Eurovision 2016 – The Eurovision Press Twitter account has just announced that the EBU is to meet with the Armenia delegation to discuss last night’s controversial flag moment. The Armenia singer, Iveta Mukuchyan, held up a flag of Nagorno Karabakh (the disputed territory between Armenia and Azerbaijan) to the camera during the broadcast. This was seen as disrespectful and re-opens the debate about flags which the EBU will have hoped had died down.
An Aftonbladet journalists asked her in the press conference about it, and she said that she “just wants peace on the borders”.
An Azeri journalist joined in at the press conference saying
“Rising the flag of an internationally recognised part of Azerbaijan is completely contrary to the international legal norms and principles, and I hope that the Eurovision committee will take serious measures on this question”
Azerbaijan entrant Samra carefully avoided being dragged into the controversy by responding that “Eurovision is a song contest and it’s all about music.”
The Eurovision Times 
I’ve always been very fond of the Armenian delegations but what happened last not was not OK.
For me it is very sad that i was really loving her song, imo this is the best Armenian entry ever but finally she managed to make me not to support her at all. Since the beginning she is acting as she is the foreign affair minister of Armenia instead of an esc singer but as Hulluna typed last night was the final drop. Worst part is after all the provocations(twitter,instagram,interviews and finally the green room) she did, she claims she wants peace LoL i guess she underrates our IQ’s alot. Anyway here also i am gonna copy paste what i have typed on another article
”The mistake was EBU let the Armenian song last year and this year we have the Ukrainian song which is similar to it and now this political attitude of the Armenian singer, what is gonna be next? Are we gonna hear WW1 and WW2 stories of every country? Are the singers gonna talk and act like the politicians instead of trying to deliver their music, is it gonna be european council instead of eurovision song contest. Anyway i don’t take any sides i am just against everyone who try to use the eurovison stage for their political aims, if the singers want to gain the appreciation of their government instead of us (esc fans) then they can simply go for their national parliaments because i don’t wanna hear or watch their ”political shows” in esc.”
I do not expect this from Armenia… Shame on them.
Shame on the EBU as well for not enforcing their flag ban on the delegations.
Could Armenia be DQ’d for this? If not this year then next?
I’m not a flag buff so I didn’t know what the flag she was waving was exactly but I wondered whether it was a poilitical message.
Their chance of winning this year is the best they’ve had in ages and they’ve ruined their chances doing this.
I think she can still win the contest because especially after last nights provocation everywhere i read that Armenian diaspora will try so hard to make her the winner. Obviously she thinks that she is the best singer with the best song and gonna take the crown on Saturday, really pitty finally she managed to loose many fans while trying to get her government’s appreciation :(( On the other hand bravo to the young Samra with her behaviour and answer she showed that she is blessed with beauty inside and outside. I wish i liked her song as much as her looks and character so i could support and vote for Azerbaijan but now my heart is with France hopefully Amir won’t disappoint me , his song is already on the Greek radios though the final performances can change anything on the big night. Lets wait and see.
Tragic…Iveta has just shot herself in the foot!!!and Armenia has once again proved they are not in Eurovision for music…Iveta will be remembered as a nasty provocateur,another Armenian state puppet not a good performer…
A true artist would have avoided this kind of incidents and never let her state use her like a tool
Samra has been called names,mocked about her performance all the time but she has already proven she is a smart,peaceful human being first…and that matters the most!!
Samra is a huge fan of the contest and has wanted to take part in it for a long time. She appreciates what it’s about so wouldn’t want to ruin her experience.
Yes,I am so happy for her❤️
I completely had it with this kind of nonsense. I can’t remember such incidents between for example Cyprus-Greece/Turkey, Greece/FYROM or Serbia/Albania. I think it is time that EBU takes a stand against this. It is not that I want to choose sides, and I am not a huge fan of Azerbaijan’s approach to the contest, but I get the feeling that it is mainly Armenia that is using the contest as a political tool.
