According to the bio posted on his website and YouTube channel, Andreas was born and grew up in Greece. Contrary to his father desires (to see his son becoming a financier), he instead chose modelling and show business. He then left Greece and came to Ukraine, first as a tourist and then, in his own words, fell in love with the country and decided to stay there.
However, Ukraine is not terra incognita for Andreas. Born in Greek repatriated family, Andreas speaks Russian very well and with no accent, thanks to his living and studying in Moscow. Moreover, Andreas can be called an international project. He can sing very well in Russian, as well as in Greek, keeping the same temperament. [...]
In his spare time, he is seriously interested in nature and animals protection.
‘It’s not enough just to feel sorry about cruel behavior and killing animals, - Andreas says, - we should do something! I’m going to organize some events for it. For example, I plan to make people stop wearing fur clothes. It’s time to pay high attention to the cruel behavior toward pet animals as well…Until we learn to treat animals well we won’t treat people well either…’
Sexy video à la Kazaky with important messages against animal cruelty and for love. Simple as this: Make Love.
The uncensored version can be accessed here with disturbing scenes of animal cruelty.
I feel sorry for Emmy. Stage-wise they did whatever possible or impossible to save the performance. It was entertaining. But... what happened to her voice? Vocally it was too bad. But... that’s not even the most important aspect of it. There was this big BUT there... the BUT that mattered the most... At the end of the day, THAT song sucked. Spectacularly. It always did.
The failure that amounted to a cold shower for the Public TV of Armenia, the organisers of the Eurovision Song Contest. They can no longer rely on Diaspora voting. They must rely on quality, even if Eurovision-like. It’s as simple as that.
I warned you. I sincerely did.
Read my latest comments I made before today’s semi-final so that nothing could influence what I had to say...
Nothing and no one (absolutely no one) could help Armenia to progress further with THAT song, and deservedly so. No, I am not rejoicing that my predictions came true. I am just stating the facts.
(AM) Միշտ ասել եմ: Մենակ մեռնելուս օրը չգիտեմ: Ու տենց... (Նորայրի ականջը կանչի)
via @onewmphoto: Obviously Armenia needs to hire @unzippedblog for its next Eurovision attempt... #ESC2011
I am glad that my favourites from the 1st semi - Georgia, Lithuania and Greece - all progressed to the final.
Georgia stood out in Eurovision context and may be beyond. Even my sexual orientation was questioned for a moment or two. A friend of mine commented on Facebook re my liking of Georgian entry: “and really, Mika, one would never know you were gay”. [*smile* and *like*]
Respects to Lithuania. Not only they were good vocally, but the use of sign language... RESPECTS.
And Greece... except from that rapping part, it was hot. Seriously.
While I have big reservations about Emmy’s Boom-Boom song, I started getting a little bit excited about her performance. Well, the picture says it all ;) Good choice of hot Greek dancers + cute Emmy. After all, this might not be as bad as I have thought before. Will keep an eye.
I was live tweeting my immediate impressions along with watching the 1st semifinal of Eurovision 2010. Below I’ll try to sum up some of the main points.
Here we are. Never thought I would make this confession during Eurovision. Yes, yes, yes, I did fall in love with the Belgian singer Tom Dice. While he may not be your typical Eurovision entry, it was a class act all the way: song, performance, singer. He did not need complicated weird shows on stage or supporting dancers or back vocals. It was a one-man performance, and I loved it.
Here are @bbceurovision preferences:"Personally speaking, I really like #Ireland, #Romania, #Iceland, #Finland & #Armenia! :)" #Eurovision
Then there was an immediate commentary by BBC re Russia performance: "3 minutes of misery - Lost and Forgotten" :)
Before Russia, Moldova did quite a bit of cheering up. I remember their performance with a smile on my face. It was light and entertaining.
Albania delivered a typical Eurovision performance, no more, no less, and it was not bad at all.
