Azerbaijan’s music festival 'mixes pop and politics'
A singer with an Armenian-sounding last name performed a song written by Russian foreign ministry spokesperson at the festival hosted by the Azerbaijani president’s ex-son-in-law.
Giorgi Lomsadze
Re-Published fron Eurasianet.org
If your last name ends in “yan” and you are headed to Azerbaijan, you can be expect to be treated with suspicion. Russian singer Zara Mgoyan was the latest to find this out, as one of the star attractions of the glitzy Zhara (“Heat”) pop music festival in Baku.
The festival was designed as a celebration of the glamor and gaudiness for which the Russian pop music scene is well known. But it became yet another testimony to how the feud between Armenia and Azerbaijan, centered on the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, spreads to anyone or anything connected to either nation.
The surname suffix “yan” is not music to Azerbaijani ears, as it is associated primarily with Armenia. And so Mgoyan, unsurprisingly, was widely assumed to be an ethnic Armenian. As a result, the organizers of the festival took a lot of zhara from the Azerbaijani public for inviting an “enemy” to perform in Baku.
“Shame on those who invited an Armenian singer to Baku, and those who allowed it!,” went one Facebook post, as quoted by JamNews. “Be cursed, traitors of the motherland,” said another. Who's next, yet another asked, Kim Kardashian?
Amid the kerfuffle, the founder of the festival had to make a public service announcement. “Zara Mgoyan is not an Armenian,” said Emin Agalarov, the Azerbaijan-born Russian pop star, in a statement. Mgoyan's background, in fact, is Yazidi, he said. Many were not convinced, and some did some internet digging and found some pro-Armenian statements that Mgoyan reportedly had made in the past.
One Russia pop diva, Lolita, came to Mgoyan's defense. “It is nonsense to bar a person just because some idiot said something about the person’s ethnicity,” Lolita told reporters. “There are only four blood types and people are divided only in two categories: piece of crap and not piece of crap.”
Mgoyan herself responded to the controversy diplomatically. “I believe that music, culture, and sport know no boundaries, no nationality and festivals like Zhara are a testimony to that. This festival brings together people from various countries, of various nationalities and various faiths,” she told reporters. She also likely scored points by noting that she had paid her tributes while in Baku to the country's founding father, Heydar Aliyev.
Speaking of diplomacy, during her performance at the festival Mgoyan performed a song co-written by an unlikely collaborator: Maria Zakharova, the formidable spokesperson of the Russian Foreign Ministry.
Zakharova is better known for her no-nonsense, feisty responses to criticisms of Russian government, and for her no-holds-barred takedowns of foreign journalists. But she appears to have a softer side as a songwriter and likes to let her hair down once in a while. Her busting of some lively Russian folk dancemoves at an international summit in Sochi became an online hit.
Zakharova herself attended the festival in Baku. “It is one of the rare occasions when you can combine business and pleasure,” the glamorously attired Zakharova said in red-carpet comments to the media. She also met her Azerbaijani counterpart and the two discussed, among other things, the scourge of fake news, restrictions on free speech, and dangers to journalists – to be sure, important topics in both countries.
The main organizer, Agalarov, also brought a bit of international intrigue to the picture. He was formerly married to Leyla Aliyeva, the daughter of President Ilham Aliyev, but the two divorced in 2015.
These days, Agalarov is best known for his involvement in organizing a heavily scrutinized meeting reportedly meant to offer Donald Trump’s campaign dirt on his 2016 competitor, Hillary Clinton. Agalarov has denied the allegations and also denied offering Trump prostitutes during the 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow. Trump came to Moscow with a complement of the most beautiful women in the world, Agalarov told Vice News, so he could not have possibly offered anything better than that.
In a video for his recent single, Agalarov poked fun at his acquaintance with Trump. The clip depicts a hotel-room pillow fight among some beauty pageant contestants, enjoyed by Agalarov and a Trump lookalike – and surveilled by some sort of intelligence gatherers – along with some shady-looking document transfers. Hot, indeed.
