The final show of Eurovision Song Contest in Moscow (Russia) was probably the most costly event in Russian show-biz in 2009, the total sum of money spent by Russia being debated until now. There is information that the amount exceeded $45 million, of which $33 mln (or 1 billion rubles) were given by the RF Government, $6.6 mln (or 200 mln rubles) – by the Government of Moscow city, and about $6 mln – by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). The expenses of the First Channel, a TV-channel that broadcasted the show, are unrevealed, as well as the amounts of sponsor contracts, among which there are Raiffeisenbank, Schwarzkopf, Pepsi and Rostelecom; these expenses were never taken into account in the sum total. At the same time, there is information that the budget of the contest was $42 mln, and the share of the First Channel accounted for about one third of the sum.

Anyway, the final show of Eurovision in Moscow became an absolute record-breaker as of expenditures, being far ahead the Greeks who spent €12 mln in 2006, and the Serbians who made it with €9.3 mln. The expenditures were mainly attributed to construction of the stage, -the largest one in the history of the contest, as well as to lease of Olympiysky sport complex, advertising, transportation, and escorting of delegacies. In particular, the director general of the First Channel, Konstantin Ernst boasted that they rented all LED screens available in Western Europe. From the very beginning the organizers considered the final show of the contest as unprofitable; they just couldn’t expect to win away at least some part of the expenses ’cause a good half of the tickets to Olympiysky turned out to have been distributed for free.

The public opinion about the expenditures was mostly negative (over 39% of 1,200 Russians polled by Online Market Intelligence responded negatively). Experts, too, tell that the organizers could make a proper final show in Moscow for as little as $10 mln. However, everybody agreed that the Moscow show had politics behind it, and was another great occasion to work at a positive image of Russia. So they spared neither expense, nor time of high-ranking persons: Vladimir Putin (the Prime Minister of Russia) visited rehearsals of the show, and Yuri Luzhkov (the mayor of Moscow city) gave a speech on the opening day. In follow-up of the final show of Eurovision Song Contest some organizers, including Konstantin Ernst, got letters of award from Dmitriy Medvedev, the President of Russia.

source: esctoday.com

Russian singer and producer Philip Kirkorov has announced that he is withdrawing from the Eurovision Song Contest jury in his country, both as member and chairman. The decision follows questions about his impartiality due to his close relationship with some participants in the competition. He will continue to work for Channel One Russia as commentator of the Final of the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest, this Saturday.

Last night during the Second Eurovision Song Contest semi final winners’ press conference, a journalist asked Greek representative Sakis Rouvas if his close friendship with Kirkorov would help Greece to win votes from Russia. Rouvas responded by saying that Kirkorov was a professional and would never allow his personal feelings to influence his responsibilities.

Philip Kirkorov gave the following statement:

“I am grateful for the honor that the organizers bestowed on me, to be chosen as the president of a professional jury…This job is certainly very interesting for me, because for many years I have been involved in the Eurovision Song Contest - first as a participant, than as a producer, consultant and always as a big fan. However, I decided that I need to refrain from participating in the judging process as a member of the jury, since I’ve taken such an active role in the life of the contest and have close ties with some of the contestants, for instance with Sakis Rouvas, who I’ve been friends with for many years. All this can raise questions from the participating countries about the objectivity of the decision of the Russian jury.

“Of course my colleagues and I understand that for a professional, personal friendships don’t matter and do not play any role in the scoring of a song, but I cannot let even a slightest shadow of doubt involved with this process and have questions raised about the impartiality of a professional Russian jury and my role as chairman. That is why I took the decision to leave. This will allow me to freely express my opinion and to communicate openly with contestants from different countries, which for me as an artist and a producer means a great deal”.

Svante Stockselius, Executive Supervisor of the Eurovision Song Contest on behalf of the European Broadcasting Union, commented: “We respect the decision of Philip Kirkorov, who we know as a committed musician and dedicated supporter of the Eurovision Song Contest and its participants. He assured us that he voted independently in the first Semi-Final and also signed a declaration stating so”.

Philip Kirkorov represented Russia at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1995 and was involved with several entries ever since, including Ani Lorak’s Ukrainian entry last year that placed second. The Final of the Eurovision Song Contest will take place this Saturday, 16th of May, in Moscow, Russia. Professional juries and televoters in all participating country will each provide 50 per cent of the outcome.