Turkey did smth (they put international borders on Cyprus map) in 2004 but it went unnoticed…On the other hand CyBC didn’t bother complaining…
Spoiler: nothing will happen. The spineless EBU is on a kick to break into international markets recently so the sooner they bury this, the better for them.
It’s not like everyone hasn’t been ignoring esc rules habitually.
Yesterday was the first time I saw Armenia’s performance. Before anything, she struck me as cold.
I spend the whole performance thinking about Amandine. So that 3 minutes distracted me, and not for the reason I’m usually associated with. Lol
Nice to hear this. FINE THEM!!!
This disgusting nationalist, Iveta must be disqualified and the Armenian broadcaster fined a hefty amount. I do not care about the details of the controversy between the 2 countries, each has its own story to tell, but its at the very least audacious for this wrongly called “artist” to claim she wants peace and love while provoking in such a way to an event such as esc. Absolutely disgusting !
Again, not taking sides but Samra dealt with that with class and decency. The equallt disgusting azeri journalist did not though and he and Iveta turned the press conference into an absolute joke.
Fine them and kick them out.
Good, there should be adequate measures taken against both Iveta and the asshole Azeri journalist. I’m glad that at least Samra managed to handle the matter professionally.
Official EBU statement :
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1045195205572896&id=226605230765235
So a fine to be decided and DQ if they continue the provocations this year.
I don’t really know what was she thinking.Why risk causing such controversy in one of the happiest moments of your life?Anyway,i will also underline EBU’s double standards.When the Azeri public broadcaster didn’t air the Armenian performance and they interrogated people who voted for them EBU’s response was a 2000 fine.Were they also threatened to be disqualified from the contest?
Probably to get more votes from the diaspora since what she did would make them to feel more patriotic and you know what actually she got what she wanted, everywhere is full with armenian comments saying that iveta will win this ”war(!)” and they will do everything for it…
Also probably she wanted to gain the appreciation of their government, it isn’t the first time they do it . Armenia loves to give political messages through esc, first they sent a song in 2010 which was also politic and everybody knew about it and then last year’s Armenian entry which made Ukraine to make a similar song this year .Also Iveta isn’t the first Armenian esc singer who tried to bring politics into the contest, others also said political things maybe the reason is the woman who is at the head of Armenian esc delegation is extremely into politics i was following her tweeter account to get news about Armenian esc singers and songs but her account was like a politician’s account so i stopped following her so it isn’t a surprise that the singers that she chooses are also acting like politicians …
Anyway if EBU didn’t let the Armenian songs in 2010 and 2015 we wouldn’t have the Ukrainian song in 2016. Moreover if EBU doesn’t give them a punishment next year we can see many other flags(! ) and fake singers who underrate our IQs by saying their aim was Peace by showing these flags(!) This is pure provocation that even a 7 year old can understand. To your question the answer is ”yes”in the past Ebu announced that Azerbaijan will be disqualified if they repeat something like it in the future. Personally i would ban both Azerbaijan and Armenia till they learn what esc is for, it isn’t their personal arena to solve or discuss their political-historical problems.
Well,i so badly want Ukraine to win this year so we don’t agree.
The song is extremely good (it is in my top 3 ) and Susana is the best female performer but i can’t support or vote for a song like that, if the lyrics were different it would be my winner though.
Azerbaijan is an EBU darling no? I mean it shows from juries pushing them through 3 years now…
Needless to say that what Iveta did was highly nationalistic and out of place. Shame on her!
What Donnie said.
And I agree with Dimitris on the double standards.
Wrong move, Iveta. The EBU must tread carefully, because they allowed just as bad things to happen in the very recent past (see Donnie’s post). The EBU must be proactive instead of simply reacting (hastily, I might add) to what is happening. There should be no flags allowed and countries should be warned in advance of the rules they must follow to be allowed to enter (Romania 16) and on how to conduct themselves in ESC-related events (Iveta and the Azerbaijani journalist). Once that is clearly established, penalties should be applied to anyone who breaks said rules.
