“I have ranked Azeri the last and the last but one to Conchita. I put Conchita towards the bottom of the ranking due to my internal repulsion. She was causing only aversion. And I am shocked that according to the sms messages, Conchitawas No 2. I do not know who the voters were, but I do not think that all the people have a good attitude towards this person”, so responded one of Arshakyan sisters, Anush Arshakyan, in the conversation with Aravot.am, in response to our question of why Armenia has given low point to the transvestite participant of “Eurovision”, Conchita. Inga and Anush changed the expression of their faces and crossed their hands in disgust when we pronounced Conchita’s name.
To our question that you are blamed that the professional jury should have assessed the song and not the image, Anush Arshakyan responded, “The professional jury did not consisted of only singers. Secondly, there were so many abnormal songs there that we had to start estimating the vocal.” Anush was unhappy, in general, with the quality of this year’s songs. She ranked Aram MP3’s show high. “Should it be an impartial voting, he would have won. Not because he is Armenian, but his song was loved, it was the best. The fact that he was No 4 talks about the fact that the Eurovision participants were ranking the first places guided by other standards. If we assess the show, Aram was the best, and this is not only my opinion.” She said that in addition to her, there are others who have repulsion for Conchita. “The jury staff is announced. Our estimates are published. There are places No 24, and No 23. This is a personal approach. I was No 4, the jury No 4, and you can look at how I voted, I ranked her No 24.” To our observation that they say that we should respect the minority, Anush Arshakyan responded, “There are degrees of respect. If we talk about tolerance, which is the most popular thing in Europe, then I probably am against any form of aggression and against any kind of human extermination. If we accept that these people are sick, they can be cured, and in this respect, my repulsion is understandable. Like the mental patient causes repulsion, so are these phenomena. My repulsion is just like that. I’m not aggressive, but denial to such manifestations.”
Note that this year’s Armenian jury consisted of Arshakyan sisters, TV presenter Avet Barseghyan, Honored Art Worker of Armenia Asatur Asatryan, and sculptor-artist Arman Davtyan (Nur).
Hripsime JEBEJYAN
