Palestine to be represented at Mr Gay Europe 2009

Looking at the list of so far announced Mr Gay Europe 2009 participants, this guy caught my attention as he will represent Palestine at this year's contest. [Update 19 September 2010: Name, photo and personal info are deleted due to security reasons.]

"I would like to represent Palestine because I have lived long time hiding that I am gay. I am trying to break the psychological and cultural barriers."

Despite some initial hints, no indication that anyone from Armenia, or South Caucasus, will participate. The first and the only South Caucasus participation at the contest so far came from Sadikh Ragimov who represented Azerbaijan in 2007.

Mr Gay Europe 2009 will take place in Oslo, Norway, 19-23 August.

Jerusalem - City Of Borders: gay bar as a symbol of unity

Hot Docs 2009 trailer: "In the heart of Jerusalem stands an unusual symbol of unity: a gay bar called Shushan. In this vibrant underground that defies generations of segregation, violence and prejudice, patrons seek peace, love and understanding."



*Thanks to A.M. for the link.

Jewish singer Noa and Arab singer Mira together will represent Israel in Eurovision 2009

Billed as a song contest, Eurovision has always been about politics too.

Citing Israeli news sources, Esctoday reports that Israel's Eurovision committee "has decided to propose the singers Noa and Mira Awad to represent the country in the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest in Moscow. IBA has confirmed the news to esctoday.com. Awad, being an Arab-Israeli, will be the first one of her community to represent Israel in the song contest. The Israeli Atrists Union represntative, who was a member of the jury, commented to Ynet.co.il: "I appreciate Marina as an artist and hope we will see her on the Eurovision Song contest's stage in future. Noa is currently the most successful Israeli artist abroad, and I am confident they will make us proud".

It seems that Noa was first selected this morning on her own to represent Israel in Eurovision, and then conditioned her participation in performing in a duet with her friend, Arab-Israeli singer, Mira Awad."

Eurovision-related website also links to a few years old video of Noa & Mira performing the Beatles hit "We can work it out". Their statements on the situation in Middle East, while not being related to the current situation in Gaza, still relevant. Although I do not particularly like their performance of "We can work it out", I like the idea behind their act.