Think twice and early.
I almost was happy after learning that the head of Armenian delegetion and the resposable of foreign relationships Gohar Gasparyan is pregnant . Wish her best of luck in her personal life and want her to concentrate herself on her personal life but I want her to be replaced by smarter and more competent person as soon as possible! She was involved in Aram-Conchita drama making Aram to make unacceptable and not wise jocks and now she should atleast do her best to prevent next scandal. I’ms sure she encouraged. As for EBU they should fine themselves as the roots of this story is deeper and starts from the decision of some wise guys in EBU to list the flag of NKR in the same group with the flag of ISIS in the same period when nearly 100 guys /from this side/ died because of the clashes of this frozen conflict. This was the provocation that Iveta Mukuchyan swallowed under the pressure of many bloggers and journalists here. For many Eurovision-haters here it was great present to claim “Instead of wasting money on a contest where they treat us terrorists of ISIS we should spend money on our Army” etc etc … Actually for me, for an ordinary “nationalistic-nazzi” Armenian /who even managed to be on the frontline during the clashes because of his nationalistic views/, the flag of Nagorno Karabakh is like the flag of Armenia and an atribute of my country/people but Iveta would rather to concentrate herself on her entry only and avoiding quite possible scandals …. No one would notice which flag she was holding actually if the fuss wasn’t encouraged by a group. Anyways…
I’m sure that a lot of people will get into euphoria now since they have good tool to bash an artist whose entry they dislike /in some cases a country they dislike/. I’m sure that some of them are those who booed Russia in 2014, who all day long bash Putin and humman rights in Russia, who support the political song of Ukraine but at the same time who claim that ESC is about music and only within this scandal remembered about it. If Eurovision is only about songs Russian-Ukranian conflicts, humman rights and other issues shouldn’t be raised so actively by the same people.
Meanwhile EBU bans Armenian delegition /welldeserved/ and gets involved in this the scandal provoked by itself. Actually EBU should also fire the ones who made that decision about the flags! Also EBU must think about possible speculation within many examples of double standards and speculations that may be because of levelling criticism and raising awareness of the refugee crisis in Intervall Act since refugee crisis itself is a matter of political debates /I’m not taking sides in those debats/.
As for Armenia …. Armenia should withdraw from this contest, solve its problems and only after be back /never again/. It would be better if our delegation came back before the final. Being ESC fan and supporter of Armenia in ESC now I’m fed up both with the approach of the responsables of ESC project of AMPTV and double standards and hypocritity of EBU!
My last comment was supposed to be an answer to your post.
Relax, Avat. Iveta should concentrate on her performance and that is it. I remember having written that the Armenian entry would all about its live performance when I first heard it. Iveta knows what she is doing on stage and that should be enough for her.
I can’t understand how AMPTV manages to spoil my favourite Armenian 3 entries in ESC by marasmus /2009, 2014, 2016/!
They will learn sooner rather than later.
The woman who is at the head of Armenian esc delegation must directly give up. She still continues provocation, she never gives up posting political and hateful messages, it is a shame that now her profile photo is that ” Nagarno Karabakh flag” despite just yesterday EBU warned the Armenian delegation. Why she doesn’t go for the national parliament elections instead of trying to be part of a song contest, she doesn’t know what Esc is for, her aim is to use the music stage as a political arena and she chooses the songs and singers according to it . Every person and government must learn that you can’t bring your dirty politics to this contest, EBU must stop it before everything becomes even uglier, they already made the mistake by letting the Armenian songs in 2010, 2015 which encouraged Ukraine 2016, now i wonder this never-ending Azerbaijan-Armenian polemics and the ”flag” issue will bring what kind of problems next year? How many new flags we will and what kind of historical-political songs we are gonna hear in 2017! Stop it Ebu! If you still claim that it is a song contest whose aim is to unite nations please stop it!
Hi, ageanweb. Welcome.
Hello Shevek, thank you for the welcome :)