Your trusted source

The Guardian predicts that Armenia’s entry “Face the Shadow” performed by the group Genealogy will win Eurovision song Contest 2015.

According to the article, the choice is not based on the quality of the songs (or the lack thereof), but on an average of votes each participating nation received over the past 12 years, which is then adjusted for factors that include present day geopolitics, past performance and others.

“Genealogy’s controversial ‘Face the Shadow’ references the mass murder of 1.5m Armenians by the Ottoman Empire in 1915. It was originally called ‘Don’t Deny’ – Turkey still contests that it was not a genocide, and this title was deemed too political by Eurovision organizers,” the article reads.

The Independent says that the Armenian Genocide’s centenary was marked on 24 April, 2015 and many believe that Armenia’s entry is a tribute to victims and a call for global recognition of what happened. Armenia denies that the song has a political subtext, and retitled the song to “strengthen” the themes of peace, unity and love. The lyrics remain the same.

The Foreign Policy writes that Armenia has assembled a crew of Armenian artists — one from each continent — to form a band called Genealogy. They’re reportedly all descendants of survivors of the 1915 massacre, and, according to their official Eurovision bio, are “united by the blood in their veins, which contains Armenian genetics, and by music as the universal language of the world.”

According to the article, the group also happens to fit perfectly into Armenia’s 2015 national branding effort, which has prominently featured a forget-me-not flower with five petals, each symbolizing the five continents where Genocide survivors found new homes. The symbol has been showcased on everything from jewelry, to umbrellas and ceramic dinner plates.

The song “is part of the same state-sanctioned package of commemorative symbolism,” said Rik Adriaans, an anthropologist who is researching the role of popular culture in the relations between Armenia and the Armenian diaspora at the Central European University in Budapest, Hungary, according to Foreign Policy.

The outlet also reminds that when Azerbaijan won hosting rights for the contest in 2011, the country spent, by some measures, approximately a whopping $721 million on Eurovision-related expenses, including $277 million on construction work on a new venue specifically for the contest, called Crystal Hall. That same year, Azerbaijan’s national broadcaster was fined after a European Broadcasting Union investigation found it had deliberately blurred out the number to vote for Armenia’s entry. Azerbaijanis who had voted for Armenia in the contest that year also reported being questioned by representatives from the national security ministry of Azerbaijan. In the months leading up to ESC 2012 – which was hosted by Azerbaijan – Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev had said that “the Armenians of the world” were “our main enemies.”

Related:

Uncounted votes, violation of rules: What to expect from Azerbaijan during Eurovision 2015?   

The Quietus: Eurovision 2015 entry of Armenia is Armenian Genocide victims’ descendants’ manifesto