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From Russia, with love (and some money) Written by on December 22, 2010

When it was announced that Dima Bilan would be singing Russia’s 2008 entry in that year’s Eurovision Song Contest the country was immediately installed as the favourite at the bookies. It just seemed to be Russia’s time.

The result of the competition that year left a particularly bitter taste in the mouths of many – Terry Wogan even suggesting he wouldn’t cover the contest in 2009 as a result of this (and the fact that the UK came last with Wogan describing Andy Abraham’s performance as “blinding”).

Of course theories abounded concerning block voting, vote rigging (in the case of second-placed Ukraine who went onto to question the validity of the Russian win) as well as some citing that Andy Abraham never stood a chance of doing well due to inherent racism in Eurovision. Such rhetoric neglects the fact that the UK song was simply dull and forgettable. Whilst arguably Russia was helped to victory by the votes of former Soviet countries, they did win with their biggest star known across the entire region.

Whilst at the time I personally was disappointed with the win as I found the song a tad dull, with hindsight I am pleased it won as it took Eurovision to a new level by taking us to Moscow.

Eurovision 2009 Opening Ceremony

Eurovision 2009 Opening Ceremony

Russia is a resurgent country, flexing its muscles on the world stage. In the realm of popular culture Mother Russia has made headway too – Zenith’s victory in the UEFA Cup, the World Ice Hockey Championship, Miss World and indeed Eurovision. Shortly before I travelled to Moscow for Eurovision in 2009 I had a brief conversation with a Russian colleague of mine and from her response it was clear how seriously the Russians took Eurovision. She told me, without any hint of irony, “We have had three important cultural victories this year in football, ice hockey and Eurovision”. It was with this in mind that I ventured to Russia, not really knowing quite what to expect.

Eurovision in 2009 was a chance for Russia to manage its image and do so on its own terms. The deaths of critics of the Kremlin government such as Anna Politkovskaya and Alexander Litvenenko as well as the on-going unrest in Chechnya and the 2008 war with Georgia, which in itself was played out in the gaze of the global media, have meant that in recent years Russia has not fared well on the global stage in terms of image. Eurovision in Moscow was big, bold and brassy, everything you would expect from Russia. It was clear that they had wanted to win and stage Eurovision for quite some time. In an interview given for my PhD thesis, Juhan Paadam, the Executive Producer of Eurovision 2002 recalled that he wanted to see Russia win and host the event. “I want to see how much money they spend. There will be mountains of black caviar”. Well I didn’t try it when I was there but caviar there was and lots of it too. At an estimated cost of over $30 million, in the midst of a global financial crisis, this was a big deal.

“To get to Eurovision go straight, only straight” is what my eccentric landlady told me when giving instructions on how to get to the Olimpiysky Arena – the venue for the 54th Contest. I couldn’t help chuckle at how ironic this was given that the vast majority of fans and journalists who attend the annual event well, erm, aren’t! Speaking of which – this was a particularly thorny subject. It was announced that a gay pride march would take place on the same day as the main Eurovision broadcast. The organisers of the event hoped to draw attention to what they see as systematic discrimination against the gay community whilst at the same time hoping that the heavy media presence for Eurovision would decrease the chance of violence which occurred in at Moscow Pride in both 2006 and 2007.

The Mayor of Moscow previously described homosexuality as “satanic” and banned the proposed march. The protest did go ahead and over 20 people were forcibly removed and arrested by police. There was no repeat of the violent scenes; however such unrest and the removal of the protestors did provide a striking counter narrative to the scenes broadcast during the Eurovision Song Contest itself.

In this context the label of the ‘Beijing Olympics of Eurovision’ takes on significance. The authorities in Beijing were criticised after reports emerged of heavy-handed tactics whilst the city was being prepared for the Olympics in 2008 and the same is true of Russia.

