Russia – A Russian girl punk band is one of the most discussed topics this summer. Three members of the group “Pussy Riot” have been sentenced to two years in prison for “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred and enmity.” The girls had performed in a Russian church, wearing head masks and criticizing Russian president Putin in their performance. The trial and verdict have been called politically motivated by Western politicians. A wave of sympathy from international music stars such as Sir Paul McCartney, Madonna, Sting, Bjork, The Red Hot Chili Peppers and Faith No More, voiced their support for Pussy Riot, urging the authorities to soften the punishment.
Now music producer and co-founder of Russia’s SEVER Production, Konstantin Cherepkov, has called for a Eurovision participation of the band. “Pussy Riot has become a new music phenomenon. The band has united musicians across the world under the slogan of freedom and change. Their nomination to enter Eurovision is set to affect the destiny of the punk-rock band serving as a good reason for the authorities to favor their release from jail. Bringing their prosecution to an end and their participation in Eurovision could help compensate Russia’s loss of reputation that stemmed from the case against Pussy Riot,” he explained his position.
You can vote for Pussy Riot on SEVER’s official website!
Here is their latest single:
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Source= RToday
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Sounds interesting ! At least better than some grannies offering cookies…Seriously , Russia 2012 tops my “MOST OVERRATED SONGS ” list since 2000 !
No, thank you. We had enough gimmicks from Russia to last us quite a while!
I agree… I thought politics were supposed out of politics but is that geopolitical biased? No to little Georgia anti-Putin, yes to Russia’s?
out of esc, duh…
Russia was allowed to put a big military choir on stage when they hosted the contest. EBU didn’t blink an eye. Not even by the fact that they sang “never gonna get us”.
I could not agree more.
How they will perform, through skype??
There are still 4 members out of prison…
Their crime was trespassing and hurting feelings of religious people. It is a disgrace they got 2 years of hard labor. Kudos to them for standing up agains a tyrant and despot. I doubt I would have to courage to do only a percentage of what they did. I can’t imagine what it must be to live in a dictatorship.
I see your point, w s. However, as a religious person, I would not like that watch their performance taking place in a sacred place for me at least. That being said, I know that that was the perfect excuse for Putin to get rid of them and I cannot condone what happened.
The Russian orthodox church doesn’t have clean hands. They condone and support Putin and his xenophobic, racist and homophobic agenda. The Russian orthodox church isn’t innocent in this. Russia isn’t a democracy. It is a dictatorship. And as in any dictatorship people will protest.
I know, w s. There are however cleverer ways to achieve one’s goal. These girls are wasting ammunition, so to speak, and they are not helping their cause much, imo.
I see you point but I have never understood why people who are discriminated against (or worse) by religious organisations (and fanatic religious individuals) should respect the religious people who keep degrading them … In my book, freedom of the individual and equal rights for everyone always come first. The Christian churches had their heyday, which lasted for a very long time, and looking back onto the history of Christian dominance I can only conclude that they did not exactly cover themselves in glory … to put it mildly.
P.S. I respect every individual’s religious beliefs and feelings … as long as s/he does not believe that her/his faith makes her/him superior to others or gives her/him rights others should be deprived of.
Great new online song contest taking the format of Melodifestivalen!
Lots of countries need your help!
Check us out to see how you can join in!
http://songfestivalcontest.blogspot.co.uk/
Yes Please, It would be brill, yay, Great, exam results in 20 mins
In the meantime Russia has no problem with state sanctioned hooliganism motivated by homophobic hate. Maybe it is time to kick some countries out of Eurovision. Russia, Belarus and Azerbaijan being the most obvious candidates.
And, in my opinion, Ukraine, too.
you are ridiculous
Well, I absolutely sympathise with their protest against Putin, but they have already got lots of media attention.
Moreover I am not happy with entries that are about to turn it into the Eurovision Stunt Contest (like for instance Lithuania 2006 or Russia 2012). I want it to be about music and songs.
NOOOOOO!!!!!!!!
Take part in the Song Festival and join the fun! Many countries are available.
http://songfestivalcontest.blogspot.co.uk/
Why not?With a nice song they could be an interesting choice.However,i don’t see how is that possible with their current administration.
PS: I find horrendous the fact that 3 of their members were sentenced to 2 years imprisonment!
I like this one. Punk as punk should be.
Good grief. Pussy Riots in ESC! Well, as long as they don’t have group sex on stage or starting to throw living cats all around… But on the other hand, we have seen so much gimmicks during the last years, so this would probably be a natural development.
