Armenia has finished seventh in Europe’s biggest pop music contest, Eurovision, won by Germany's entry this year.
Russian-Armenian singer Eva Rivas performed an English-language song, “Apricot Stone”, during a 25-nation final in Norwegian capital Oslo Saturday night. Well-known Armenian maestro Jivan Gasparian accompanied her in the three-minute show, playing the duduk, a woodwind instrument popular in the Caucasus. The 22-year-old native of Russia, born Valeria Reshetnikova-Tsaturian, sang about ties to the Motherland symbolized by an apricot pit.
Betting agencies’ favorite Lena Meyer-Lundrut from Germany won the competition with her catchy pop song “Satellite” performed in English. The 19-year-old from Hannover received 246 points in a combined vote by viewers and national juries in 39 countries.
Turkish rock band maNga finished in the second place, followed by a Romanian duet. Azerbaijan’s entry Safura finished fifth, while Georgia’s Sofia Nizharadze took the ninth place.
Speaking at a news conference before the final, Armenia’s Rivas acknowledged she was bracing for a tough battle. “I think that all of them [participants] are very strong and that the final will be very, very hard. I think it will be a real battle,” she said on Friday.
This was the fifth time Armenia took part in the annual pan-European song contest held since 1956. The country’s representatives have traditionally enjoyed strong support from the televoting public not least due to the presence of Armenian communities in European countries. The nation’s best Eurovision result so far was in 2008 when singer Sirusho finished just outside the top three.
Like it was in 2009, this year’s standings have been decided through a combined telephone-based voting and evaluations by expert panels in the participating countries. A number of countries that traditionally gave Armenia high points in previous years have provided lower scores for its participants after the changes in the voting rules. Among such countries this year were France, Greece, Cyprus, Belgium and some others. The highest points for Armenia this year came from Russia, Israel and the Netherlands.
Numerous fans had gathered in downtown Yerevan to watch last night's Eurovision finals live on a big screen. The show ended in the early hours of Sunday morning by local time.
Betting agencies’ favorite Lena Meyer-Lundrut from Germany won the competition with her catchy pop song “Satellite” performed in English. The 19-year-old from Hannover received 246 points in a combined vote by viewers and national juries in 39 countries.
Turkish rock band maNga finished in the second place, followed by a Romanian duet. Azerbaijan’s entry Safura finished fifth, while Georgia’s Sofia Nizharadze took the ninth place.
Speaking at a news conference before the final, Armenia’s Rivas acknowledged she was bracing for a tough battle. “I think that all of them [participants] are very strong and that the final will be very, very hard. I think it will be a real battle,” she said on Friday.
This was the fifth time Armenia took part in the annual pan-European song contest held since 1956. The country’s representatives have traditionally enjoyed strong support from the televoting public not least due to the presence of Armenian communities in European countries. The nation’s best Eurovision result so far was in 2008 when singer Sirusho finished just outside the top three.
Like it was in 2009, this year’s standings have been decided through a combined telephone-based voting and evaluations by expert panels in the participating countries. A number of countries that traditionally gave Armenia high points in previous years have provided lower scores for its participants after the changes in the voting rules. Among such countries this year were France, Greece, Cyprus, Belgium and some others. The highest points for Armenia this year came from Russia, Israel and the Netherlands.
Numerous fans had gathered in downtown Yerevan to watch last night's Eurovision finals live on a big screen. The show ended in the early hours of Sunday morning by local time.