Armenia Refuses to Sing at Eurovision

Dashing hopes for disco diplomacy with foe Azerbaijan, Armenia on March 7 pulled out of the Eurovision song contest, the European pop extravaganza to be hosted in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku this May.

No official reason has been issued yet for the move. The European Broadcasting Union, which runs Eurovision, said it was disappointed by "this unfortunate decision," which it attributed to "circumstances beyond our control."  

The Armenian performance in the world’s most anti-Armenian city had promised to be the biggest event at Eurovision -- and not for musical reasons. Armenia and Azerbaijan have been at hammers and tongs with each other ever since the 1994 cease-fire that ended their fighting over the right of the predominantly ethnic Armenian region of Nagorno Karabakh to independence from Azerbaijan.

But, amidst an arms buildup, frontline killings, and a dead-end for international talks on Karabakh, the mood in Armenia has not exactly been conducive to a sequined sing-off on enemy territory.

Earlier on, many famous Armenian singers demanded that Armenian Public Television, which oversees Eurovision matters in Armenia, withdraw from the show. The protesting singers said that the Armenians should not perform in a country where “hatred of Armenians is state policy.”

Pop music, powerful a force as it is, may have been unlikely to heal the deep scars left by the 23-year-long Karabakh conflict, but, now, we'll never know if Armenians and Azerbaijanis could have managed to put aside their differences for at least the short space of a syncopated beat.