North Macedonia’s Andrea has come under fire in her home country after she threw the North Macedonian flag to the ground at the Eurovision 2022 Turquoise Carpet. She has since apologised for the incident in a recorded message.
On Sunday, Eurovision 2022 stars stunned in the world’s most beautiful creations in the four-hour long Opening Ceremony at the Palace of Venaria. On a sunny and sometimes rainy Turquoise Carpet, the artists had their last big press moment before entering the competition week.
Andrea went full black with a black knee-dress, black tights and long black leather gloves. Initially taking a picture moment with her flag, halfway through the photographers taking their best shots she seemingly decided she wanted to take a few clicks without the flag.
With no delegation member standing close by and not wanting to lose any time, Andrea quickly tossed the flag aside towards the delegation, which then landed on the ground.
MRT condemns Andrea’s tossing aside of the flag
In Skopje, MRT had strong feelings about this action. In a statement on top of their web site, North Macedonia’s broadcaster said it strongly condemned the flag-throwing as shown during the Opening Ceremony. MRT reminded the general audience that in North Macedonia throwing a flag to the floor is seen as a sign of disrespect and is punishable by law in the country.
The broadcaster said among other things:
“The public service is in no way behind this scandalous behaviour of our Eurovision representative, who with that gesture showed disrespect for the national symbol, which is punishable by law.
MRT expects Andrea to apologise to the citizens for such behaviour. The public service is considering the possibility of her withdrawal from Eurovision, although care will be taken not to cause more damage to MRT.
All legal possibilities for the strictest sanctioning for this scandal will be taken against those responsible in the Macedonian delegation.”
Andrea apologises for flag incident at Turquoise Carpet
In a statement recorded by MRT after the Ceremony was completed, Andrea explained the situation and apologised for what had happened. She said:
“Let me make a brief statement from here since the opening because I saw what was written in the media.
I just do not believe it because in the last few days the only thing I did was proudly move and show the Macedonian flag everywhere. The delegation was really far away from me, and I decided in a moment to drop the flag. It was not out of hatred, I’m proud to come from here and that’s why it’s a little pointless to me why this is happening.
I am really here to present [North] Macedonia in the best light and I hope that we can continue in the Eurovision with positivity. We are here to enjoy, here we are sharing passion and I hope that we can overcome this.
I wasn’t intending at all to offend someone and if I did that, I apologise. I carry the flag with me everywhere I go and I hope we can really cross this.”
While obviously this was not intended as disrespectful, maybe the heads of delegations should go over what to do and what not to do at Eurovision as a representative of your country?
What about the Israeli singer and his behaviour?? My God, he was soo annoying, it was really painful to watch.
What did he do???
Apparently there’s a lot of sensitivity surrounding national symbols in North Macedonia. I remember the outrage when Tamara Todevska forgot to sing a verse of the anthem a few years ago, I don’t think it would have been treated as such a scandal in most countries.
It’s clear to me that Andrea meant no disrespect and I hope her apology appeases those furious Macedonians.
What a drama from Former Yoguslav Repulic of Macedonia!
from North Macedonia*
🙂
Imagine they spent all that money to send a delegation, rehearsals etc to then withdraw last minute because their artist dropped the flag
macedonians already called her every homophobic slur in the book after she won, easy excuse to bury her career forever unfortunately
I expect Andrea performing tomorrow dressed in the red a yellow flag colors just to make things right…I am Macedonian and honestly think that everyone would have done the same thing without thinking of the consequences… It is easy for us the public judging now on the internet. People have burned our flag in public and got away with it…..did not someone stepped on their country’s flag last year.. OMG.. get a life!!!!! No one cares!..
If she got a lighter out and set it on fire – be angry… if she dropped a piece of material with a bit of plastic, which is probably very cheap and made in china… seriously, chill out. Its MRT who are embarrassing themselves, not the artist!
they are supersensitive for a 20 year old country
North Macedonia literally has no chill ever. Remember last year when they claimed that art in the music video looked too close to the Bulgarian flag?!