By Anna Malpas / The Moscow Times, 14 May 2009

Moscow is gearing up for the Eurovision Song Contest final on Saturday, which will pit 25 nations against each other in a festival of outrageous costumes, flag-waving patriotism and clunky lyrics.

The event threatens to be overshadowed by violence, however, as gay rights activists plan to hold an unsanctioned march in central Moscow earlier in the day.

The final is scheduled to begin at 11 p.m. Saturday at the Olimpiisky Sports Complex. The show will be hosted by comedian Ivan Urgant and pop singer Alsou, who was a Eurovision contestant for Russia in 2000.

Last year’s winner, Dima Bilan, will perform with the circus show from Cirque du Soleil. Organizers also plan a satellite link with the International Space Station.

The first semifinal Tuesday saw 10 acts move on to the final, while another 10 finalists were to be selected in the second semifinal, which was to begin late Thursday night.

Russia, Germany, Great Britain, France and Spain have an automatic bye into the final.

Britain’s entry, Jade Ewen, will be accompanied on the piano by composer Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber. The German entry will feature burlesque star Dita von Teese.

Russia’s contestant, Anastasia Prikhodko, hosted a crowded party at the Eurodom club Wednesday. She performed her song, “Mamo,” as the audience knocked back vodka with traditional bread and salt.

Prikhodko’s song sparked controversy in Russia because its lyrics are in Ukrainian as well as Russian.

“All the listeners will understand the word ‘mama,’ whatever their language,” Prikhodko told The Moscow Times in a recent interview. “I would really like the audience at the contest to experience all the emotions that the heroine of this song goes through.”

Her song was panned as a “dirge of a ballad” by The Guardian this week.

Norway, Greece and Turkey are considered favorites to win, despite accusations from some fans and delegations of block voting by Eastern Europeans.

Gay rights activists are expected to hold a protest at about noon Saturday in central Moscow. Organizers said they would release the details on their web site, Gayrussia.ru.

Gay rights activists on several occasions have been beaten by opponents and physically prevented by police from staging gay pride events.

One Eurovision contestant has vowed to boycott the final if there is violence at the march, which organizers have dubbed “Slavic Pride.”

Gordon of The Toppers, the group representing The Netherlands, intends to attend the demonstration and will boycott the final if “there is extreme violence,” the group’s spokesman, Marco de Koning, said Thursday.
The Netherlands was set to perform in the second semifinal Thursday night.

Mayor Yury Luzhkov has called gay parades “satanic,” and City Hall spokesman Sergei Tsoi told Interfax last week that there had “never been a gay parade in Moscow, and there won’t be one.”

Any unsanctioned protests during Eurovision will be dealt with “harshly,” acting Moscow police chief Alexander Ivanov said Tuesday, Interfax reported.

A City Hall spokesman reached by telephone Thursday declined to confirm whether permission for the gay pride demonstration had been formally denied.

British gay rights activist Peter Tatchell flew to Moscow to attend the march and issued a statement Thursday calling for city authorities to hold talks with gay activists.

Tatchell attended the attempted gay pride march in Moscow in 2007 and was badly beaten and arrested.

By Natalya Krainova / The Moscow Times, 13 May 2009

Moscow dogcatchers resorted to poisoning and beating stray dogs to death as they followed orders from City Hall to clean up the streets ahead of the Eurovision Song Contest, animal rights activists said Wednesday.

Ecology for Human Rights, an animal rights group, has received about 50 complaints since last fall about the inhuman treatment of stray dogs at dog shelters, said Yelena Nadyozhkina, who organized a rally of about 70 people to protest the issue near the Pushkinskaya metro station on Wednesday.

She said dogcatchers often beat the animals to death and feed them poison that can cause them to choke to death.

“We are against inhuman treatment of animals and their killing,” Nadyozhkina said.

Mayor Yury Luzhkov “recently” issued an order “reinforcing the catching” of stray dogs, said Olga Veldina, spokeswoman for the prefect’s office in Moscow’s central administrative district.

Veldina said she had no further details about the order and no information about methods used to catch and deal with stray dogs.

