French satirical TV show “Le Petit Journal” is known for posing direct and sometimes embarrassing questions. As part of its Eurovision 2016 coverage in Stockholm, its reporter didn’t hold back, asking contestants a series of politically loaded questions. From Russia vs. Ukraine to Armenia vs. Azerbaijan, this has drama written all over it. Thankfully our Eurovision stars hold their own — the extended promo season wasn’t just about perfecting their performances…
For starters, LPJ ask several singers — including Armenia’s Iveta Mukuchyan and Bulgaria’s Poli Genova — about their least favourite act in the contest.
Iveta won’t have any of it: “You know there is so much passion inside and everybody is very unique so you cannot say that. I think it’s not nice to say that.”
Poli is even more froid: “Sorry, I can’t help you.”
Only Spanish backing vocalist Alana Sinkëy throws shade, saying that “Loin d’ici” is her least favourite because it reminds her of the soundtrack to a nightmare.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EooM3ujHbH4
Eventually the interviewer turns to Jamala and Sergey.
Jamala points out that the contest is somewhat political, saying that everyone waves their national flags. When asked about Sergey, she admits that the relationship between the Ukrainian and Russian delegations was a little cold. Accepting the difficulty of the situation, she asks, “What can we do?”
Sergey states that he hoped that Russia would compete at Eurovision 2017 held in Ukraine.
Perhaps the most heated exchange comes when the interviewer asks Armenia’s Iveta and Azerbaijan’s Samra about their feelings toward each other.
“Don’t ask me this question please,” Iveta says. “I like everyone.”
“Everyone is good in his own way and I don’t want to answer this question or any other questions.” She then ends the interview.”
Samra doesn’t seem keen to discuss the matter either. When asked whether she likes “all” of the other candidates she says, “Lots of them.”
Interviewer: “What do you think of the Armenian candidate?”
Samra: “You want to talk about what? The song?”
Interviewer: “The song.”
Samra: “Good.”
Interviewer: “And the candidate?”
Samra: “Where are you from?”
Interviewer: “France.”
Samra: “France. Let’s talk about Amir. Yeah?”
You can watch the entire video on Canal Plus.
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People in Europe have forgotten how it is to be in war. Azerbaijan and Armenia are in war. Russia and Ukraine are in war. That means that people you may know, your friends or even relatives being killed right now in this very moment by other country soldiers. You just can’t be irrelevant to that.
To be fare any countries engaged in ongoing war should be banned from the contest.
lmao @Oxana every country from Sweden to San Marino goes to Eurovision to win. So every artist believes that they could be the winner. Now when you are coming 1st in televoting and you are 1st in the odds there are high chances to win. So it is completely normal for him to be dissapointed but he probably got over it. And also the translation isn’t exactly what he said so I don’t know how he exactly said some things. And anyway what did he even do to you and you hate him so much? He accepted that he didn’t… Read more »
JulieAnn,
self confidence is when you believe in your victory. being a jerk is when you believe everyone should reward you with victory and if it not happened you get upset and blame everyone.
why don’t you read that article? Lazrev said bold and clear that Europe took his victory away from him, this is a rat’s reaction. what kind of man would say that?
@Pollaski: Yes, absolutely right. If we remember back to my musical review of the Austrian song, I had noted how the song was largely rooted in a minor key (E Minor i think) with those haunting descending melodies (on chante…).
I was actually surprised that the Austrian staging wasn’t more sinister to match the song in the end.
This is so wrong. These kinds of questions don’t solve anything, they make things worse. I think Iveta was getting ready to punch the guy on the face (which he deserved)
LMAO samra
so testy
I just discovered what I thought can be seen as a nice gesture: Serbia and Albania (in conflict about Kosovo and other tensions – just remember last year’s football game) both rewarded each other 8 points in the semi final jury vote – although the Albanian jury then suddenly ranked Serbia 19th in the final and one juror even ranked it last (previously 4th in the semi).
But anyway, among all the animosities this is for once a nice point, I think 🙂
Spanish back vocal should first look at her country song for this year before talking about how bad is Austrian song.
@JulieAnn
She’s not funny, she’s a phucked-up person.
The spanish backing singer ain’t wrong. Austria’s song had some seriously sinister sounding undertones to it. You could put it in on the soundtrack of some epic disaster movie when the world’s being destroyed and everyone’s dying (ie, the final scene of Knowing)- it would fit PERFECTLY. Its one of the reasons why I love it.
Well… while I think this was not right at all, I would like to know some of the answers! Jamala and Alana were the only honest there, but this is a song contest where the participants want to get on well with the others, so it is difficult to be sincere.
@light star
I find Tobias very handsome 🙂
I’m totally disagree Jamala about that she think Eurovision is a POLITICAL contest,because EUROVISION IS NOT A POLITICAL CONTEST,BUT A CONTEST WITH MUSIC,LOVE,PEACE,LOL,FREEDOM,SONGS AND AND ESPECIALLY NOT POLITICS,BECAUSE I HATE POLITICS IN HATE EUROVISION.The interview with Samra is funny!
