Whilst Azerbaijan has been one of the last countries to start participating in the Eurovision song festival it has embraced the event with great enthusiasm. In recent years great efforts were put to ensure a professional Azerbaijani entry in the annual European cultural event. In 2010 Azerbaijan came close to winning and in 2011 it did. It was a moment of pride but also presented numerous challenges.
Baku is a city that has gone through tremendous changes over the last five years. The festival is an opportunity to showcase the new Baku to the world. No doubt this will be done. Frantic efforts have been going on to prepare the venues necessary for the festival, including the arena where it will take place, accomodation for the thousands of supporters who accompany the singers from the different European countries, and facilities for the 1600 journalist expected to cover the event.
The biggest challenge however is political - how to deal with the Armenian singers and their entourage when thev are in Baku. The Armenian side sought and received guarantees about the security of the participants. That was ofcourse the minimum of what is to be expected. The host country has the duty to provide this to all participants regardless. Armenia has now confirmed its participation in the festival.
The big question is how will the Armenian singers be received by the Azerbaijani public. Azerbaijan has often been accused of brainwashing its public in anti Armenian propaganda. There is some truth in this statement and some falsehood. But whatever the level of accuracy of this statement the political reality is such that there is a danger of an ugly moment during Eurovision. This year there will probably be as much suspense about whether or not this moment will happen, as there will be about the winner of the festival.
The ugly Armenian moment must not be allowed to happen. Eurovision is a great opportunity to break the sterotype images that have fuelled hatred in the Caucasus. Baku should welcome the singing Armenians with flowers and the singing Armenians should reciprocate. Eurovision should be remembered as the moment that things in the Caucasus started changing for the better.
source: This is an editorial comment prpared by the Commonspace.eu editorial team
photo: Billboards appeared on the streets of Baku this morning announcing the 2012 Eurovision Song Festival with the theme "Light your fire". (source: www.eurovision.az)
