Absent friend: Morocco

Only once did an entry from Morocco grace the Eurovision stage: in 1980, Samira Bensaïd sang about peace, love and understanding in Arabic and was rewarded seven points and a second last place.



Samira Bensaïd - Bitaqat hub (Morocco 1980)

Many things have been said about this one-off participation: that Morocco took the opportunity to participate a year when Israel sent no representative, that it was the Moroccan king that decided for his country to withdraw after the poor showing in The Hague.

What we do know is that the singer moved to Egypt and went on to achieve significant stardom all over the Arab world under the name Samira Said. Not only an admired singer, she has also promoted HIV/AIDS awareness as well as  inter-religious understanding and co-operation.

In these times when the muslim countries of northern Africa undergo radical changes in many areas of society, I think it could be a good idea for them to turn their eyes towards Eurovision again.

Of course there are many more urgent, truly important matters for them to deal with. But out of the unimportant matters I think ESC participation could be an important factor, for many reasons.

It wouldn't be a bad thing if these countries felt close to Europe and it wouldn't be a bad thing if they felt Europe took an interest back and embraced their presence. They would have a chance to show their culture, their performers and their mere presence on the most popular tv show in Europe and they would be an active part of this important cultural manifestation.

It would also be a good opportunity for these countries to meet Israel in a friendly competition, shake hands and realise it is nothing dangerous about singing a song in the same song contest as Israel.

Lebanon pulled out of the 2005 Eurovision Song Contest because they could "not guarantee" that they would show the Israeli entry in their broadcast. This is where the EBU could step in, actively invite the tv companies of northern Africa and the Middle East and help build bridges. A small but not important step, if so.

I'm sure Samira Said would agree that this would be a good thing. Make it happen!



Aline Lahoud - Quand tout s'enfuit (Lebanon 2005 withdrawn)

ESC 2012: exit Armenia

Yesterday, Armenian television finally made their minds up and decided not to send any representative to the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest. The reason for this is, of course, the strained relations between them and host country Azerbaijan.

Politics have always been present at Eurovision, but this kind of action has still been rare. In 1979, Turkey made a last-minute decision not to send a song to Jerusalem (some sources claim this was the result of pressure put on Turkey by Arab countries) and in 2009 Georgia ultimately did not participate in Moscow (although they made an attempt of sending an anti-Putin song into competition).

Also, Morocco would have been far less likely to take part in 1980 had Israel participated, just like Lebanon withdrew in 2005 due to not wanting to be in competition with the Jewish state.

I can't blame Armenia for not taking chances, but I can't estimate the effort the EBU and Azeri television made in order to have them in.

However, if Armenia knew already from the beginning that they would not participate, it would have been better to make a dignified exit already before the regular deadline and saved us the last-minute drama.

Now I just hope that Armenian television will still broadcast the ESC from Baku, so the national fans won't miss out, as well as for them to be back with a vengeance in 2013.



Sirusho - Qele Qele (Armenia 2008 preview) 

Song Of The Day: Lebanon 2005

I was very pleasantly surprised when Lebanon registered for the 2005 Eurovision Song Contest. Through the history of the contest, only one Arab country had taken part before and it seemed about time to have another one in the running.

Tunisia intended to enter in 1977 but pulled out after the running order was established (and would have performed as fourth in London, between the Netherlands and Austria had they stayed in), so Morocco remains the only Arab nation to have taken part.

Morocco ended second last at their only attempt, and it is my firm belief that Lebanon would have done better hadn't politics gotten in the way.

Aline Lahoud was internally selected to sing "Quand tout s'enfuit" in Kyiv, but the lebanese pulled out only hours before the drawing of lots in March 2005.

When pressured by the EBU, Télé-Liban admitted they had no intent of showing the Israeli entry during their broadcast, claiming promotion of Israel would clash with Lebanese law.

So Aline had to stay home and we will never know how her dramatic, slightly oriental-flavoured ballad would have fared.

Hopefully, in the future, one or several Arab nations would decide to enter the ESC and participate alongside Israel. Showing themselves, and the world, that singing together is a pretty harmless activity and nothing to be afraid of.



Aline Lahoud - Quand tout s'enfuit (Lebanon 2005, did not participate)