Azerbaijan has been experiencing Eurovision fever for quite some time now. Lots of new roads appeared and a lot of houses disappeared in the last few weeks/months. Recently, there were even some old ladies scrubbing and washing the streets... to make sure that everything looks perfect ;) In the city centre, of course. But the fever is expected to reach it's climax this week. Representatives of some participating countries have already landed in Baku. Traffic in the city centre is restricted to ensure that they can travel smoothly in their brand new buses (escorted by the police) and admire the beauty of the city. But this perfect image is being disrupted by the reporting of foreign press. Therefore, I decided to post links to a random selection of articles in English and Polish languages for those who might be interested and wondering what is this whole controversy about. Enjoy the readings. Maybe it is not all as bad as presented in the press, maybe, but definitely, it is not all as good as some would like the world to believe.
Już od dłuższego czasu Azerbejdżan jest opętany szałem przygotowań do tegorocznej Eurowizji. W ciągu ostanich kilku miesięcy, tydzień po tygodniu, pojawiały się nowe drogi i znikały stare domy. Kilka dni temu zauważyłam, jak grupa staruszek szorowała czteropasmową ulicę niedaleko naszego mieszkania. Co jak co, ale centrum miasta jest odpicowane na wysoki połysk ;) A wszystko to, aby się jak najlepiej zaprezentować. Z nieciepliwością czekamy na kulminację wydarzeń, która będzie miała miejsce w tym tygodniu. W Baku pojawili się już przedstawiciele krajów biorących udział w konkursie. Ruch drogowy w centrum został ograniczony, tak aby nowiutkie autobusy wiozące gości (wraz z eskortą policyjną) mogły bez utrudnień przedostać się przez najbardziej atrakcyjne i zachwycające części miasta. Jednakże, radość z przygotowań do Eurowizji została zakłócona przez nieprzychylne artykuły pojawiające się w zagranicznej prasie. Z tego powodu postanowiłam umieścić tutaj kilka linków do tychże artykułów, aby wszyscy zainteresowani mogli się dowiedzieć dlaczego tegoroczny konkurs wzbudza tyle kontrowersji. Należy pamiętać, że być może nie wszystko co zostało opisane w tych artykułach jest prawdą, ale warto rzucić na nie okiem aby zrozumieć, że medal zawsze ma dwie strony ;)
I am watching Eurovision now and better don´t talk about quality of songs, it is more about show. But I must admit that it is good commercial for Baku and whole Azer... Of course I heard about problems you wrote in article, about infrigement of human rights etc. Anyway, it has to be really interesting to be in city where such big events is happening right now.
ReplyDeleteAnd my tip for this year winner is Sweden:)
Shoule we belive, that anything changes now in Azerbaijan? So many western journalist came there, they have been filming, speaking to people and they made interesting documentations out of it. It has been spoken about Azerbaijan here in the media for a while. It has been spoken quite a lot, news which we don't hear about every day.. People are beeing tortured, human rights are a joke and the country is totaly corrupted. There was a reason to talk about it.
ReplyDeleteAnd now?
Sooner or later we will forget about the troubles, people there have to deal with. they will not be the ones, who win from this song competitions.
I think, organising the European Song Contest in a country like that is a joke. A bad joke.
It is quite interesting to see how people are trying to make their voices heard. But those are a minority. Most people just enjoy the show and are quite complacent. And this is why there is a very little chance for any meaningful change. And you are right Kasia, I'm afraid Europe will forget very soon and it's going to become really difficult for those who were trying to stand up for their rights. I hope I'm wrong. But imagine how angry some people must be right now. Criticism instead of admiration. This must be really upsetting. The only way to stop critical reports is to kick the reporters out. Let's hope it won't happen.
ReplyDeleteHola Emilio! que tal? No problem, I can send you a postcard. It may take a while to get to you though, anything between 2 weeks to 2 months. But I hope it will get there :)
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your collection! Interesting blog :)