Сity authorities have allocated 3 billion rubles ($93.8 million) for stray dogs in 2009, including for their catching, neutering and vaccination, Saveanimals.ru said, citing a May 7 City Hall order.

Moscow authorities removed stray dogs from the city ahead of the 1980 Summer Olympic Games.

Mikhail Dolbnya, an official who deals with stray dogs at the prefect’s office in the eastern administrative district, said he had not heard about the City Hall order.

“Our brigades are working as usual,” Dolbnya said.

He denied that stray dogs were treated inhumanely, calling such allegations “rubbish,” and he said the dogcatchers save people from dog bites.

There are some 30,000 stray dogs in Moscow, and the city plans to build 15 shelters to house them by the fall, Saveanimals.ru said.

Animal rights activists who attended Wednesday’s rally — from teenagers to pensioners — said they hoped that Eurovision would draw the international spotlight to their cause.

Protesters held signs in Russian and English that read, “Murder in the Name of Eurovision,” “A City Without Dogs Is Music Without Notes,” and “Eurovision, Defend Animals From Cruelty.”

On the poster: “Do these songs worth their lives?”

Anna Bogomolova, an 18-year-old student carrying a sign that said “Eurokilling 2009,” accused authorities of illegally clearing the streets of dogs “just because some foreign guests might not like them.”

Animal rights activists are not the first to use Eurovision to promote an issue. Gay rights activists plan to stage Moscow’s first gay pride parade on May 16, the final day of the contest, despite a ban by City Hall.

The FINANCIAL, 27/04/2009

Music Breaks Free! This will be the basic idea for which a new international music festival will be held in the capital of Georgia on 15-17 May.

Tbilisi Open Air-Alter/Vision will be the first event of this scale and sophistication to take place in Tbilisi . Freed from politics and social clichés, this festival will be carrying the European cultural spirit, thus perfectly opposing “Eurovision” which will be held in Moscow.

Vaho Babunashvili, Director General of “Step Records” which is the author and organizer of the festival thinks company can count on huge success, and not only this year but all the next ones as the festival will become an annually held tradition. Tbilisi Open Air is expected to be attended by more than fifty thousand people, while the entrance will be free.

“Tbilisi Open Air is the first ever event of this type, scale and sophistication to take place in Tbilisi . We believe that our capital has long lacked a festival that would bring the spirit of a large open air music event, so common and appreciated in Europe and the USA. This event will have a very special atmosphere with few elements contributing to that: a fascinating line-up of bands performing various genres of modern music, from funk and NuJazz to Indie Rock and electronic music. I am sure this is something music fans will appreciate and enjoy a great deal,” Irakli Matkava, Public Relations and Marketing Director of Tbilisi Open Air told The FINANCIAL.

At first the festival was planned to be held in the mid summer. However, some of the foreign bands which will be performing at the festival offered “Step Records” to shift the date to May so that the two events would concur.

Referring to the words of the organizers this has once again proved the negative feeling of the modern musical world towards “Eurovision”, which this year turned into a politically pressured and bureaucratic arrangement.

Eurovision was accused of carrying political influence a number of times. This year song “We Don’t Wanna Put In” by Georgian pop band Stephane & 3G was rejected by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). The EBU ruled that the song lyrics did not comply with Section 4 Rule 9 of the Rules of the 54th Eurovision Song Contest, and couldn’t take part in the competition as such, which would see Georgia having to rewrite the song or choose another entry. A spokesman for the EBU said, “No lyrics, speeches, gestures of a political or similar nature shall be permitted.”

On 11 March 2009, Georgia withdrew from the Eurovision Song Contest 2009, refusing to change the song lyrics and alleging that the decision to ask Georgia to revise its entry came about as a result of pressure from Russia. The song caused controversy as it was seen to contain political references to Prime Minister of Russia Vladimir Putin in the lyrics.

Meanwhile the streets of Tbilisi and major avenues are blocked by protesters who are demanding President Saakashvili ’s resignation. However this won’t be an obstacle for Tbilisi Open Air Irakli Matkava says, “We do understand and acknowledge the current situation in our capital. But we also believe that as our festival will inevitably be an event that everyone will enjoy, it can and should go ahead. At the same time we do hope that before the festival begins the tense situation will dissolve and that the city’s life will be back to normal.”