Videos
Interview with Francis Malige, EBRD Managing Director
Armenians Commemorating 106th Anniversary of Genocide
Biden Under Pressure to Recognize Armenian Genocide - KTLA 5 News
Governance and Oversight Capacities Account for Our Bank's Robust Management System - Philip Lynch, Independent Board Member at Ameriabank
'Mr. President, It Is Now in Your Power to Right Decades of Denial' - US Congressman Adam Schiff Urges Joe Biden to Recognize Armenian Genocide
Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh in Despair After Trauma of Military Defeat - France 24
Interview with Kakhaber Kiknavelidze, an Independent Member of Ameriabank Board of Directors
Only Terrorists Keep Hostages, Putting Forward Preconditions for Their Release - Edmon Marukyan
Rep Adam Schiff Says Congress Should Recognize Artsakh
UN's Guterres Issues Global Appeal to Make 2021 'Year of Healing'
NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover Landing Animations
Azerbaijan Uses Prohibited Phosphorus Chemical Munitions - Defense Army Video
Artsakh Defense Army Units Neutralizing Azerbaijani Arms Supplies
Artsakh Defense Army Units Neutralizing Azerbaijani Drone
Nagorno-Karabakh's Status Has Been At the Heart of Our Approach - Zohrab Mnatsakanyan
Artsakh Defense Army Releases Video Featuring Damaged Azerbaijani Military Equipment
Artsakh Defense Army Units Inflicting Manpower Losses on Azerbaijan
Gas Pipeline Damaged in Azerbaijani Fire Targeting Nagorno-Karabakh's Capital
President Armen Sarkissian Meets Emmanuel Macron at Élysée Palace
Artsakh Defense Army Neutralizes Azerbaijani Military Hardware
Artsakh Defense Army Units Neutralizing Azerbaijani Military Infrastructures
President Armen Sarkissian Meets with NATO Secretary-General in Brussels
Buildings and Homes Lying in Ruins in Nagorno-Karabakh's Capital After Azerbaijani Shelling
Artsakh Defense Army's Precision Fire Gives Deadly Blow to Enemy
Artsakh Defense Army Units Destroying Azerbaijani Tank
Zohrab Mnatsakanyan: Ceasefire Does not Mandate Azerbaijan to Kill Civilians and Hit Civilian Settlements
Armenians Protest Outside Turkrish Embassy in Los Angeles
Losses in Azerbaijan's Military Featured in Defense Army Footage
Artsakh Defense Army Neutralizing Adversary's Transport Column
Turkey openly backs Azerbaijan 'far more aggressively than in the past' - ABC News on Syrian mercenaries fighting in Karabakh
Iconic Armenian Church Hit in Azerbaijani Attacks in Nagorno-Karabakh City (photos)
Artsakh Defense Army Continues High-Precision Strikes
War Situation in Karabakh on European Parliament's Agenda
Call for Urgent Action: Armenian Journalist Brings Intn'l Colleagues' Attention to Situation iin Artsakh After Azerbaijani Attacks
Turkey's Support to Syrian Mercenaries Fighting Against Artsakh: Facts About Azerbaijani Aggression
Nagorno-Karabakh's Capital Under Azerbaijani Strikes
Armenian Armed Forces Neutralize Azerbaijani Defense Positions
ArmenianTroops Destroy Azerbaijani Armored Fighting Vehicle on Frontline
There is a solid evidence that Azerbaijan has launched a thoroughly planned attack on the NKR
EU calls for Immediate End to Hostilities over Nagorno-Karabakh
- 15:20 • 24.05.21 Interview with Francis Malige, EBRD Managing Director
- 11:39 • 24.04.21 Armenians Commemorating 106th Anniversary of Genocide
- 09:40 • 23.04.21 Biden Under Pressure to Recognize Armenian Genocide - KTLA 5 News
- 15:34 • 22.04.21 Governance and Oversight Capacities Account for Our Bank's Robust Management System - Philip Lynch, Independent Board Member at Ameriabank
- 14:09 • 21.04.21 'Mr. President, It Is Now in Your Power to Right Decades of Denial' - US Congressman Adam Schiff Urges Joe Biden to Recognize Armenian Genocide
- 12:37 • 03.04.21 Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh in Despair After Trauma of Military Defeat - France 24
- 17:33 • 11.03.21 Interview with Kakhaber Kiknavelidze, an Independent Member of Ameriabank Board of Directors
- 17:57 • 26.01.21 Only Terrorists Keep Hostages, Putting Forward Preconditions for Their Release - Edmon Marukyan
- 13:33 • 22.01.21 Rep Adam Schiff Says Congress Should Recognize Artsakh
- 09:42 • 29.12.20 UN's Guterres Issues Global Appeal to Make 2021 'Year of Healing'
- 18:41 • 24.12.20 NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover Landing Animations
