We did it again! After spending a long time at the very respectable 5th place, we were pushed down by last minute votes for close competitors. Once again, we had the 12 points from Turkey. Speculation begins now! I wonder, are these votes genuine? Can we assume from this that the population of Turkey would choose Armenia to win Eurovision over any of the other participating countries? Strange, if you ask me.

The winners, Serbia, were entering as an independent nation for the first time. Their song was in their own language, and very touching.Congratulations to Serbia, and well done to Hayko for a virtually perfect rendition of the song.

This means Armenia is qualified to enter straight into the final once again.

It’s been a while since I talked about Entertainment ( the original reason I joined Blogrel!) it seems there are always more important things happening.

The Armenian Public TV has started a new project called “2 Stars” It basically involves an established “star” the likes of Nune, Sirusho, and Aida Sargsyan…singing with “non singers” but celebrities in other fields ..such as acting, tv presenting, and even the Armenian Marxist party leader is taking part! It’s actually a pretty good show, the crazy singer Shprot, well known for her crazy themes and recent almost nakedness in her latest music video “I am your honey…come and eat me…”, decided to dress as a gothic rockstar and perform in front of a jury. Each week one pair of “stars” gets voted off.

Shushan Petrosyan makes an excellent host of this show, and although most of the singers are pretty good…some of them themselves are unable to perform well live, thats before they’ve even started teaching their partner! At least shows like this encourage a stray away from Armenia’s endemic habit of lipsyncing on tv shows. Well done to the public tv for pulling this off properly. Each day there are 5 minute “bulletins” about how the rehearsals are going and such like. Tonights show sees the pairs singing about their favourite cities, together with Armenia’s live Jazz Band!

It’s on tonight, at 21.25 Yerevan time!

In other news, Armen Gondrachyan ( or Armenchik) as he is well known, has released his long awaited album “Havatam Te Che”, again he has pulled off an upbeat treat for his fans, despite some people claiming his music is “rabiz” there are a lot of singers that could learn from his very refined vocal skills. This guy never performs badly. There is also an interesting shift taking place, traditionally, artists like Armen have been “blacklisted” from Armenian tv, as they left Armenia, and sing “rabiz”. Whilst Armen may in the past have been guilty have throwing a few “moghams” into his music, nowadays it is a lot less prominent. He has also written for Christine Pepelyan, her “che che che” song, and for the first time in years he was allowed to perform live on public tv as part of a comedy show. The other artists were not too happy, especially Alla Levonyan, who evidently seemed guilty for clapping to such “low brow” music…he got people dancing though. Good on the guy .

Armenia’s Eurovision entry is Hayko, singing “Anytime You Need”. Despite the fact that many feel this was a pre meditated decision, and Hayko wouldn’t have wasted his time writing the song, and having a video pre filmed, if he didnt know he would win , the song is nevertheless quite catchy. It has recieved mix reviews so far, with many claiming ( rightly so) that generally, ballads do not win the contest. Hayko promised he wouldn’t “betray” his style… There we are then.

Thats all for now , I’m out

The BBC will be airing Screamers on Thursday night about System of a Down and their efforts to increase awareness of the Genocide.

Film maker Garapedian goes on tour with the hugely successful heavy metal band System of a Down, three of whom are of Armenian descent. Follow them on their quest to rock their fans - and to raise awareness of the Armenian massacre of 1915.

You can view the Screamers website here.

Wednesday night we ended up watching American Idol’s L.A. auditions on the Fox network. Last night’s program finally televised an Armenian American from Southern California. I really don’t have the nerve to describe what I saw as this performance was beyond anything I have ever seen on national television. Check out Martik Manoukian’s unusual American Idol audition now posted on YouTube. Let us know what you think. Hey, good performance or bad, Martik was fresh and entertaining.

Glendale, CA: Local Armenian-Diasporian (community firebrand) morning-talk-show host Stepan Partamian ceased his long time running “Pari Louse” program today, as he will be working on other pressing endeavors.

