In a decision that has long kept Caucasus watchers on tenterhooks, Armenia has decided to sing in the world’s most anti-Armenian city, Baku, at the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest, an unbridled fest of pop and oompah-oompah.
Ever since Azerbaijan won the right to host Europe's main music powwow, the big question has been whether or not next-door Armenia would opt to send singers to the event. After the Nagorno-Karabakh war, the bloodiest of the post-Soviet world's conflicts, many Armenians and Azerbaijanis can barely stand the sight of one another.
Although Azerbaijan promised a safe, open-to-all show, safety concerns persisted in Armenia. Now the two countries have an opportunity to rise above their endless feud and deliver a positive message. Or, at the very least, to shelve the conflict for a few, brief, sequin-studded minutes.
Granted, the contest is unlikely to resolve the deep-running grievances over the still-smoking Karabakh fight. Yet with the right act, it could help break the ice.
But things could also go wrong if the two sides choose to deliver rebukes to one another through their songs. And don't think it couldn't happen. Eurovision generally tends to be highly political, but even more so in this part of the world. Neighboring Georgia’s entry for the 2009 Eurovision in Moscow got cut when the Georgians tried to poke fun at much-hated Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
In any case, with the Armenians in it, the contest is shaping up as the event of the year in the South Caucasus, and one that no war, riot or election can overshadow.
Giorgi Lomsadze is a journalist based in Tbilisi, and author of Tamada Tales.
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