This festival is a sponsors-financed event, a common practice for the first round. Yet the organizers do hope to commercialize the event and make it just as successful financially as conceptually. Apart from that organizers do believe that local businesses will also benefit from this festival in the following years as it will be attracting more and more visitors and coverage from abroad.

Tbilisi Open Air will be held on the same dates as “Eurovision”. Tbilisi Open Air will host twenty three bands from Denmark, Germany, France, Iceland, Italy, Poland, Russia, UK, Ukraine and Georgia will be performing at Tbilisi Open Air. Among them are Jazzanova feat. Paul Randolf,  Transglobal Underground, Dohl Foundation, Huggis Horns and other very interesting groups and performers. Irakli Matkava states that another important achievement of this festival will be the introduction of new brilliant performers to Georgian music fans.

The first opening day of the festival, May 15, will be held in the Shardeni area with a smaller stage. That area can accommodate around 2,000-2,500 people. But for the next two days, on May 16 and 17 the festival will move to its main site, Festival City at the Hippodrome. That is a huge space equipped with all the needed amenities and can hold around thirty thousand people.

So over the three days the festival can host at least sixty two thousand people. But considering that some people will be coming and leaving at various times as the festival day starts at 17:00 and ends at around 1:00 a.m., the numbers might be even greater.

“Equally fascinating will be ‘Festival City’, a top-notch infrastructure we are installing at Tbilisi Hippodrome, with high-class stage lights, sound systems, tasteful decorations and merchandise as well as amenities offering food, beverages and all other comforts. And of course our visitors will be a very important part of this atmosphere,” Irakli Matkava says.

As the Public Relations and Marketing Director of Tbilisi Open Air clarifies the defining idea behind the festival is freedom. This is freedom from stress, clichés, social controls, freedom to create and express, freedom to experience what is valued by every single one of us as individuals.

“We are doing our best to manifest the spirit of freedom in every single activity, product or deed of ours. The visual symbols are also aligned with this concept. While “Tbilisi Open Air” is the brand name of our festival it will be presented against a changing set of symbols all associated with freedom and creativity. However they are designed so that they are recognizable and the integrity of our corporate style is preserved.

Fusion of styles, spirit of freedom, fantastic atmosphere of Open Air event, bands from all over the world, thousands of visitors, amazing venues, and crazy parties. All these will make Tbilisi Open Air an outstanding European music event. Artists and music fans from Georgia and abroad will meet, fuse, exchange, learn, enjoy some great music and a very special ambiance,” Archil Guledani, Art Director of “Step Records” told The FINANCIAL.

Public Relations and Marketing Director of Tbilisi Open Air says that there are two major reasons why it was decided to hold the festival in Tbilisi . The first is that they are planning to make it a traditional festival, held annually, and a part of the European festival schedule.

“As we progress along this path we plan to attract not only foreign artists to our festival, but also music fans who often follow their favourite bands. We think that this proposition will be attractive not only to people from neighbouring countries that do not have festivals like ours, but also tourists from Europe and the USA. In this sense Tbilisi has the best infrastructure to support the festival in the long term. Apart from that Tbilisi has the largest portion of the country’s population, so it is only natural that Tbilisi will allow us to attract a maximum number of visitors,” Archil Guledani adds.

Written By Levan Lomtadze

An international music show, alternative to the Eurovision song contest, will be held in Georgia on May 9 to 16, at the same time as the Eurovision 2009 Song Contest in Moscow.

22 performers from 15 countries will participate.

According to the Rustavi 2 TV channel, the show is organized as a sign of solidarity with Stephane and 3G group, who was banned by Eurovision committee as its lyrics allegedly contained a political message. The group refused to change the song and dropped out of Eurovision.

The show will be conducted in Tbilisi in the same time as the Eurovision in Moscow, with free entrance.

Georgia Eurovision Moscow 2009

Ivan Toporischev, Moscow, exclusively for Eurovision Mania

Scandal around Ukrainian singer Anastasia Prihodko (Prykhodko) who was eliminated from Ukrainian national final of Eurovision-2009, mysteriously appeared in Russian short list two days before the Russian national final, and then by backdoor order of Putin’s government got the majority of the jury votes, gathers steam.