Since 2000, the Armenian Arts organization has been a pioneer in introducing open dialogue through the airwaves. The Armenian Arts program, airing on local Armenian television in Los Angeles, is a talk show with a twist. Featuring host Stepan Partamian, the show continues to raise eyebrows by tackling difficult, often taboo topics relating to Armenian identity, culture, politics, history and religion. Not surprisingly, the show has made an enormous number of enemies – always a good sign – even if most have grown fond of the program and now count themselves among its most avid supporters, even encouraging their families to watch the program. The show has also won accolades from the get-go: thanks to its brutal honesty and genuine dedication to positive change, it has found resonance with an Armenian public thirsting for frank, no-nonsense discussion of current affairs. These programs aired live on Horizon TV

From what I comprehend, during the next couple years, Stepan will be on a self-styled “Armenian Identity” journey. He will be traveling across the United States, Europe and subsequently conclude in the Republic of Armenia in 2008, searching, exploring and confronting Armenian issues, places, and people that influence this “Armenian Identity” inquiry. I guess Stepan is going to somehow bring these identities together and present them to us. It will be very interesting journey to follow to say the least, as he is an particularly controversial media personality. Personally, I feel somewhat poignant that this show ended, as Stepan is probably the most sincere yet intellectually progressive local Armenian-Diaspora public figure out there (or at least in Sunny Southern California).

Another tragic loss for Armenian music occured yesterday when well known entertainer, singer and songwriter Aram Asatryan passed away from a heart attack.

Aram is a household name in all familes and was awarded the title of “Gusan” a number of years ago by the then Culture Ministry of Armenia. Armenian media generally shunned him of late due to him being labelled ” rabiz ” singer. However, he continues to be one of the most popular Armenian singers throughout the world. He moved to Glendale in the 90’s and worked there before returning to Armenia very recently.

Aram was at a family gathering in the village of Oshakan when he suffered a heart attack, he was unable to survive the incident. I really hope Armenian media pays attention to this loss, as regardless of taste, he has entertained Armenians for many years - and some label his music as rabiz, whilst this may have sometimes been true, Aram had a passion for entertaining that lacks in so many artists in Armenia today.

This news comes just 1 month after Armenia lost another popular artist, young singer Varduhi Vardanyan, in a tragic car accident.

A quick roundabout of entertainment news for this fortnight…

Firstly it’s been an interesting week for me. Together with the new 4 piece RnB act, HAYQ, we have developed the first online release of an Armenian single - it’s the infamous “Qami Pchi” and you can get it from www.starmenia.eu which is a new entertainment news portal I have set up. You simply sign up, pay by paypal and a link to download the track is sent to you. Simple!

The group are also planning on a new release but its as yet unconfirmed but I will update you as soon as anything new is clear.- but the group are still topping the Armenian charts with the song.

On June 20th, the world renowned Vienna Boys Choir will be giving a one off performance in Yerevan, at Aram Khatchatrian concert hall. I am not a confessed fan of choral music but I am aware of this choir because we used to sell a lot of their CD’s at a store where I once worked.

Also three major Armenian popstars Shushan Petrosyan, Hasmik Karapetyan and Tigran Petrosyan will be touring Syria between 14th and 21st of June. I would urge Armenians in Syria to go and experience some of Armenia’s best pop music offerings.

Other than this, it’s been a relatively quiet week in showbiz…but the next time I report from this I’ll be in Yerevan, so hopefully we’ll get some photos

I know some people don’t agree with a fuss being made of this, but out of 25 countries, and the odds of bookmakers at 66/1 , Armenia ( in true style ) was picked first to perform, ( no one has ever qualified from opening) and then just as there was one of the 10 countries left to reveal, Armenia was revealed - Cyprus, Poland, and other favourites didn’t qualify.

That’s all I’ll say here, visit www.andreforarmenia.com for more

All I can say is I’m really, really happy right now.

For a look at pop culture, I’d like to draw your attention to the launch of a new website. I created this website a couple of weeks ago, but due to the Armavia tragedy I did not feel it right to launch it.

However, with just a week left until the competition it’s important that Armenians in the diaspora recognise that we can vote for Andre in our first ever Eurovision entry. The debates, disagreements are too late, let’s send our best wishes for Andre and hope for the best!

In the site you can get all the latest news about our entry, as well as pictures, and if you apply early, you can get free badges, and posters to put up around your place of work, home, or anywhere! This site is also going to be featured in upcoming episodes of Haylur on H1. So I will keep you posted.

visit www.andreforarmenia.com !

Pop Culture Roundup:

A new DVD and CD album is released by Zaruhi Babian, Its a recording of her very successful concert in Yereva. You can purchase it at www.armenianmusiccenter.am

A new film “Arahet” is being shown in Moskva Cinema in Yerevan. It’s the story of a Yerevantsi (Played by Harutyun Movsisyan) who moves to Los Angeles, and the trials of his journey. It really does look quite good. It’s produced in conjunction with Hayfilm. If anyone gets to see it , please email.