Then there was a turn for another typical Eurovision + typical Greece all-male performance. All men were hot, except for singer. He did sing OK, though. It was Hoppa, or Oppa :)))
I even managed spotting someone who would we normally call “qyartu” in Armenian. Watch out for that guy in black glasses during Macedonia’s entry.
When Iceland took the stage, all tweets were about associations with volcanic eruption and whether Europe “will forgive Iceland”:
@bbceurovision: And finally tonight, another one of the favourites, Hera Bjork from Iceland. Will Europe forgive the volcano?
Icelandic representative was pretty good, and as they passed through to the final, I may safely assume that Europe did indeed forgive for the volcanic ash chaos, well, at least for the occasion.
Before the results of voting were announces, I indicated my faves from the 1st semi: Belgium, Greece, Albania, Iceland, Moldova. I could not decide re Serbia (too distracted by his haircut).
I was pleased that all my faves are through to the final.
Oh, and did I already mention this?! Belgium singer + Greece dancers = hot Eurovision.
And now, to make sure you’ll keep up the sexy mood till Thursday’s 2nd semi, watch this brief preview of Kylie Minogue’s All The Lovers video. Can’t wait to see the full version. Looks sexy ;)
Italian gay news website made this very interesting comment after the first semi-final about Armenian song in this year Eurovision - Jan Jan by Inga and Anush Arshakyan.
Here is a quote, via Google Translate:
"Armenia (the song has all the characteristics to be a summer smash for European gay disco but dances and costumes were just too "folk" for Moscow)."
Last year Armenian entry Sirusho's Qele, Qele became a European club hit, being played at many gay and straight clubs, particularly popular in Greece, as well as at a London Gay Pride.
Reporters Without Bordersmarks one year anniversary of blocking the access to YouTube in Turkey.
Reporters Without Borders condemns the fact the video-sharing website YouTube has been inaccessible in Turkey for the past 12 months. Access has not been restored since it was blocked exactly one year ago today as a result of three orders issued by Ankara magistrate courts without any specific reason being given.
"The clip believed to have originally sparked the YouTube controversy in 2007 was a parody news broadcast by Greek football fans taunting their Turkish rivals by declaring "Today's news; Kemal Ataturk was gay!"
Turkish law lets prosecutors seek a court-ordered shutdown of any website deemed liable to incite suicide, paedophilia, drug usage, obscenity, prostitution, or attacking the memory of the republic's founding father.
Critics note the law opens the door to many abuses — such as letting a couple soccer fans effectively shut down an entire country's access to the world's most popular video-sharing website.
After the offending video was taken down by Google and YouTube users, Turkish prosecutors objected to dozens of other videos allegedly insulting Ataturk or other Turkish sensibilities. The latest barring was the result of three Ankara magistrate court orders on the grounds that Google hadn't obtained a license from the Turkish authorities."
The Register then goes on by listing countries which have barred YouTube, mentioning Armenia too: "Turkey is just one of several countries to have barred YouTube, including China, Armenia, Morocco, Pakistan, Thailand, Iran, United Arab Emirates, Saudia Arabia, and Syria."
I have to clarify here that the Armenian authorities have blocked the access to YouTube, along with some other websites, for a short period of few days only during the declared state of emergency following last year falsified presidential election. Before that and since then there have been no other incidents of Internet censorship in Armenia.
ITN: US President Barack Obama and Pope Benedict have appeared in a dance show at the Acropolis in Greece - painted on the naked bodies of the performers.
It is the work of a Swiss artist who goes by the name of Dave, who said he chose the Pope and Mr Obama because they provoke conversation.
The work was inspired by fusionism which is an art form that combines abstract painting and choreographed performances.
It is part of an art marathon. The plan is that one artist will be sent to a different country every year for the next 42 years to exhibit their work and create discussion on how art can make the world a better place.
