The title of the Reuters article “Azerbaijan rights row drowns out Eurovision Song Contest”, summarizes worldwide media coverage of Eurovision 2012. Indeed, the issue of human rights have overshadowed the contest itself in some ways. Every day, for the past couple of weeks, we saw an article after article, a documentary after documentary, a statement after statement exposing and condemning repression, injustice and corruption in Azerbaijan.
But it all came a full circle when the only contestant who openly defended rights and freedoms of Azerbaijani people, speaking out on TV interviews and attending meetings with local civil rights activists, became the contest’s winner. After her resounding victory, when asked about her winning composition “Euphoria”, she said that its meaning was “Freedom”. [Azeri Report]
The only Eurovision contestant who openly defended rights and freedoms of Azerbaijani people, speaking out on TV interviews and attending meetings with local civil rights activists, became the contest’s winner. After her resounding victory, when asked about her winning composition “Euphoria”, she said that its meaning was “Freedom”.
