BETWEEN DIGNITY AND INGENUITY
JAMES HAKOBYAN

LRAGIR.AM
11:48:21 – 19/05/2009

As it is known, the organizers of the Eurovision 2009, as a result
of a complaint of Azerbaijan removed the image of the symbol of
Karabakh : "grandmother and grandfather" from the Armenian collage
card. Azerbaijan complained Russia removed it.

In response to the Russian obedience, Armenia presented its
ingenuity. In other words, the Armenians did not complain, but they
just decided to try another way to present the "grandmother and
grandfather" on the top of the folder which was in Sirusho’s hands
while presenting the results of the Armenian voting.

Hence, the question could be considered closed, if the problem of
making a selection between the dignity and the ingenuity would not be
aroused. Armenia seems to have chosen the ingenuity by not opposing
and not voicing it official dissatisfaction in connection with the
Russian yielding to the Azerbaijani complaints.

For example, in case of Georgia, when the organizers of the Eurovision
2009, demanded changing the Georgian song or to remove the words about
refuting Putin, which was made with the help of a joke of words, the
Georgians refused participating in the Eurovision. In other words,
the Georgians chose the dignity though they could remove those words,
write them on a folder and show it while presenting the results. But,
Georgia just refuted participating in the Eurovision 2009 with dignity.

Of course, unlike Georgia, Armenia did not war with the Russians
in August 2008. But, does there have to be necessarily a war to
have a sense of dignity? Al right, if they did not want to refuse
participating, they could at least make an official complaint to the
organizers of the contest because of their decision to remove the
"grandma and the grandpa", with which the organizers completed the
wish or the demand of the Azerbaijani delegation.

However, it is comprehensible that Armenia would not dare to do such
a thing. If the Eurovision was in some other country, Armenia may not
only voice it s dissatisfaction but also may refuse participating even
at the very last moment, like it did in case of the NATO military
exercises in Georgia. But, they could not but leave for Moscow for
the Eurovision 2009. The refusal could contain not only musical or
cultural but also economic-political hard consequences, to which
Armenia is unable to resist.