But it has not been easy for Dave. He said it took several days to create and plan the performance particularly the choreography, to make sure the picture fitted together properly. There was also a fair bit of re-touching when his art work got smudged.
Dave said: "This is really hard. Then it's the performance you have to plan and the painting... So I start at 8am and I'm still here."
Esctodayreports that Armenia’s Eurovision 2008 representative Sirusho, along with Serbian and Israeli Eurovision representatives, will perform at a gay party this weekend in one of the leading clubs in Tel Aviv (Israel). Earlier it was revealed that Armenia’s Sirusho, Serbia’s Jelena Tomasevic and Israel’s Boaz Mauda “will be recording a special song about peace together in December. The song will be released in many countries.”
The three entrants of the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest: Sirusho from Armenia, Serbia's Jelena Tomasevic and Israeli Boaz Mauda, will be performing together this weekend in Tel Aviv.
Sirusho has recently revealed on Armenian national television, that Serbian Jelena Tomasevic, Israeli Boaz Mauda and herself, who all represented their respective countries in the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest, are engaged in recording a special song about peace together in December. The song will be released in many countries.
As part of this joint venture, the trio will be performing in Israel this weekend. Their main act will be in the gay Pop Ring party, in one of Tel Aviv's leading clubs, the Theater, this Thursday night. You may find further information about the party in the Pop Ring website (click).
Few months ago, I wrote that Sirusho’s Qele, Qele became hit among Eurovision gay fans and was selected for the Amnesty International’s float at the London Gay Pride 2008. It became an instant club hit in Greece too. In fact, Sirusho is currently working on her new Greek music videoErotas xafnikos (Sudden love) which will be ready early next year.
Last month, Sirusho got engaged with Levon Kocharyan, son of Armenia’s former president Robert Kocharyan.
A Greek bishop sued a Greek LGBT activist and an HIV/AIDS charity for 1 million euro, after the latter denounced him for his homophobic hate speech.
Hate speech against gays, lesbians and transgender people in Greece takes place with impunity. Several leading politicians, ministers, and religious leaders, as well as several journalists and other public figures, repeatedly insult and demean gays and lesbians without any legal or disciplinary consequences.
The latest example is the bishop of the Piraeus, Seraphim, who in an article maligned gays as ‘morally corrupt, obsessed with satisfying their psychopathological deviation and who have made a life value out of the faeces elimination tract'. Such is Seraphim's hatred against gays that he supports the claims of an alleged murderer. The bishop said that the popular Greek actor Nikos Seryanopoulos, who was murdered in what seems to be a homophobic crime, brought this on himself because, according to the alleged murderer, Seryanopoulos forced him to have sex, and him not being ‘that way' got upset and defended himself by stabbing the actor 21 times.
You can offer your support to the Greek gay rights activist Leo Kalovyrnas and the non-governmental organisation Synthesis HIV/AIDS Awareness who were recently sued for a 1 million euro in defamation charges after denouncing Greek-Orthodox bishop Seraphim's misanthropic and homophobic hate speech. The trial has been set for 3 February 2009.
Please sign our petition to the Greek Government to ban hate speech against the Gay, Lesbian and Transexual community in Greece by changing the anti-discrimination law 927/1979 so as to cover hate crimes against the Greek LGBT community.
Well, at some point in recent past I did consider the possibility of Eurovision 2009 to be held in Yerevan, picturing it turned into a gay capital of Europe. May be for 2010 or...? In the meantime, it's Moscow's turn for 2009. As soon as the decision by Russian government was announced confirming the choice of Moscow as host for next year's Eurovision song contest, as expected, Russian gay activists were quick to confirm their plans that they will hold Gay Pride the very same day as Eurovision final. In past, Moscow administration headed by homophobe Luzhkov denied all requests for Gay Pride events. There will be pretty tough dilemma before him now, as you can't just easily ban gay related events when thousands of gay men and women across Europe will be in Moscow for the song contest, and millions of TV viewers will follow the action.
