Eurovision is a singing contest where the countries of western
Europe, eastern Europe, and a few other regions of the world gather to battle
it out in a contest of musical prowess. This is a lighthearted contest that
draws the world’s attention. Eurovision aims to show unity, but it is actually
a political bout full of hidden meaning. Each song can carry significant
meaning even if it isn’t blatantly said. Oftentimes, countries will submit
songs that have hidden messages towards other countries. Using these method
countries can get out different opinions, on a public platform. Even if someone
claimed the meaning of a song, there is no proof as it is all subjective. These
songs use strong symbolism, imagery, and allegorical themes to bring a deep
experience to the viewer. Additionally, these songs are
broadcast to Europe. This means that there is a language barrier, so the
singers have to convey the songs meaning in many ways. Azerbaijan is no
exception to this rule. Over the past five years Azerbaijan has had a fair
share of these symbolic songs.
From 2011 to 2015, Azerbaijan had
five interesting performances. The first three years I'll be looking at all
have a general theme of love. This does not mean that the songs have no
meaning. In fact, Azerbaijan shows multiple types of love including DESPERATION,
LOSS, AND BOUND PASTS. Since the Eurovision Song Contest is a contest made for
subliminal messages, it is unusual to miss out on the opportunity by singing a
love song.
In 2011 Azerbaijan’s Ell and Nikki
delivered a song called “Running Scared” (2011), in which they sing about the
desperation that comes from an unbalanced relationship.
At first it seems as if this song has no deeper meaning than the
love between the performers, but it is clear from the direction the singers
face and the lyrics that this is false. In the opening, the singers and backup
dancers are standing in unison, alluding to its necessity in a relationship.
Unity brings stability and understanding, but as the singers start, they face
away from each other and separate showing their weak unity. The first verse has
a line saying, “I just wanna be, be around you all the time… Oh god I need
you.” Ell is singing to Nikki about how much he wants her. This shows how
desperate he is for her. Nikki is almost running away from Ell this entire performance.
The chorus includes being scared of Tonight, and Life. If all Ell is seeking is
emotional stability because he is “Running Scared.” “Running Scared” may even
denote how he feels when he isn’t with her, meaning that he is afraid of losing
her. Ell goes on to sing, “what I wouldn’t give away. To be [your] shelter and
keep you safe.” As he sings this, he captures Nikki and holds her face forcing
her to comply with his desperation. This isn’t the only song with love as its
theme. This trend of love continues in 2012.
In 2012 Sabina Babayeva took the
stage with “When The Music Dies” (2012), in which she sings about love and
loss. This love song brings a more ominous and dark theme opening with dark
blue lights on Sabina’s body and fog machines. Suddenly, lights turn on and a
sea of red floods the back screen. Red is symbolic of love, disappointment,
anger, and confusion. The singer herself is dressed in a white dress, which may
signify purity, but not so much. At different points her dress turns red turning
her into a lost lover void of the purity she once had. Sabina’s song is about
emotions that come after a breakup. She sings, “I tried to keep us alive… I
still wanna keep us alive.” This means she was in a relationship that didn’t
work out, but she wanted to get back together. As the song continues it gets
progressively more intense, which shows the deep emotional pit she is in.
Towards the end a Mugham traditional Azerbaijani singer layers his voice into
the final moments of the performance. This deepens the emotional effect and
pays homage to the culture. This song gives off a more intense feeling of
betrayal and love and is a lot less lofty than the previous year.
In 2013 Farid Mammadov performed
“Hold Me” (2013), a love song about bound pasts. This love song puts
forth a more emotionally scarred theme. Farid is a man who goes through
different emotional stages throughout the song. In the beginning he is single
and is dancing with his shadow. The shadow’s movements are robotic as if the
choreography wanted to invoke the feeling of mindlessness. A woman in a red
dress with an extremely long train walks onto the stage up to the shadow. Both
Farid and the woman touch the box releasing rose petals. The shadow fights
against the rose petals showing unhealthy that relationship was. In the last
chorus the woman and the shadow start dancing together as if the woman wants
Farid’s old self. He says, “You said I was your fantasy… unchain my soul.” This
proves that the woman was looking for something that wasn't there anymore.
She tried forcing him to be something that he was not. This version of a
love story was more about the inner working of the singer’s heart, rather than
an idealistic relationship. After this third year, Azerbaijan broke away from
the romantic vibe.
In 2014 Dilara Kazimova performed
her ballad “Start A Fire” (2014), a moving activism song. The camera starts in
a position behind her, to surprise the audience with the voice and face of the
singer. A trapeze artist is revealed and Dilara continues to sing through the
first two verses. She sings, “But no one sees the bitter cold and shivering
empty hands.” This represents people begging for money and people who are
homeless. During these first two verses the background is a bright star. The
star is the wishes, gathering hearts, and dreams of the people of Azerbaijan.
