Russia – The Buranovskiye Babushki were the runners-up of the Eurovision Song Contest this year in Baku. The grandmothers participated in the competition to raise money in order to rebuilt the church of their little village Buranovo, which had been destroyed during Communism. Apart from getting the new church, the village will profit from the Eurovision participation of the grandmothers in more ways than imagined.
According to the New York Times, the local government, in appreciation of their second place, is building a water pipeline, installing streetlights and high-speed Internet for the village’s only school and laying new gravel on the main roads. “God forgot this place before the grannies sang,” Aleksandr Malkov one of the residents of Buranovo told the newspaper.
The Udmurt region in Russia (c) wikipedia
Olga Tyurikova, who fed one of the grandmother’s chicken when she was away in Baku, added: “If it weren’t for the babushki, nobody would ever have noticed there was no water in Buranovo.” Most of the village has never had running water. In recent years more and more young people have moved to the cities and Buranovo had been in decline. Now school classes from the surrounding regions send their students on day trips to visit the village’s new superstars.
“I had a vision that something would change in our village,” babushka Alevtina Begisheva told the New York Times. “But I never imagined we would return our church in this way.”
Source= New York Times
Related articles
- Buranovo Journal: Grandmothers of Buranovo Give Russian Village New Life (nytimes.com)
- Russian grannies rock Eurovision (thehindu.com)
- “Buranovskie Babushki” Wow Journalists in Baku (02varvara.wordpress.com)
So they wanted money to save the church while there was no running water in part of the village? sure, that’s top priority!
For old ladies god is more important than clean water ^^ that’s the way it is
that’s sad and sick if that’s true :p
I think religious peole are happier than clean people…
cant tell im neither :p
??? you are neither clean nor religious?
nope!
well, you’reFrench.. so that explains both ^^
Looking back in history, I don’t think this is true. If religious people are happier, why do they have to criticise everyone else (or even worse) all the time …??? If you think that you are in possession of the only truth, the world naturally becomes a battlefield, and that does not make anyone except some fundamentalists happy. Personally, I definitely prefer clean people.
Yeah you are right… I meant more like seeing a sense in life.. I think that really helps. I struggle with that a lot. I think if I were religious (I just can’t be) it would be easier to answer the big questions. That’s what I meant…
But why ask the big questions at all? We come, we go … that’s all. No mysteries there imo. quite the contrary, the simplest thing possible if we do not start asking those big questions that won’t get us anywhere, except into a monastery perhaps …
As some one who believes in Jesus and all that stuff I can understand how the Grannies would prioritise their faith. They more than likely believe this is there source of hope in life, and from hope can come more than running water.
Also I am persuming they believe that God is somone who will provide for them what they need at all times and just want to give him thanks to him
for it. I guess they believe that it keeps their community on the right side of life to prioritise God.
I can understand though how to the unbelievers ears this sound absolutely stupid.
Well done Grannies your God has blessed you. Lets not dishonour their achievment through a religous disagreement.
Wow. Even if I didn’t like their entry much at all, I’m very glad that this has happened that things could be made even a little bit better in their village.
GREAT! :-**
hahahhahahahhaha how pathetic site! Moderator deleted option of thumbs up and downs, because he and minority of his “slaves” always have around 15 minuses and 1-2 pluses!! hahahahahhahaha ROFLMAOI!!! xD PATHETIC! This won’t change anything, your comments will always remain with THUMBS DOWN!
Have you nibbled those delusional hate drugs again? Pathetic!
I didn’t know that facts are hate! I just say facts!
Bye!
1. I think you should check your PC or browser, the thumbs are up and running. noone changed anything.. check your facts, before you insult anyone…
2. Show me one of my comments that has -15 thumbs´, if you love facts that much…
3. You’re not an ESC fan anymore, remember…why do you care whether there are thumbs or not on a minor, stupid, little esc site ?
Haha served! Right by My Side… You are the one who is pathetic… just leave people alone and get a life, a pet or a boyfriend… drama queen
I don’t want to be a negative guy begrudging all these new facilities they recieve, but…
Isn’t some of the magic around Buranovo disappearing with this? What most people find interesting with these people is that they are living some sort of amish life without any modern technology or something like that, and that they have managed to do that for such a long time. But on the other hand, since “Party for everybody” and most of the songs from the Babushki repertoire already is quite modern, this might not make such a big difference.
I think, there are still many Villages like Buranovo in Russia;)
I’d like to believe they went to ESC in good faith and will go back to their previous lives but that’s not true, they were manipulated by cash-loving moguls I guess, and won’t ever have a normal like again (what’s rest of their lives), I personally find that kind of sad…
Good for them.I read the article earlier.I hope things will get better for bigger parts of rural Russia though.
So it had to be the 2nd place of the grannies that would bring basic structural improvements in Buranovo ? That’s sad to begin with but at least something good was brought to these people by the grannies’ success. Russia has many issues to deal with in terms of democracy primarily anyway..
If they are happy with their new church I am also happy… the money went on their village instead of somewhere, like these charity news