@Charles “The “Petit Jornal” (sic) feeds itself from the hatred between countries, celebrities, etc there is some entertaining joy in commenting on it as if such behaviour was in any way beneficial to the situations being sarcastically mocked.” What is worse? Interviewees blatantly lying about the “all togetherness”? Or Le Petit Journal trying to find out the truth? The main goal of le Petit Journal is to deconstruct stereotyped languages. And that’s what they were doing here. Canal+ viewers are smart enough to understand that the ESC is now just about tensions and politics, not so much about music, just… Read more »
Samra completely ignored the question about Iveta and immediately tried to change topic…
@Oxana LOLLL You chose to mention only the part where he said that he thought he would win because there were a lot of talks about Russia winning this year. But in this article he also said that after the first rehearsals and the semi final although he felt good and confident about his performance but he could sense that something was wrong and that he might not win eventually especially since there were so many talks against the country etc. Being confident about yourself and thinking that you can win since you are the favorite of the bookies, audience… Read more »
Alana Sinkëy probably got diabetes from Loin d’ici.
I tried picturing a nightmare featuring Loin d’Ici like Alana Sinkey said, and now I can’t stop laughing imagining being chased by murderous bunnies in a flower field while “ON CHANTE ON CHANTE ON DANSE ON DANSE” plays in the background
Strong women-Poli, Iveta, Jamala … respect!???????????? 😀 love y’all
@oxana: uhh so being confident in oneself means that they are not nice? 😮 nice try, tho.
To be honest I don’t think they should have asked Iveta and Samra about each other. As “interesting” and tempting as it might be to ask and hear their answers, it just makes everything worse – you should respect (not approve, but respect) that these countries are at war and focus on the music as much as possible.
No tension there at all, nope
Hugh,
Lazarev is not that nice as you think. he told to Russian media that he was sure he’ll win because he had best song. And his head almost exploded when he learned that “Europe blocked his victory”. He feels bad because he HAD TO win, because everyone told him he’s the winner (hello wiwi and others who pushed him so hard! :))
you can use google translator to read his interview here
http://sobesednik.ru/shou-biznes/20160516-sergey-lazarev-kogda-uslyshal-verdikt-u-menya-vzorvalsya-moz
The search for controversy in sake of TV entertainment or to try to prove how disappointingly the contest is when it comes to politics is something that makes French as sarcastic as the UK with the difference that the UK hates the contest explicitly and does not hide it … France will not admit it … but throwing shade like this is just a bit hypocritical … The “Petit Jornal” feeds itself from the hatred between countries, celebrities, etc there is some entertaining joy in commenting on it as if such behaviour was in any way beneficial to the situations… Read more »
OMG i love this. Here in France you can always rely on Le Petit Journal to bring us some realness. Yes it is not right but hell these are real questions they asking..Jamala is giving her honest opinion and Sergey is gracious as always, and i believe he means it. haha the ultimate EUROSHADE
I just feeling sorry for people who doesn`t speak russian. Russians went so bananas over loss to Ukraine. It is even funnier than win of Conchita. They just giving best time of my life with their comments, accusations and moaning. Man up, russians. Strenght is not winning, strenght is to loose with dignity.
On the one hand, it’s good that someone asks the uncomfortable questions. On the other, he’s not doing it in a very empathetic way. Basically he’s trying to do a bit of Louis Theroux but lacks the charm and understanding that these are difficult questions that require some sympathy. I feel that all the artists did really well. Samra and Iveta handled the questions well enough, especially given the way he asked them in a ‘gotcha’ journalism aggressive manner. Sergey answered brilliantly and honestly, and I believe he genuinely feels that way. Jamala was compelled into being as honest, and… Read more »
Would have been even more interesting if they asked Jamala about Armenia-Azerbaijan since she’s half Armenian :p and her ancestors are from Karabakh
btw i love samra’s and iveta’s answers. 🙂 tho, iveta saying that she likes everyone after waving that disputed flag does seem a little hypocritical.
omg, i’m LIVING for this. why can’t wiwi try to stir the pot like this french interviewer? all these diplomatic answers you hear from the participants are very boring. tell us how you really feel.
How about minorities who refuse to go to war, what happened with them
after they have burned their papers ?
Oh thank you Wiwibloggs for showing Le Petit Journal. It’s so funny, yet makes some serious points at the same time.
IMO, the band member from Cyprus dealt with his question the best. 😀 (“No, I’m always like this.”)
I totally agree with Jamala. When you enter the stage with a flag, or when you represent a country on a scene, this is a matter of politics. You can’t say that the Eurovision is just about love, “come togetherness” or music. It’s mainly about politics. I also agree with Hello hi. When you blatantly lie for the sake of politeness, it does more harm than good because it sounds so fake and hypocritical… Merci pour la vidéo, merci aussi au Petit Journal (and Catherine and Liliane at the end of the video, they both really crack me up!)
wow really…, this armenia-azerbaijan thing is getting gross
Can someone tell me if this politics thing was an issue in the 90’s, when I watched Eurovision as a child? The East-European adding to ESC and its tensions between each other really have turned the contest from a fun and musical evening into a freakshow at first, and a political propaganda show now.
Poli shut down the situation like a strong independent Balkan woman.
Ukraine has it’s own problems in present, it should respect human rights and
stop torturing and castrating ethnic minorities.
Such a shame that they complain about 1944 placing the guilt upon today
people.
I love this .. People need to express how the exactly feel. Being polite for the sake of it is pointless and I would consider it even more rude .