RnB fever has hit Yerevan, a new song, released by the group H.A.Y.Q. hit screens this week. It features a group of youths, including the Black Armenian singer Hrant, that we mentioned a few months back. We await new work from this group. I’ll get a sample of the track available soon.

H1 Public TV Launches a new TV show at 22.10 Yerevan time. It’s an Armenian version of the popular TV show “Family Feud”, whereby public surveys give answers to questions, and partipants guess the outcomes. It’s hosted by Hrant Tokhadyan.

I had a quick search for Armenia on Ebay, and look what I found: It’s a CD of the Promo release of Armenia’s Eurovision Entry “Without Your Love”. I really wanted this CD, and it’s not being sold, it’s just a CD thats given free at press conferences etc. This makes it quite rare..

2 days ago it was bidding at £8 ( about $15) …now, almost £80 … ($160!) with 5 days left, so it will almost definitely go up … I can’t believe this, and there are still 5 days left! I guess as Armenia’s first entry there are some collectors who are going mad for this, you can see the H1 logo in the corner. It’s times like these I wish I had connections in the State TV!

Quick post to inform you guys that the lyrics for Armenia’s Eurovision entry have been released, and I’m quite dissappointed that no one has even checked the grammar before this song goes onto a world stage:
CHORUS:
What I say, what I hide
Without your love?
What I have in my mind
Without your love?

Leaving out the word “will” makes the sentences senseless. Nevertheless, lets hope the music makes up for this. Find out more HERE.

The Armenian Navy band won second place in their category in the BBC’s world music awards today. The winners have just been announced. Although they are also nominated for the audience choice award, not released until April.

Hi everyone. After numerous computer issues and no internet connection i’ve managed to get online from here in Sweden and I’m going to try and give you guys an update of whats been happening in the world of Armenian showbiz lately…

So it looks like we’re definitely in the Eurovision song contest this year..and Andre ( who was voted best male singer of 2005 ) will be representing us with a song called “Without Your Love” sung in English, and written by Armen Martirosian - a well known composer and conductor of Jazz orchestra if I’m not mistaken.

This is a huge step for Armenia, as not only has it’s tv network fulfilled broadcasting rules implied by the EBU , it has also, along with Georgia, redefined the broadcasting area of “Europe” which used to exclude Armenia and Georgia, classing them as Asia. Now they are European, or so it seems! The EBU says it has no further plans for expansion, so , we did good!

The song is premiered on H1 on the 15th of March. The world is talking about it too here.

H1 also has an official website. HERE

In other news: I complained a few months ago about a lack of the commercial talent shows in Armenia..Well it seems Shant TV company has surprised everyone again and bought rights to the to the british show “Pop Idol” and renamed it “Hay Superstar”. The producer is Erik Antaranyan, who used to host Armenia’s first ever music show “Rubikon” with Iza in 1999, obviously he’s got a bit more cash now….He claims it wont be corrupt and all will be fair..but doenst everyone.

I’m hoping it’ll also be shown on the public tv h1 via satellite, as last time Shant bought “Millionaire” H1 also used to show it. I’ll update when I’ve had confirmation from the TV.

This past month has also seen a trend in artists throwing “launch parties” for their new CD’s. Arsen Safaryan, and Hasmik Karapetian(a greatest hits cd) both had them this week, sponsored by a newly formed “Armenian Music Centre” which is specialising in producing high quality CD’s which are really nice to own. This may not sound like a big deal, but until now, CD’s produced in Armenia were very amateur in terms of packaging and design etc. According to a friend who was at Hasmik’s party, lots of “stars” had turned up, she was giving out free posters, but the fans were mainly 15-16 year old girls.

Thats all for now! I really hope to be up and running again when I return to London. For those of you who are waiting for the report from the music awards: rest assured its ready, and has been for a while, I will probably link to it rather than post on here.

This may be acclaimed as the weirdest item to be posted on Blogrel, but here it comes, through RIA-Novosti:

The Jackson Five to set foot in Armenia

YEREVAN, February 6 (RIA Novosti) - One of the biggest American phenomena in pop music during the early 1970s, The Jackson Five, is planning to build an entertainment center in the Armenian capital of Yerevan, the group’s bass player said Monday. Jermaine Jackson, an older brother of “King of Pop” Michael Jackson, said the center would consist of a hotel, a restaurant or cafe and the Jackson 5 television company.

The musician, who is currently visiting Armenia, did not reveal the estimated cost of the project, but added that after the center was completed, the rest of the band would probably come to Yerevan to hold a concert.
Grigor Seropyan, an American businessman and the organizer of Jackson’s visit to Armenia, said the main goal of the new entertainment center was to attract foreign musicians, so that they would tell the world about Armenia and its culture.

