Word: contestant
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Israel - where conflict has become a way of life - artistic expression sometimes still manages to transcend even the most brutal realities. Nothing illustrates this better than "There Must Be Another Way," the song the Israeli public has chosen as this year's entry to the Eurovision Song Contest in Moscow...
Eurovision, which most famously gave the world ABBA, is a much-anticipated annual pop music competition with contestants representing countries from Iceland to Turkey, from Morocco to Israel. No one takes the contest more seriously than the Russians. Last year, for example, they sneered when Ireland's representative in the Eurovision finals was a hand puppet named Dustin the Turkey. Russia's own contestant was Dima Bilan, a star so established that a BBC commentator sniped that it was as if Britain had sent Amy Winehouse to the competition (well, if she was allowed to travel). Bilan...
...walkup to the competiton already has spawned several controversies for organizers and politicians to deal with. Russia's large contingent of gay Eurovision fans is feuding with Yuri Luzhkov, Moscow's notoriously homophobic mayor. Russian gay rights groups are threatening to schedule a parade during the contest, despite being warned not to by Luzhkov. If the march does take place, it will most likely be met with violence and arrests, which have taken place every time a gay rights march is held in Russia...
...Wanna Put In" by Stephane and 3G, reflected the country's sentiments about the war, with a not-so subtle reference to Putin. The song won by a large majority in Georgia, but was banned by Eurovision's multinational panel of judges this week for violating the contest's prohibition of songs with overtly political content...
Prikhodo is also taking potshots from Panaiotov, who holds a Ukrainian passport and tried out for both the Russian and Ukrainian Eurovision spots (he came in second in Ukraine and was disqualified from the Russian contest for "not being patriotic enough"). "The fact that she won is a farce," he says. "I have nothing against her personally, but her performance is nothing to applaud." He says he won't be cheering for either Ukraine or Russia. "I will be voting for Norway. Their entrant, Alexander Rybak, is phenomenal. If talent matters at all in this contest, then he will definitely...