As soon as the first chorus starts the background changes to stained glass
windows, which are symbolic of a cathedral. Almost immediately after that the
scene changes to a large city. Cities denote the development of a country. This
means this imagery shows hope for the future growth of Azerbaijan into utopia.
The scene changes for a fourth time into crystals. The crystals have an
allegorical meaning of the precious nature of the “eager, bold and noble” who
fight for freedom. Crystals are precious and rare and so is the will to fight
for change. Lastly, the scene changes into a red fury, which can only be
imagery of starting a fire. This song is all about the determination of
humanity to make change. They build and create structures and help those around
them. After singing her song Dilara says, “make love not war.” This certainly
brings her performance together as a call to humanity to work together for
change.
In 2015 Elnur Huseynov graced
Eurovision with “Hour Of The Wolf” (2015) seizing the moment. He is paired with
two interpretive dancers who imitate wolves. This performance starts with
a solar eclipse as the background. Solar eclipses happen when the moon comes
between the sun and the earth, as if the sun has been blotted out of the sky.
This eventually changes to a lunar eclipse showing a red moon. The dancers
begin to “fight” with each other in this time of desperation. Their costumes
have an external spine as if they are being controlled like puppets. To their
surprise the moon turns into a bright full moon showing that a new day came and
went. This song is about not giving up on finding peace. Elnur sings, “I feel
brave yet scared, but I’ll stay prepared.” He’s looking for an answer and he
“won’t sleep” until there is change. In small moments we can feel desperate and
confused by our circumstances like the moon's changing phases. It is impossible
to make change if it is ignored, so we have to stay course and not stop the
fight.
According to the Eurovision
website all of the performers in the five years I analyzed are from Baku,
Azerbaijan (Eurovision.tv). This is interesting because it shows that
Azerbaijan has a pride in their own people. This is quite representative of the
country as a whole because the country holds an extreme majority of Azerbaijani
citizens. Race is not the only piece of a diverse environment. In fact,
Azerbaijan has had diversity under gender too. The performances trade-off
between male and female performers. This shows how progressive they are as a
country. Lastly, Azerbaijan lacks in diversity with the experience of its
singers. According to the Eurovision website all of the singers from these five
years started from a young age. Almost as if they were manufactured. Azerbaijan
does a great job diversity, lacking only in some areas.
As you can see, this is not simply
a song contest, but a battle of ideals and representations of each country. In
Azerbaijan’s case, they use a mix of messages. Their love songs show deep
emotions of desperation, love and bound pasts. The songs by Dilara and Elnur
have a clear theme of change using activism and seizing the moment to back it
up. In addition to the themes the strong sense of diversity drives these
performances. As a country Azerbaijan itself has been through extreme changes
over the last few decades, so showing their continued will to change and
diversity is important. It shows Europe how they can and will aim for
greatness. Through their varying performances and themes of love and change
Azerbaijan has put themselves in the view of the world, proudly displaying who
they are as a country.
Word Count: 1634
Works Cited
Elli/Nikki. “Running Scared,” music and lyrics
by Stefan Orn, Sandra Bjurman, and lain James Farquharson. Azerbaijan,
Eurovision Song Contest, 2011. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0tlQUW5X0U Accessed 12 Feb. 2017.
Babayeva, Sabina. “When the Music Dies,” music
and lyrics by Anders Bagge, Johan Kronlund, Sandra Bjurman, and Stefan Orn.
Azerbaijan, Eurovision Song Contest, 2012. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzT7O3Fnwpk Accessed 12 Feb. 2017.
"Eurovision.tv." Eurovision.tv. N.p.,
n.d. Web. 14 Feb. 2017. http://www.eurovision.tv/page/timeline
Mammadov, Farid. “Hold Me,” music and lyrics
by Dimitrios Kontopoulos, John Ballard, Ralph Charlie, and Al Fahel.
Azerbaijan, Eurovision Song Contest, 2013. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iN3d_V7KVLE Accessed 12 Feb. 2017.
Kazimova, Dilara. “Start A Fire,” music and
lyrics by Stephan Orn, Johan Kronlund, and Alessandra Gunthardt. Azerbaijan,
Eurovision Song Contest, 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mPUMPcFQAY Accessed 12 Feb. 2017.
Huseynov, Elnur. “Hour Of The Wolf,” music and
lyrics by Nicolas Rebscher, Nicklas Lif, Lina Hansson, and Sandra Bjurman.
Azerbaijan, Eurovision Song Contest, 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcVrAFtc5YI Accessed 12 Feb. 2017.