Um… if she didn’t intend to toss the flag on the ground, why was she BENDING towards the carpet when she was throwing it?
Totally irrelevant anyway
Andrea is a human, humans are relevant.
I love the drama we have every year from N.M. Keep it going guys!
TBH, her flag-tossing skills are pretty impressive, it was a beautifully executed and efficient move.
God, why is Macedonia so sensitive? First, it was the Bulgarian flag and citizenship scandal with Vasil last year and now this scandal with Andrea?
It’s a plastic flag from Aliexpress for gods sake. Leave the girl alone.
Because the nationalists try to hide the fact that more than 50% of the country’s population are albanians and bulgarians
Journalists / photographers need to be much more aware of how zealous some countries are (perhaps for good reason, I have no idea). The innocent party in all this is Andrea, I feel so sorry for her.
I think there are two things at odds here: tradition and being young. I’m sure she meant no disrespect to her country, but when you’re on an international stage, representing your country, and you toss the flag like you’re tossing your gum in front of hundreds of cameras (not that you should ever toss your gum), there will be backlash.
Everyone makes mistakes, no matter one’s age.
Sure! And has to apoligize for their mistakes.
Why don’t you ask her if she knows WHY she had the flag on her hands in the first place? Was it just a piece of decoration or the symbol of the state she was sent to represent at the Eurovision? A bad manner is a bad manner, in any case. And she apologized, at the end. Nothing to do with democracy, anyway!
All of this would be completely unnecessary if songs could compete as songs, not as countries. Patriotism in music: Discuss.
No… to countries being represented in Eurovision? 😀
Possibly the ESC used to be unnecessary in that regard for quite some time, and sadly recent world events have proven that wrong. So reluctantly, “nations coming together in peace” is the order of the times. It’s not what I personally wanted out of it, but it appears to be what we need. Oh look, I defeated my own point of view!
On the other hand, we are one human race on one planet, and music is universal. 🙂
If only everyone saw it that way, but I’m with you 🙂
On a third hand, music and culture can be educational. I feel the contest has helped me get to know the continent a lot better – its people, its history. Of course I can read all about this in a book, but it really helps to be able to put faces and personalities to the facts.
National anthems can be stirring. Emotional. Eurovision performer Dino Merlin wrote the first national anthem of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Nice one, thanks Jonas. 🙂 I like Eurovision-related counter arguments.
Indeed. 🙂
Or Ireland 1996. Belarus 2011 not so much.
No star.
Interesting. As a musician, I always want to explore other sounds from instruments around the world. Why should that be limited because of my nationality or ethnicity?
View: Their use isn’t normally restricted, it’s just that the patriotic nature of “song for one’s country” has sometimes restricted what instruments one could use at Eurovision. (N.B. Azerbaijan would appear to be proving my argument wrong here.)
Paul Simon feels the same, but has sometimes got in trouble over it. I’m glad we have albums like Graceland, though.
Wow MRT… North Macedonian Broadcaster should have known better, instead of bashing her like this. Okay, she threw the flag, she had the reason, good or not, MRT should have come up with the statement.
MERI POPOVA PLEASE WITHDRAW FROM MRT. PLEASEEE. WE WANT FREEDOM IN OUR SELECTON!
There is a clear pattern here. Ever since the change of the name, MPT is throwing under the bus its own artists for even the smallest mistake that can endanger the fragile national identity of the country. Tamara was accused by nationalists for a mistake in the national anthem as a traitor and that the country changed the name so she can do well in eurovision (!). Vasil was accused as a traitor for including a piece that looked like the Bulgarian flag and he had to release a statement that said countless times the word Macedonia, in order to… Read more »
I hope they pay attention to the lyrics of Imagine on Saturday night.
