InternationalInga & Anush to represent Armenia at the Eurovision 2009 Song Contest with “Jan Jan”
Published: Thursday February 19, 2009
Sisters Inga and Anush Arshakyan performing at the Karen Demirchyan Sport and Concert Complex. Photolure
Yerevan - Backstage at the Karen Demirchyan Sport and Concert Complex last Saturday night, it was all nerves, vocal exercises, and make-up. The 21 finalists vying for the top spot to represent Armenia in Moscow, at the Eurovision 2009 Song Contest, were getting ready for the concert that could potentially boost their careers to the international scene.
Armenia has been participating in Eurovision since 2006, but this was the first year that so many finalists were considered. They represented a broad range of genres from rock (The Bambir, Dorians) to Armenian hip hop (Davo), and everything in between.
Early favorites among this year's finalists included Shprot, a bubbly blonde pop singer who pulled off a risqué half-man/half-woman act [see last week's Arts & Culture section for a profile], Mher, who, hailing from Moscow, has a growing fan base in Armenia and in the large diaspora community in Russia, and Inga & Anush, a duo of sisters with beautiful voices and a funky, modern twist on traditional Armenian folk music.
In the end, it was Inga & Anush who took it with their surprisingly pop-inspired song, "Jan Jan." "It's a style that we call folk pop," said an ecstatic Anush after the show, "And you'll notice that most successful artists everywhere in the world are being noticed and creating hits with fusion styles."
Though Inga & Anush had not revealed their song before Saturday night's performance, word on the street (and all over youtube.com) was that the song they had selected was "Gutan," a strong folk rock song with an edgy video. Inga even hinted at a press conference a few days before the concert that their main focus lately had been experimenting with folk rock. But in the end, probably since Eurovision is a mainly pop-based competition, "Jan, Jan," the catchier option with a combination of English and Armenian lyrics, won out. "We are not betraying our roots. We are staying true to our style and growing in our musical experimentation," said Anush.
Although Inga & Anush were clearly an audience favorite, there were a lot of questions and speculation regarding how exactly the winner was chosen. The idea was that the winner would be selected through a combination of audience votes via text messaging, and a panel of judges, each weighted equally. But it was disappointing that the identity of the judges was never revealed, and it wasn't quite clear how audience votes and the judges' evaluations could be weighed on the same scale.
Mher, whose ultra-catchy song, "I Love You" (bound to be a club favorite this summer in Armenia and Russia) came in second, was clearly disappointed but gracious after the show. Asked if he thought the result was fair, he responded, "To be honest, I don't know what the breakdown was between audience votes and the jury. They don't tell us that. And I know a lot of people had trouble getting their text messages through.... But I should hope that everything was conducted in a fair and just fashion. What's important is that Inga & Anush represent us well at Eurovision. I like their song and I wish them well."
The Eurovision Song Contest is a tradition that is over 50 years old, and every year, its popularity seems to be growing around the world. It is broadcast not only in Europe, but everywhere from the United States to Hong Kong. Since 2006, it is even broadcast online. Eurovision is one of the most-watched non-sporting events in the world, with audience figures in recent years quoted as anything between 100 million and 600 million internationally. Last year, Armenia was represented by Sirusho, whose song, "Qele, Qele" came in fourth place and was subsequently a huge hit, blared all through the summer on radio stations throughout Europe.
Best of luck to Inga & Anush at Eurovision 2009! Watch for it in May.
