MTV Concert Rocks Georgia with a Single Star

What was advertised as a mega-MTV concert in the Georgian Black Sea town of Batumi featured Enrique Iglesias and . . . .well, Enrique Iglesias.

Not to say that this is not enough for the Spanish pop star’s cheek-scratching fans in the region, but Iglesias-plus-several-local-celebs did not look quite what the Georgian government originally signed up for.

“[MTV Live Georgia] will feature several of the world's top musical acts and will be heavily promoted and broadcast around the world (with a concentration on Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Americas, Central Asia, and many more) to MTV's one billion plus dedicated viewers via its television stations, as well as Internet and cellular platforms,” reads a press release issued by Georgian Prime Minister Nika Gilauri's office when the deal with MTV was made.    
 

In pre-concert remarks to EurasiaNet.org, Maia Sidamonidze, chairwoman of Georgian National Tourism Agency, nonetheless termed the show "quite a good campaign" for attracting tourists to Georgia. "We always try to have a campaign that matches our capabilities," Sidamonidze said, indicating that a larger event "and more people" could have posed accommodation problems.

Concerts by musical sensations and, sometimes, has-beens have long been seen by Tbilisi as a way to boost Georgia's tourism industry, a potential economic lifeline. They also help the government argue that Georgia now is a place where visitors may run into celebrities like Sharon Stone or Sting rather than Russian tanks.

And, indeed, despite the August 2 event's relatively modest scale, reportedly about 8,000 fans from all over the South Caucasus descended on Batumi to baila with Enrique. But was it enough?

The Georgian government is likely to say it was. Those fans, who, unlike one very happy Georgian girl, did not get to mount on stage for a personal song and moment with the pop star, got to shake hands and take pictures with another star of the night . . . Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili.