The authorities are making two main claims about Jennifer Lopez’s concert. First, that it was a brilliant business project. “We invested $6 million and received over $13 million in return,” they say. To simplify: we bought tomatoes at Maymandar market for 200 drams per kilo and sold them for 300 drams.
This immediately raises questions—first and foremost, about the accuracy of these calculations. Where did that $13 million come from? Did any private individuals have illicit interests in the circulation of those funds? The truth will likely only emerge after a change of government. And finally, why should taxpayer money be used for such a profitable venture, instead of private capital?
This leads to the second argument: that “the concert is yet another unprecedented success of the Armenian authorities’ wise policies”. There are two possibilities here: either Jennifer Lopez is such a prominent artist that her visit enriched our spiritual and cultural life, or the tourists who came to see her discovered and fell in love with Armenia. Since both claims are, to put it mildly, debatable, I’ll leave them without comment.
Let us also note that during this tour, Lopez performed not only in Armenia but also in Spain, Italy, Hungary, Romania, Kazakhstan, Turkey, the UAE, Poland, Egypt, and Uzbekistan. Should we conclude that the governments of all these countries are also unprecedentedly wise?
Public discussion around the concert can also be grouped around two extreme poles. Let’s call one the “grandmotherly” perspective: “Oh dear, how could she dress like that? At her age! Shameful!” The other is hyper-“progressive”: “Look, Armenian women—follow her example! You should all look like Jennifer!”
My approach, as always, is liberal. Any artist chooses their own image—something that may appeal to part of the audience and not to others. And if all women are expected to look like Lopez, then, presumably, all men should look like Arnold Schwarzenegger. With all due respect, I personally don’t set such goals for myself.
…Since the Armenian budget was (supposedly) so successfully enriched by the Jennifer Lopez concert, perhaps we should introduce a permanent line in the state budget for inviting pop stars. Next time, we could bring in Madonna or Britney Spears.
Who knows—maybe the revenue could even fund the construction of the long-promised Ajapnyak metro station.
Aram ABRAHAMYAN