- 13:33 • 31.10.20 Azerbaijan Uses Prohibited Phosphorus Chemical Munitions - Defense Army Video
- 16:37 • 30.10.20 Artsakh Defense Army Units Neutralizing Azerbaijani Arms Supplies
- 11:25 • 28.10.20 Artsakh Defense Army Units Neutralizing Azerbaijani Drone
- 13:45 • 24.10.20 Nagorno-Karabakh's Status Has Been At the Heart of Our Approach - Zohrab Mnatsakanyan
- 11:51 • 24.10.20 Artsakh Defense Army Releases Video Featuring Damaged Azerbaijani Military Equipment
- 11:40 • 24.10.20 Artsakh Defense Army Units Inflicting Manpower Losses on Azerbaijan
- 10:39 • 24.10.20 Gas Pipeline Damaged in Azerbaijani Fire Targeting Nagorno-Karabakh's Capital
- 12:41 • 23.10.20 President Armen Sarkissian Meets Emmanuel Macron at Élysée Palace
- 12:16 • 23.10.20 Artsakh Defense Army Neutralizes Azerbaijani Military Hardware
- 12:02 • 22.10.20 Artsakh Defense Army Units Neutralizing Azerbaijani Military Infrastructures
- 10:35 • 22.10.20 President Armen Sarkissian Meets with NATO Secretary-General in Brussels
- 10:51 • 17.10.20 Buildings and Homes Lying in Ruins in Nagorno-Karabakh's Capital After Azerbaijani Shelling
- 15:09 • 15.10.20 Artsakh Defense Army's Precision Fire Gives Deadly Blow to Enemy
- 13:13 • 13.10.20 Artsakh Defense Army Units Destroying Azerbaijani Tank
- 12:56 • 12.10.20 Zohrab Mnatsakanyan: Ceasefire Does not Mandate Azerbaijan to Kill Civilians and Hit Civilian Settlements
- 12:23 • 12.10.20 Armenians Protest Outside Turkrish Embassy in Los Angeles
- 17:23 • 09.10.20 Losses in Azerbaijan's Military Featured in Defense Army Footage
- 15:53 • 09.10.20 Artsakh Defense Army Neutralizing Adversary's Transport Column
- 14:11 • 09.10.20 Turkey openly backs Azerbaijan 'far more aggressively than in the past' - ABC News on Syrian mercenaries fighting in Karabakh
- 15:52 • 08.10.20 Iconic Armenian Church Hit in Azerbaijani Attacks in Nagorno-Karabakh City (photos)
- 10:57 • 08.10.20 Artsakh Defense Army Continues High-Precision Strikes
- 14:24 • 07.10.20 War Situation in Karabakh on European Parliament's Agenda
- 19:31 • 05.10.20 Call for Urgent Action: Armenian Journalist Brings Intn'l Colleagues' Attention to Situation iin Artsakh After Azerbaijani Attacks
- 16:17 • 04.10.20 Turkey's Support to Syrian Mercenaries Fighting Against Artsakh: Facts About Azerbaijani Aggression
- 12:39 • 04.10.20 Nagorno-Karabakh's Capital Under Azerbaijani Strikes
- 13:49 • 03.10.20 Armenian Armed Forces Neutralize Azerbaijani Defense Positions
- 10:12 • 29.09.20 ArmenianTroops Destroy Azerbaijani Armored Fighting Vehicle on Frontline
- 23:42 • 28.09.20 There is a solid evidence that Azerbaijan has launched a thoroughly planned attack on the NKR
- 18:45 • 28.09.20 EU calls for Immediate End to Hostilities over Nagorno-Karabakh
Most popular articles Today Yesterday For a week
-
Economy 14:07 • 21/03 In 2023, the SME Loan Portfolio of Ameriabank Reported More Than 30% Growth In 2023 72% of Ameriabank’s SME clients applying for a loan within AMD 10 million received their loans online the via business.ameriabank.am platform. Notably, the share of clients onboarding online using the same platform also increased in 2023, reaching 18% vs 11% of the previous year.
-
Economy 17:01 • 22/03 Marzes remain in the focus of attention of Viva-MTS: New service center opened in Tchambarak Taking care of society, which is a core principle at Viva-MTS, has also been part of life of the Company’s staff members. Years ago, sanitary facility was built in the school with around AMD 2 million raised by the Finance and Administration Department staff.
-
Event 15:22 • 26/03 “START+”: “Kinodaran” without subscription fee, 10 GB internet, 1000 minutes and favorite apps without any limits To mention, the subscribers to “START+” tariff plan use “Kinodaran” with no subscription fee, and when using the favorite top applications, the main Internet-package is not consumed.
-
Event 10:38 • 26/03 Ucom Launches Network Modernization Efforts in Regions of Armenia With the first batch from planned shipments of this year Ucom received an up-to-date systems and radio modules from Nokia. These up-to-date modules will be utilized to modernize a portion of Ucom’s regional sites enhancing coverage in those areas and extending LTE technology.
Event
-
10:38 • 26.03.24 Ucom Launches Network Modernization Efforts in Regions of Armenia