Anastasia Prihodko

On March 12th the Russian newspaper Moscowsky Komsomolets published an article where correspondent Artur Gasparian reminisce the incident in 2007 Fabrika Zvezd (Star Factory) contest, Russian analog of Star Academy. Two years ago, in the Star House, Prihodko called another contestant, mulatto Kornelia Mango, “tchernozhopaya” (”black-ass”, humiliating form of “nigger” in Russian). Then she began discourse upon her hatred towards niggers and Chineses, and said that “Hitler was right. He fought for Arian race. I think that in Germany should live Germans, in Ukraine - kievers, in Africa - niggers, in Israel - jews. Heil Hitler!”

Kornelia Mango

Later on Prikhodko refused to record a song together with Choir of Michael Turetsky, explained that “the block fellows would kill me if I sing with Jewish chore.”

Choir of Michael Turetsky

Not only “block fellows” of Anastasia Prihodko love fascism, but her own family. Her brother Nazar is well-known member of UNA-UNSO, Ukrainian nationalist union.

March of Ukrainian Nationalists. Nazar Prihodko on the left, in leather coat.
Photo from: http://narodna.pravda.com.ua/rus/politics/47298d9b92bad

The head of LDPR fraction in the Russian State Duma Igor Lebedev, son of LDPR founder Vladimir Zhirinovsky, said that “Choice of Ukrainian nationalistic singer as Russian representative in Eurovision contest heavily damages prestige of Russia.”

The Russian blogosphere is boiling with condemnations of the singer. This case really united all sides of Russian political spectrum: The liberals demand to eliminate Anastasia Prykhodko because of her fascist views; the nationalists - because she is Ukrainian nationalist and that means she must by default hate Russia and Russians.

The European Broadcasting Union, EBU has officially informed the Georgian Public Broadcasting, GPB to re-write the lyrics of Georgia’s entry song performed by Stepane & 3G and selected to present Georgia to the popular 54th Eurovision Song Contest 2009.

Georgia has announced withdrawal from ESC 2009. It is not clear to Georgia why Eurovision Broadcasting Union took this decision.

Official Denial of Georgia to participate in the competition is confirmed in the letter of General Director of Georgian Public Broadcaster – Levan Kubaneishvili to the executive supervisor of the contest. “Georgia’s Public broadcaster does not intend to rewrite the lyrics and refuses to take part in the Eurovision song contest. The broadcaster does not agree with your decision and believes it to be ungrounded” – the letter reads.

In Georgia are suspected the song was rejected under political pressure from Moscow. Georgian side disagreed that the song was overtly political.

EBU has offered GPB- 1st Channel to re-write the lyrics of the entry song or either to select another entry song for the contest till 16 March.

Stepane & 3G with the play on words song “Put In Disco” were selected the Georgian entry to the ESC through Georgia’s national competition. The song caused some controversy as it can be perceived to contain political references to former Russian President and present PM Vladimir Putin in the lyrics.

Georgia's Stephane & 3G Sing "We Don't Wanna Put In" - Eurovision 2009

Source: Georgian Public Broadcasting

CBC News, March 10, 2009

Georgia’s entry in the Eurovision song contest, a not-too-sly jab at Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, has been booted out of the competition because of its lyrics.

We Don’t Wanna’ Put In is a disco-funk song that seems to poke fun at the Russian leader.

The contest is being held in Moscow this May, less than a year after Russia and Georgia went to war over the region of South Ossetia.

Officials say it’s against the competition’s rules to have political content in the entries.

According to the rules of the event, no “lyrics, speeches, gestures of a political or similar nature shall be permitted during the Eurovision song contest.”

The song’s title is a play on the politician’s name and has the chorus: “We don’t wanna put in, the negative move, it’s killin’ the groove.”

The Geneva-based European Broadcasting Union, which runs the competition, said Georgia can either rewrite the lyrics of its entry or enter another song by March 16 or it would not be allowed to take part.

The song was chosen by a public vote and jury and was supposed to be performed by female trio 3G, along with male vocalist Stephane.

Georgia's Stephane & 3G Sing "We Don't Wanna Put In" - Eurovision 2009

In fact, Georgia had initially said it would not take part in Eurovision due to political objections, but the decision was reversed in December.

Russia won the right to host the annual event after winning last year’s competition.