sayat Nova’s Tamam Ashkhar new video clip by Eva Rivas. Out of interest, I did search “Eva Rivas” on Google, and that particular blog post of mine came out on the first page of Google’s search results for “Eva Rivas”. Not bad :)

*pictures - via Facebook fan pages

In Style: Eva Rivas - Sayat Nova - Tamam Ashkhar

Brilliant performance of Sayat Nova by Eva Rivas. Stylish video clip. Sexy people. A must see. Impressed. Thanks to StyleBlog.am for the link.



© Armenia Production 2009
Tamam Ashkhar (The Whole World)
Author: Sayat Nova, 18th-century
Singer: Eva Rivas
General Producer: Valeriy Saaryan
Director: Bakhodir Yuldashev