I am afraid they cant. Too busy focusing on nationalism and trying to eliminate anything that can be Bulgarian/Albanian
*Greek too. They claim a historical name for their own that derives from ancient greek history and that also covers an entire territory in a big part of the Balcans. They demand a piece out of everone to create an identity for themselves, it’s honestly sad to see.
Yes, indeed. The history of the country is complex and probably this is not the best place to discuss about it but yes, its the history and the national identity that were forced to be changed in order to build a national identity which actually does not exist. Since the name change the problem seems to be Bulgaria and people who do not denounce their Bulgarian identity (for example Vasil). I hope that this does not lead to another war in the balkans.
ikr? they are just in denial, their problem with Vasil was his passport lol
So what will happen? Is she participating or not???
That is called plain disrespect for the state and ALL its people. Some do not care but most of the people of any country do not like to be disrespected with provocation. If it was just a song contest among singers, nobody would care, but they have to represent their own country in Eurovision, not just themselves.
MRT being overdramatic ?
No way, it can’t be
As if the EBU will budge. It took them 11 delegations to ban Russia & the entire ESC fandom spamming on every possible place for them to ban Belarus.
Question: If a country withdraws this late, who pays the fine and how much is it? Cus if the broadcaster gotta pay up, they are not gonna DQ Andrea at ESC week. I feel so bad for her.
I believe they will have to pay 1.5 times their participation fee which varies from country to country. But, to withdraw this late, especially when the running order has been announced, would be a disaster for the hosts and more serious measures would be appropriate.
They would withdraw *her*, meaning replace her with someone else. But the statement says “care will be taken not to cause more damage to MRT” so they won’t because they can’t justify this to non-Macedonians. It’s all about the image.
It’s really disgusting that we all, and specially its own singers, have to put up with this ultra nationalistic crap from North Macedonia. And it’s not the first time, remember Vasil’s videoclip in 2021.
Ultra nationalistic are they who SEND ANDREA, VASIl and JANA BURCHESKA (political reason) to Eurovision.
MACEDONIANS, DONT WANT THEY SINGER TO REPRESENT US, DO YOU UNDERSTAND THAT? MRT IS POLITICAL TV!
I don’t agree with the way people are bullying Andrea online atm, but the reaction from MRT is appropriate. “Ultra nationalistic crap”? Most countries that I know of punish by law people who throw, step on, burn national symbols like the national flag. What’s ultranationalistic in condemning such an action so that it doesn’t happen again in the future? There’s nothing political in this, it’s a matter of LAW and respect for a national symbol. The only “ultra nationalistic crap” crap here is that of you people who are spreading hate and Bulgarian/Albanian propaganda here, only that is pure “ultra… Read more »
No, it wouldn’t happen in any other country. The public broadcaster’s statement wording and call to punishment is outrageous and really embarrassing for a European country.
Every country has a law that punishes (usually) with jail those who throw, step upon, burn national symbols like a flag. You really do not know what you are talking about. If this mistake happened anywhere else it would be considered as a minor mistake, but the moment it happens in front of hundreds of cameras and millions of people watching it’s literally impossible not to expect a strong condemnation from the national TV. What is concerning is the way people are treating her online atm, not the way MRT reacted.
So, you really consider it possible that the BBC, TF1, RAI, TVE, ERT, SVT, AVRO-TROS, etc would call on the respective country’s judicial system to punish their entrant because they threw down a small-dimensioned flag on a stick with no obvious bad intention? Gruevski’s propaganda has penetrated your brains for good over there.
The fact that you are here talking about Gruevski is proof enough of your deep deep hate for anything that has to do with N. Macedonia. I live in Italy, I have nothing to do with the politics that go on in N. Macedonia (however i hope you’re aware that Gruevski has been long gone from the political stage there). Your way of speaking is so aggressive for no reason. Why don’t you simply think about your own country instead of judging a whole population based on the fact that MRT condemned THEIR own representative for throwing away the national… Read more »
Do you have a similar case happened in Eurovision in the past? How do you know how other countries would have reacted? Of course, no singer ever did such a disrespectful action before!