“Now that Prime Minister Putin said that Eurovision 2009 would be held in Moscow, and not St. Petersburg, I am full of compassion to Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov. The contest is strongly connected with gay and lesbian organizations of Europe. These organizations hold certain actions every year, within the scope of Eurovision,” a well-known Russian journalist Arthur Gasparyan told RIA Novosti.
“I wonder how Mr. Luzhkov is going to react to this. If he orders the Moscow police to disperse the gay parade, Europe will make a laughing-stock of him. I believe he will have to make a very difficult choice,” the journalist said.
Gasparyan also pointed out further challenges which Russian authorities and tourists may face in Moscow.
“This is not the arrival of a crowd of British football fans in Moscow for a couple of days. The contest will last for at least two weeks. I am not sure how 43 European delegations will travel through Moscow’s traffic jams either,” the journalist said.
He recollected the Olympic Games of 1980 in Moscow, when many Muscovites were ordered to leave the city for the time of the Games. “It is not ruled out that the Moscow authorities will do something ridiculous again,” he said.
To crown it all, the journalist said that Moscow had no appropriate venue, where Eurovision 2009 could be held. “Any of possible variants – Olimpiysky or Luzhniki stadiums – should be reconstructed and repaired immediately,” Arthur Gasparyan said. “If the venues are left the way they are now, it will be the worst Eurovision in history,” the journalist said.
Moscow authorities, however, stated that city is ready for the contest and its participants and tourists will enjoy "the required level of comfort and security". The official reminded the latest Champions League final which took place in Moscow without any incident.
The final of Eurovision song contest will take place on 16 May 2009. Forty-three countries will participate in the contest; number of TV viewers will exceed 100 million people.
It's already known that Greece will be represented by sexy Sakis Rouvas. It will be his second Eurovision entry; in 2004 he finished 3rd. Apparently, Bilan's example was pretty infectious. Sakis certainly will be the one to watch out. I can safely say that we already have one of the main contenders for winning the contest in Moscow. What will be Armenia's answer to this?
Residents claim using the term to refer to gay women insults their identity
Three residents of the Greek island of Lesbos have lost an attempt to ban the use of the word "lesbian" to describe gay women.
The residents argued that using the term in reference to gay women insulted their identity.
But an Athens court ruled there was no justification for their contention that they felt slighted, saying the word did not define the islanders' identity.
Greeks often refer to the island as Mytilene, after its capital.
"This is a good decision for lesbians everywhere," Vassilis Chirdaris, lawyer for the Gay and Lesbian Union of Greece, told Reuters news agency.
Despite being not recognised by government and almost certainly annulled, today is a pretty historic day for LGBT community in Greece, as BBC reports that the mayor of a Greek island Tilos has defied the threat of prosecution and carried out the country's first gay marriages. This will certainly have a significant impact on gay rights movement in Greece and will trigger changes in legislation to make it comparable with some other EU countries. Even if unrecognised now, these marriages will pave the way for future civil recognition of same-sex couples in Greece .
Two men and two women were "married" by Tassos Alfieris in the ceremonies on the eastern Aegean island of Tilos.
Mr Alfieris conducted the proceedings despite Greece's top prosecutor having issued a directive saying that same-sex weddings were outlawed.
One of the women involved, Evangelia Vlami, was bubbling with excitement as she told the BBC she was "so happy".
"From this day, discrimination against gays in Greece is on the decline. We did this to encourage other gay people to take a stand," she said after the ceremony held at sunrise on Tuesday.
Hostility
However, the weddings are bound to cause a huge backlash in Greece, says the BBC's Athens correspondent Malcolm Brabant.
Although homosexual practices were widely tolerated in ancient Greece, the modern nation is exceedingly hostile towards gays, he adds.
The conservative Greek Orthodox Church has expressed strong objections, and the country's Justice Minister, Sotiris Hatzigakis, said he believed gay marriages were illegal.
