AZERBAIJAN – Politics are again directly involved in a Eurovision event. We are talking about the Azerbaijan probe during the broadcast in their country of the Armenian entry.
This is how Armenia's live performance sounded like on Azerbaijani tv. @EBU_HQ @EurovisionJr how can you allow this? They talked over her performance the FULL 3 minutes, which is NOT ALLOWED. This is disgusting. #JESC2021 pic.twitter.com/Ekm22wYbiI
— ESC Discord (@ESCdiscord) December 19, 2021
Following the fuzz created all over the web and of course the obvious breach of EBU rules for an undisrupted and fair presentation of all entries, the European Broadcasting Union seems to have issued a response.
Replying to ESC Discord, the EBU was clear. They will demand clarifications from the Azeri national broadcaster for their behaviour. After all, it’s not the first time Azerbaijan causes fuzz with the EBU if you remember the 2013 scandal and the Nagorno Karabakh flag in 2018.
UPDATE: We just received this statement from the EBU communications team regarding the broadcasting of #JESC2021 on Ictimai TV and the commentators talking through Armenia's performance. 👀 pic.twitter.com/NV6wGYSHwV
— ESC Discord (@ESCdiscord) December 22, 2021
But hope never dies. Although we are not aware who took the initiative (if it was an accident or an initiative by an adult), a video came online showing the Azeri participant Sona congratulating and hugging the Armenian singer for her victory in Junior Eurovision. We hope it was a sincere initiative and make it an example to the political b….sh…t surrounding the contest since its own creation.
What can we wait for from the EBU – Ictimai dispute? Well, somehow we all know the issue will be settled without any bigger fuzz, maybe a small financial penalty and an encouragement to avoid future incidents like that. After all, the return of Azerbaijan in JESC is vital alongside the money the country brings to JESC.
an oikotimes original text