I think your message is ultranationalistic crap to the core, hence that most of us in other countries won’t understand it.
You’re lunatic, I haven’t even gotten close to saying anything political, i didn’t even talk about politics (it’s what you guys are doing yourselves, bringing up stuff that doesn’t have anything to do with this or eurovision). I only pointed out that throwing flags just as burning them or stepping on them is a crime in every single country. And the fact that it happened in front of millions of people and camers from all around the world was bound to provoke a strong reaction from the national tv. That’s all, you can continue talking about other stuff, you can… Read more »
The “crap” is that the Eurovision is a competition among countries and not just singers and musicians. If you do not like nationalism, do not watch Eurovision.
Communist rule
It seems like North Macedonia testing her limits…
its all they ve been doing lately
She gave her all but they’re not listening.
It’s so sad that MRT resorted to putting their entrant through the wringer for no good reason. If you look up Andrea’s Instagram account, a deluge of hateful comments stands out (of course, intertwined with explanatory replies).
Who provoked this enraged, baseless and uncontrollable backlash? MRT. They should be held accountable for whatever happens to their representative and/or delegation. Come to think of this, another big fish is apparently asleep at the wheel…
From Andrea’s press release, it appears that her limits are being tested and this thing is being blown out of proportion. I guess we’ll get to see what she does when her limits are being tested. Good luck Andrea!
TBH this is blown out of porpotion, but I can see this happening with every Balkan country.
Not Croatia, Greece, Serbia, the rest yes
That’s a very ignorant thing to say.
I’m sorry for Andrea. I’m sorry for everyone else in North Macedonia who are victims of this dangerous mentality.
Hopefully Andrea’s explanation and apology puts this firmly to rest. She really shouldn’t have needed to explain or apologise for what happened though. MRT should have supported their act and tried to minimise the situation, not overblow it in the way that they have. They could even have issued an apology on her behalf and address and close the issue entirely. I know flags get taken very seriously by some, but ultimately it’s a small piece of cloth stuck to a small piece of plastic. You’d think the human at the centre of the story would be treated with more… Read more »
I agree—extraordinary, baffling, foolish way to have handled a very minor thing.
And she’s clearly very proud to be representing North Macedonia too. Everywhere she goes she’s been carrying a North Macedonian flag.
Shameful how they’ve treated her over this but hopefully it’s water under the bridge now and she gets the full support she needs.
Absolutely ridiculous!!!! Shame on wiwibloggs for reporting on this
Don’t shoot the messenger.
Wiwibloggs did nothing wrong here, it’s the Macedonian ultra-nationalists and broadcaster who should be shamed.
We are talking about a minor incident that was used by nationalists of a country with political problems instead of talking about the abusive behavior of Michael Ben David to others in the carpet. I guess if he was straight and tried to kiss another contestant y all be furious but now it’s just a regular Monday.
Who did he try to kiss?
There’s a reddit thread about him, he did several obnoxious things. 1) took Mia’s microphone out of her hand 2) tried to kiss someone, I can’t bring myself to dig deeper into that one, 3) tried to upstage Nadir etc. etc.
Team Wiwi must be tired after last night…
oh and he pulled off William’s mask during an interview. WHAT
Oh yeah, Michael is completely insufferable but one can’t say it too loud because it will homophobic I guess. I was mad when he took Mia’s microphone and feel something was odd when he sang the same piece of opera as Nadir. Like it didn’t feel honest at all but more as trying to outstand. He probably knows Israel is coming back home on Thursday so it’s trying to make the most of his days in Eurovision.
You’re the one who makes it about his sexuality. I’m gay and I find him annoying. What’s homophobic about that? His behaviour has nothing to do with his sexuality (or religion, I saw some Jews apologizing. So ridiculous).
They pulling the US with the extremes when it comes to their flag. I get it’s not ‘just a flag’ but seriously? There’s a f****** war going on and this is what they’re worried about? Is this for real?