In the run-up to the contest the Moscow authorities made headlines with alleged heavy handed tactics being employed in the efforts to clean up the city with up to 30,000 stray dogs removed from the city streets in a bid to present a positive image of the city to the international delegations (Daily Mail, May 15th 2009). The article also reported rumours that prostitutes and homeless people were to be taken out of the city centre as reportedly happened with the 1980 Olympic Games, thus reinforcing the notion of such spectator events being seen as a viable and serious platform for image building. Confirmation of how seriously the authorities were taking the event came when Prime Minister Vladimir Putin appeared at one of the rehearsals to oversee the preparations for himself. Security was tight in Moscow in the run-up to the 2009 contest with a heavy police presence, it was estimated that up to 20,000 officers were brought in to preside over the event.

Police outside the Olympic Stadium

Police outside the Olympic Stadium

Eurovision 2009 was an event which was dogged by controversy before the first note was even sung. The Georgian entry “We Don’t Wanna Put In” was deemed to have political content by the European Broadcasting Union. Widely seen as a snub to Russian Prime Minster Vladimir Putin and as a protest against Russia’s actions in the war with Georgia in August last year, the Georgian delegation refused to change the lyrics to the song or submit an alternative entry and withdrew.

Next came Israel with their song “There Must Be Another Way” sung by Israeli-Arab duo Mira and Noa. The song was a call for peace between the warring factions and was met with delight by and abhorrence in equal measure. Then of course there was the Russian entry. Sung partly in Ukrainian, written by an Estonian-based writer and performed by a singer from Ukraine, this didn’t go down too well with many. Some in Russia thought that it was an outrage to have a foreigner singing their entry on home ground and labelled singer Anastasiya Prikhodko an imposter. In Ukraine they accused the singer of being a traitor and a cheat after she was initially thrown out of the Ukrainian national competition only to join the Russians! Then of course there is the Armenian-Azeri dispute which was discussed in a previous article. It certainly wouldn’t be Eurovision without the drama!

As a television show, Eurovision 2009 was a triumph, it was slick and despite the dodgy presenters of the semi final, it was a professional presentation by Russia. However Karen Fricker (journalist and academic) argues that the actual presentation of Russia’s image is less certain. Several times the presenters repeated that Russia “does not have bears walking in the streets” in an attempt to jokingly refute an image of Russia as backward, however the continuous flagging of this, according to Fricker, actually has the effect of reinforcing this. When the scale of the event and the spin is considered, I tend to agree. It’s almost as if the Russians tried too hard – it was wonderful, but almost so big and grandiose that I came away with the feeling that money really talks. A quote from Dermot Manning’s (epic) Eurovision diary perhaps sums up Moscow 2009:

Looking at it now, and at the amazing venue we were in, it was not hard to believe that the Russians had spend over €30 million on staging the event. It was all very big, very grandiose and very expensive. We were told anecdotally that the Russians simply kept throwing money at any problems that arose during the organisation of the contest until those problems went away.

In Soviet times Russia used the Olympic Games as an opportunity to demonstrate sporting prowess and international credentials. I would argue that Russia has used the Eurovision Song Contest in the same way. It is an event linked with national prestige, both in terms of placing and hosting the event itself. In terms of voting, victory relies solely upon the approval of other nations in the form of telephone votes. Eurovision in Russia was everything I expected and more. What I did not expect though was to see cans of Irn Bru in the EuroClub! The Scots who were at the event soon gathered for an impromptu photo opportunity! As you can imagine Scotland’s famous tipple was laced with something more “medicinal” later on…

Paul, Irn-Bru, and some close friends

Paul, Irn-Bru, and some close friends

When Estonia and Ukraine hosted the Song Contest it was seen as a huge promotional opportunity, however now my reading of it is that people are slightly more cynical towards the Contest. With this in mind it would be interesting to see what sort of reception Eurovision would have in Russia should they win again.

Paul Jordan.

Images by…

  • ESC 2009 Opening Act, by Ewan Spence (Flickr).
  • Moscow Olimpisky, ESC 2009, by Ewan Spence (Flickr).
  • Bottle of Bru and Friends, by Paul Jordan.

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