"If the Tilos mayor proceeds, he will have committed the criminal act of 'breach of duty'," Supreme Court prosecutor George Sanidas warned on Friday.
"We will go ahead despite the difficulties," retorted Mr Alfieris. "I still can't believe that someone would be prosecuted for defending human rights."
However, leaders of other municipalities who had previously considered officiating at gay weddings have backed down.
And while Ms Vlami was prepared to be identified, her partner was not.
Similarly, only one half of the male partnership, Dimitris Tsaibrounis, was happy to be named.
As expected, 365Gay.com reports that the authorities in Greece moved to annul these same-sex marriages.
(Athens) The Greek government moved Tuesday to annul the marriages of two same-sex couples after the weddings were performed by the mayor of the island of Tilos.
Supreme Court Prosecutor Giorgos Sanides said he would ask the high court to declare the marriages illegal.
Tilos falls under the jurisdiction of the island of Rhodes. The prosecutor there has charged Mayor Tasos Aliferis with breach of duty for conducting the marriages.
Aliferis performed the wedding for a lesbian couple on Monday and a gay couple on Tuesday.
Hundreds of friends of the couples turned out for the ceremonies, as did dozens of curious townsfolk and the media.
The LGBT rights group OLKE said earlier this year it had found a loophole in a 26 year old update of the Greek civil marriage law that refers only to participating "persons," without specifying gender.
OLKE said that by not naming gender the law, albeit inadvertently, allows same-sex marriage and the group began the search for a mayor who would agree with them and perform the first ceremony.
Sanides disagrees with OKKE's assessment of the law. He maintains the law limits marriage to opposite-sex couples.
The Greek Orthodox Church s traditionally staunchly opposed to granting gays legal rights, and the idea of common-law unions. But its leader, Archbishop Ieronymos, who was enthroned earlier this year has been silent on the issue of marriage.
The government recently introduced civil partnership legislation that would grant legal rights to unmarried couples, but the bill specifically excludes same-sex couples.
Gays and lesbians have some legal protections under Greek law - mainly in the areas of employment and housing.
The issue of whether the vagueness of the current law on marriage allows same-sex couples to marry has divided Greek legal experts, although most believe that without a specific definition of what constitutes a couple the court will likely deny the government application to annual the weddings.
Unzipped: Gay Armenia expresses its support and solidarity with Greek bloggers in their fight against discrimination
A few weeks ago the Greek Ministry of Justice has announced their intention to present a new bill in Parliament that will introduce a domestic partnership contract exclusively for unmarried heterosexual couples. This discriminatory project has been widely denounced not just by the LGBT community, but also Greek citizens from all walks of life who believe that it violates the Equality clause enshrined in our constitution, as well as the country’s European commitments.
As a reaction to the proposed bill the association OLKE (Homosexual and Lesbian Community of Greece) has announced its intention to pursue the country’s first same-sex civil wedding, noting that the current law does not refer to the sex of the participants. A female couple will present themselves to the town-hall of Kesariani (a municipality adjoining Athens) and ask the mayor to officialise their union. The mayor of Kesariani has declared that he will go on with the wedding provided he gets a favourable ruling from the State Legal Council. In Thessaloniki a male couple will try to do the same.
On Monday the 17th of March a blogger initiative under the collective title “Greek Bloggers Against Discrimination” has started its own campaign against the proposed legislation with the coordinated publication of an online protest entitled “A domestic partnership that discriminates? No Thanks”. Below you can read the full text of this online protest in English. For a full list of the 200 weblogs that have signed on this initiative, you can visit here.
- A DOMESTIC PARTNERSHIP THAT DISCRIMINATES? - NO, THANKS!
In Greece gays, lesbians and transexuals know about discrimination. They face it daily from their families, in their social lives and in the professional field.
But sometimes, all it takes is a single straw to break the camel's back.