Bahahahahahahaha. So she chucked a flag out of the way. So what. People need to get over themselves. There are REAL problems going on than punishing someone for getting rid of a flag for a photo. Idiots.
Lol the fake identity country being oversensitve I see
another flag incident after last year Bulgarian flag in Vasil’s video lol
The problem was the flag throwing. If she had put the flag gently on the floor, there would have been no problem. But throwing a flag is always a no-go, everybody should know it. Even in some other countries you can get to jail, if you behave like that. Life is always giving and taking. You get what you give… Communication Rule Number One, you can not not communicate.
And no one knew about this until the broadcaster made a big deal about it
Unless you were reading the Wiwibloggs comments, or Twitter. No-one indeed. 😛
I can only say lol … I think the way she decided to put it away was very fun and playful. Nothing disrespectful about that. It looked like she was playing bowling. A normal human being would either not think anything of this or just smile/laugh. She’s a very nice and down to earth person.
I think Michael Ben David’s behaviour was for more problematic. Maybe Wiwibloggs should write an article about that.
If he was straight his behaviour would be considered as sexual harrasment. He doesnt know where to stop. If he touched me like he does with others I’d punch him.
What a ridiculous thing to say.
Bullying is toxic behaviour and always wrong.
Even if that’s the case, that doesn’t mean you need to stoop to toxic behaviour yourself. The right response involves either talking to someone and finding a solution, calling them out and asking them to stop, or not engaging with them.
I know, it’s a difficult situation. I can tell it’s really upset you and many others—and I understand why. If it was unwanted, it should definitely have been called out immediately.
For what it’s worth, none of us know how Sheldon felt in that moment. Sheldon had agency to respond if he had wanted to and still does. It’s possible that he chose not to, that he didn’t mind, or that he and his delegation lodged a complaint immediately after the event.
What did he do?
Twitter thread with examples
https://twitter.com/gjkooijman/status/1523371199652265984
Trying to kiss Sheldon Riley being the biggest problem. I mean, he has autism. Imaging a stranger crossing your personal stage like that.
EBU is busy censoring choreographies and doing damage control about a broken stage while a contestant is abusing others in front of the cameras.
I get that MBD is trying to be fun…….but this ain’t it sis…. If it were me he tried to kiss, playfully touch or anything I’d probably slap him out of a reflex. I get it’s your message to be yourself, and you were bullied and you’re trying to be positive and that’s all fun and lovely but harassing people ain’t gonna do nothing but ruin people’s good time and maybe even cause trauma and make you look like an A double S. I saw a few interviews in Israel of him and he was fun and nice, but in… Read more »
https://twitter.com/YannickBZHCOL/status/1523464318569705473
Some of the things he did last week
I think North Macedonia should care about their unemployment rate, insecurity, salaries…. They have lot of issues that IMHO consider more important than a flag 15seconds on the ground.
Yes, she threw the flag in style but in a playful way so that she would prepare for her journalist photos. No, I 100% doubt (and so does she) that she threw her national flag with underappreciation. It’s only yet another drama game from the media of a country that cannot even identify itself because it was created by accident. End of story. They shall leave Andrea be.
I think Andrea will immigrate after Eurovision!
So would I hahaahah
They’re testing Andrea’s limits, it’ll just go around in circles…
At least she got it right and fixed this situation…
That was just me extending the reference to her lyrics 🙂
I don’t think there was any situation for her to fix.
😀
I personally think this topic and post has fuelled more propaganda from a country which I will not name and no longer participates this year . We all got to realise they will attempt every way possible to sabotage and influence this contest through social media and as I said before us Esc fans must ignore them completely . Don’t fall for their nonsense. Andrea can continue her ESC journey .
Throwing a flag like this is definitely not a good taste i agree,
but don’t make it bigger than it is. She felt rushed and didn’t realize what she was doing.
Let her be.
Does anyone know if any of the other delegations threw their flags as well, or were she the only one?
This is probably just promotion to get some headlines and attention