I really like Pussy Riot’s music and totally support their protest against all the evil and injustice Mr Putin and his underlings represent (and the Orthodox church supports). Nevertheless, I would not like to see the band representing Russia in ESC because ESC is supposed to be about music. Just like the Babushki this year (but for totally different reasons of course) Pussy Riot would get a lot of media attention and support because of factors totally unrelated to music. I firmly believe that ESC would be the wrong stage to voice protest against the scandalous show trial that took place in Moscow. The Pussy Riot affair is a political affair, and thus the issue should be addressed on the level of international politics too. However, next to nothing will happen because of the Russian gas which allows Russia to get away with almost everything in Europe. Belarus, which is not important for the EU, is a totally different affair though. We can be very strict with them and play this role our politicians enjoy playing so much on global stages, the role of the good guys. Double standards if you ask me …
Babushki about music??!! Babushki to me where of a comedy entry, it lacked currency it was far from contemporary, i’d like to see other countries move with the times in their entries like Sweden, Ukraine and Bulgaria did this year.
This will not happen for the following reasons:
1) Participating channels wouldn’t allow so openly anti-Putin band to take part. Both Channel 1 and RTR are very pro-Putin.
2) Pussy Riot are very political and this is not allowed by EBU.
3) They never perform in regular venues – their shows have to be illegal, usually done on the streets and public places (such as church).
4) Eurovision is mostly associated with pop culture and Pussy Riot stand against it.
5) And finally, their music talents don’t match up to their political talents.
I agree with all of the points you have raised except the last one, I reckon Pussy Riot have a lot more talent and creativity than many former Eurovision participants, who I am to kind to list now
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That’s true, they are in fact one of the best punk bands in the world because they stay true to the genre and don’t try to be bland clean-cut performers who sing nonsense.
Yes, will add more fun to the Russian NF and the “omg rigged by Putin” blabling if they don’t win it lol
I find it all kind of sick quite frankly, like Pussy Riot get out of jail after 2 years and suddenly this producer will whisk them to fame and fortune in ESC, like as if the Putin regime would ever let represent Russia, never mind be in some kind of national final, anything to cash in on them, such is Russia these days, we should continue to fight for Pussy Riot in these following 2 years not be concerned about some tacky producer waiting for them to get out of jail in 2013, what is the world coming to?!
looks as if Russia yet again plans to take the piss out of eurovision by proving to countries like the UK, Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Malta and Belgium they can qualify to the final and still get good placings when they send shit!
I think Russia should always send high quality stuff if they are garnteed a placing in the final year after year due to unfair political/block voting, then at least it doesnt piss off other countries who send worthy finalist entries and never reach the final! I’d love Russia to send a ballad all in their national language similar to Belarus JESC 2011 entry, which has to be the best entry ever sent from Belarus to any Eurovision event, the russian langauge sounds so beautiful in ballads especialy when sung by female vocalists!
Hey everyone! Come and join my online contest, where you can participate as a country, compete against other nations, votes for your favourites and see if you can become victorious!
http://eurosongmusiccontest.blogspot.co.uk/
Under the current tragic situation in Russia that would be impossible. Honestly the only reason Russia is tolerated by the west with such an obviously oppressive regime is purely financial..as always in this world.
As much as I try to respect everyone’s religious beliefs to me religion is throughout history the main institution that spreads hate and oppression and that is as well the case in Russia..
For god’s sake, these people are taking legal action against Madonna for making pro LGBT statements in her concert !
Anyway, a bold political statement is something I do support but preferably not in esc. I can only wish for the members of the band to receive some justice (highly unlikely..)
OK, you are in hate mode again. Nobody will take your comments seriously …
Is that really necessary, Marko?
M – Right By My Side
I find the greeks greedy people lol they should have accpeted they needed to put hosterity mesuares in place, they couldnt be living in a country where you could get free public transport and stuff, times have changed, the Germans and French should have put their foot down and said they where not having any of their money, they are selfish too becuase they want the rest of europe to fall down with them economically, the greeks should give back every euro/penny they stole from the Germans and the French!
It would be better for everyone around here to just ignore him once again and leave him alone in his misery…
why are they thinking of withdrawal, Serbia is probably one of the most strongest X-Yugoslavic countries in the contest followed by Bosnia & Hezergovina, have they run out of ideas of what to send or something, i hope not
but then i guees if they do withdraw it will give other countries in ESC a chance to shine, as yugoslavic block will be weakend.
Dear Scott Hirst,
Judging from what you write in your comment above, it’s more than obvious that you don’t have the slightest clue on what is going on in Europe, and in Greece in particular, these days, If this site was about politics, be sure that you would get the answer that you deserve. Such a shame.
Dear Oxi, I don’t even know if this comment from mr Scott Hirst deserve any answer at all.We should just ignore him IMO.