According to press reports, the greek government is preparing to introduce a domestic partnership 'contract' EXCLUSIVELY for unmarried heterosexual couples. We do not believe that a mere 'contract' can resolve the issues same-sex couples face or ensure their fair treatment under the law. However this discriminatory proposal is a direct contravention of the greek Constitution, as well as european human rights treaties. Especially since same-sex couples already enjoy legal rights in 18 european nations.
The aim of this intervention is to make sure that european institutions, human rights organisations, websites and weblogs from around the world learn about these proposals. What we ask for is equal rights for all. Nothing more and nothing less.
This time around we will not sit idly by. This time around we will not keep silent.
Just received this from a gay rights group in Greece.
TO: The European Parliament, European Political Parties, Humanitarian Organizations, International Press
URGENT
Dear Sir/Madam,
We are writing to draw your attention to the case of a 40-year-old gay Iranian man, identified here as Alex, who is about to be expelled from Greece and deported back to Iran. As is well known and documented, gay people in Iran are subjected to persecution and severe punishment, including execution. If Alex returns to Iran, Greece will be committing a serious miscarriage of justice and a gross violation of human rights.
Alex (his real name and identity are known to our organization) used to live a fully respected life in Iran. He is a member of a rich Iranian family and used to have a respectful job in Iran. In 1999 he was visited at his workplace by an ex-schoolmate who knew Alex was gay and who was probably a member of the government party. After that visit, Alex was arrested by the religion police and kept in the Jankal jail at the Iranian town of Rast for 45 days.
Alex was tortured at Jankal. He was beaten systematically with lashing straps in his back and kidneys and afterwards was put in water in order to not develop ecchymosis and edema. He was beaten several times in the face, losing three teeth as a result. He had his testicles twisted, was submitted to bastinado and had salt poured on his open wounds. He was put twice in mock execution.
After spending forty-five days in jail, his family paid to get him out so that he could attend the funeral of his mother. The police took him to the funeral in women’s clothes. While out of jail, Alex managed to escape. A few days later, he arrived to Greece by way of Turkey in a terrible condition.
He went to the General Administration office of the police and applied for political asylum based on the torture he had been submitted to in Iran. The application was rejected. In 2003, Alex submitted a second application for political asylum stating that he was homosexual and had a relationship with a Greek man, Phoebos (his real name and identity are known to our organization), who also testified that he was Alex’s partner. (Alex and Phoebos are still together today). However, this application was also rejected. (Alex’s file in the Ministry of Public Order is YDT 95/43303; his file in the Asylum Department of the Home Office is 12206/38647).
Now Alex’s case is to be discussed in front of the Supreme Council, which is scheduled to decide for a definitive resolution regarding his status as a refugee on March 11, 2008.
Dear Sir/Madam,
Alex’s deportation to Iran will constitute a violation of the articles 3 and 15 of the International Convention of the Human Rights, co-signed and validated by Greece.
We need your strong support in order to prevent the Greek state from violating the international law and the human rights of a person whose life is in danger because of his sexuality.
We would be more than happy to provide further information on the case.
Thank you for your time and consideration. We look forward to your response and immediate action.
Yours sincerely,
The Members of the Greek Homosexual Community (G.H.C.-ΕΟΚ)
Contact: General Secretary of GHC-EOK Marina Galanou
Greek Homosexual Community, EOK (Member of: ILGA, ILGYO, All Different-all Equal) Antoniadou 6 str., Athens, Attica, PC 10434, Greece
“The real violence… the violence that I realised was unforgivable is the violence that we do to ourselves, when we are too afraid to be who we really are.” #Sense8
Մարտիրոս Սարյան: "Իմ կարծիքով, մեզ՝ որպես արևելյան ժողովրդի, չափազանց կպատշաճեր բազմագույն դրոշը, որն ի հայտ է բերում ինքը` չքնաղ և հավերժ գեղեցիկ ծիածանը:"(source)
Posts