Pop sensation The Jackson Five - brothers Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon and Michael - was formed by their father Joe in 1966 in Gary, Indiana. Michael Jackson, the youngest in the band, was the lead singer who propelled the group to the peak of popularity in 1972 during a tour in Britain.

Note to all Armenian parents: this means curfew for your kids!

It isn’t just us talking about Andre.

Check out the Eurovision blog!

I love hip-hop. I love Armenian-stuff.

But I never thought that those two worlds would collide. Until now.

Sam, one of our readers, has a new blog: Who Knew Armenians Could Rap?

She does reviews of Armenian hip-hop artists and some great commentary.

The reason why I am making this blog is because when I was listening to couple of songs by Armenian rappers it was evident that it is very tough to get information about any of them online. So now, doing my research I’ll be able to get up to date information on the rappers that most of you love to hate because “Shat en sevakani nman iranc pahum.”

I would also like to add that Sam is a female Armenian rapper! Go Sam!

So here it is, according to Armenian Public TV company, Andre will be representing Armenia at Eurovision.

I’m not happy about this for a number of reasons :
1. There was meant to be an internet contest, where the winner would be voted by Armenia itself.
2. Andre’s english is poor, and I don’t think we stand much chance.

Nevertheless, we must support!

Family Guy is a cartoon for adults. I don’t watch it regularly, but it seems to be quite funny and popular both in the US and the UK.

Today I read on a blog that Armenia banned it. Wikipedia confirmed it.

Due to the controversies within the show many nations have banned Family Guy, including Armenia, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Iran, Thailand, Belarus, South Africa, Egypt, Philippines, Serbia and Montenegro, Vietnam, Taiwan, People’s Republic of China (PRC), Albania, and South Korea. From blog.

This is because of certain insults or jokes against the countries listed that Family Guy has made. But the show nowadays is leaked in the Philippines on cable and some viewers there loved the show even though they aren’t aware of the show’s “insults” to the country, which appears to be frequented in the series. Though the cable program there doesn’t broadcast from the Philippines, but broadcasts from Hong Kong which the area itself didn’t ban the series. A similar leakage on cable networks have been shown in Egypt, Vietnam, and Thailand. From Wikipedia.

Anyone have any more info on this? I did a google search but couldn’t find anything.

Earlier this week it was announced that the Armenian Meri Voskanian was picked for the Eurovision Song Contest. This young woman was a contestant on Germany’s Pop Idol program, as I understand it.

But as they put it in the original article, “German tabloid Bild… The newspaper, not always noted for its accuracy, reported…”

Today, a follow up came up that the story was untrue. Another story followed from another source.

The Public Television Company of Armenia has been forced to rush through an announcement about how it will select its song after the German tabloid Bild reported that the job of singing for the country had already gone to talent show reject Meri Voskanian.

So, hopefully there will be a fair contest to decide who will represent Armenia at this, its first year, at Eurovision.

You may like ‘em, you may not, but either way, the Armenian Navy Band is up for a BBC World Music Award right now. You can vote online if you like.

Just came across this and thought I’d share…

Liz lives in Los Angeles. She goes to grad school, goes to work, goes to concerts, and goes to Amoeba Records. In between she writes stories for magazines like Razorcake and Punk Planet. To LA clubgoers she’s DJ Liz O., beatmatcher extraordinaire; to NYC internet-readers she’s the brains behind the People’s Dance Party. She eats poseurs for breakfast, washing them down with icy-cold vodka tonics.

You are Armenian and proud. What are some things I should know about Armenian history and tradition?
Armenia is both a very old and very new nation. Technically, it has only been a country for fifteen years or so, but the history of the people extends back to Biblical ages, or something like that. I’m no authority and I’ve never been to Armenia, but I can tell you that the food is some of the best you’ll ever taste. Food varies by region and I suggest the Turkish Armenian cuisine, which my family makes. It’s really similar to Greek food. I don’t suggest drinking Tahn, which is a yogurt drink, because it is nasty. You should also note that yogurt is a traditional Armenian food, as is the fruit roll. I really wish my grandma still made fruit roll, but the apricot rolls at Armenian stores in LA are mighty tasty. Also, Mounds and Almond Joy were invented by an Armenian. Alvin and the Chipmunks was created by an Armenian and even Captain Kangaroo was, you guessed it, an Armenian. We’re really awesome people, even if there are some who will make cracks at the expense of yours truly for not speaking the language properly. Whatever, aberjon.