 After
Armenia received its best result ever this year with Sirusho, the world-famous
rock band System of a Down shown a keen interest in representing the
country in Russia next year.
However, the soloist of the American band, Serj Tankian, has openly
stated in a recent visit in Finland that this will be under one condition: if
they will be able to use Eurovision as a way to make the much-debated Armenian
Genocide issue known. "Esc would be an excellent way to make this theme known.
We must seriously think of this." said Tankian in response to a question posed
by Finnish News Agency.
System of a Down is very politically active and are noted for the liberal
political views expressed in their songs, tackling myriad subjects including the
War on Drugs, religion, drug use, and especially censorship. They have actively
campaigned to get Turkey to recognize the controversial Armenian Genocide and
the subject is often-tackled in their songs. They are also a part of the Axis of
Justice, a non-profit political activist organization fighting for recognition
of the polemical issue, believed to have taken part in the early 20th century.
Ironically, the band has many Turkish fans as well.
Previously similar themes have been tried at Eurovision with mixed success. In
1976 Greece sent the song Panaghia mou, Panaghia mou about the invasion of
Cyprus, in 1993 Bosnia-Herzegovina performed Sva bol svijeta about the war in
the region, and it is also believed by experts that the 1996 United Kingdom
entry Ohh Ahh Just a little bit also has a hidden message about genocide.
With previous song titles such as Violent Pornography, This Cocaine Makes Me
Feel Like I'm On This Song, Peephole and Fuck the System, System of a Down would
perhaps be censored by the EBU rule about bad language that previously forced
Silvia Night to officially change the lyrics of her song, while the EBU would
probably choose to believe the political message was a reference to ancient
Armenian bedtime stories or an ending relationship.
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