Singer Emma representing Italy performs the song 'La Mia Citta' during a rehearsal of the Eurovision Song Contest Final in the B&W Halls in Copenhagen, Denmark. AP
Singer Emma representing Italy performs the song 'La Mia Citta' during a rehearsal of the Eurovision Song Contest Final in the B&W Halls in Copenhagen, Denmark. AP

Eurovision Song Contest closely intertwined with politics



Since the first votes were cast in 1956, Eurovision Song Contest results have been closely intertwined with politics and this year’s 2014 competition is no exception.

Russia’s Tolmachevy Sisters were booed on Tuesday when it was announced that they had made it to tonight’s final, while experts believe Ukraine could benefit from sympathy votes.

Things didn't get any easier for the Russian twins after Eurovision buffs claimed to find a Ukrainian subtext in one of the verses of their song Shine.

“Living on the edge, closer to the crime, cross the line a step at a time,” the lyrics say.

Although incidents suggest otherwise - last year the failure of Azerbaijan to vote for ally Russia prompted a president-ordered recount - artists still insist it’s all about the music.

“I have lots of friends, relatives in Ukraine,” said Yvonne Gruenwald, the half Ukrainian singer of German hopefuls Elaiza.

“Of course I’m afraid of threats to Ukraine. But I think in Eurovision, people must vote with the heart, not with the head.

“This is about the best artist, regardless of nationality,” she said.

Conchita Wurst, the hirsute alter ego of Austrian performer Tom Neuwirth, will represent his homeland with the Bond theme-like ballad Rise Like a Phoenix, drawing ire from socially conservative viewers.

In Russia, Belarus and Ukraine petitioners have demanded that the 25-year-old drag artist be dropped from the competition, while the leader of Austria’s right-wing FPOe party has called the act “ridiculous”.

“I have very thick skin,” said Wurst. “It never ceases to amaze me just how much fuss is made over a little facial hair.”

But much like the song’s title, the singer on Friday rose to second place in the odds table after winning over viewers with Thursday’s semi-final performance.

Other artists predicted to do well are Sweden’s Sanna Nielsen, who late in the week was the frontrunner with a power-ballad penned by one of the country’s veteran Eurovision songwriters.

Dutch duo The Common Linnets are also seen as a contender for the top spot with a Nashville-inspired and somewhat unlikely country song in a contest known for kitsch pop and sparkly frocks.

Audiences in Britain and France routinely complain that their countries suffer from a lack of European voting allies and tend to take the competition less seriously than the countries of the former eastern bloc that joined in the 1990s.

“Everything could be political but we don’t really care, because we are artists and what we are doing is music,” said Lorent Idir from France’s Twin Twin.

If France wanted to win - a feat it hasn’t accomplished since 1977 - its artists needed to add a bit more “fun and colour”, he suggested.

The mainstream appeal of the Eurovision Song Contest has grown over the past two decades after strict rules on singing in the national language and performing with an orchestra were scrapped.

It has also benefitted from the popularity of TV talent shows, and several of this year’s artists have previously competed in programmes like The X Factor.

The growing size of the event, and a desire by some countries to use it to showcase themselves to the rest of the world, has led to soaring costs.

According to some estimates the price for regenerating Azerbaijan’s host city Baku in 2012 was around US$1 billion dollars (Dh3.67bn).

The Danish broadcaster DR has pledged to spend about $35.4 million on Eurovision, which last year drew an audience of 170 million viewers.

“We’re upping the pace a little to increase the suspense,” said executive producer Pernille Gaardbo.

“When the artists leave the stage we will show their immediate reaction... We want to make it as dramatic as possible,” she added.

Elsewhere in Europe, broadcasters continue to struggle with budget cuts and Bulgaria, Cyprus and Serbia have all said they will not be competing this year.

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Name: ARDH Collective
Based: Dubai
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Sector: Sustainability
Total funding: Self funded
Number of employees: 4
The details

Heard It in a Past Life

Maggie Rogers

(Capital Records)

3/5

Company Profile
Company name: OneOrder

Started: October 2021

Founders: Tamer Amer and Karim Maurice

Based: Cairo, Egypt

Industry: technology, logistics

Investors: A15 and self-funded 

Our family matters legal consultant

Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

Result

Arsenal 4
Monreal (51'), Ramsey (82'), Lacazette 85', 89')

West Ham United 1
Arnautovic (64')

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: TBD
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza, Palestine
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding

Coal Black Mornings

Brett Anderson

Little Brown Book Group 

EMIRATES'S%20REVISED%20A350%20DEPLOYMENT%20SCHEDULE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEdinburgh%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20November%204%20%3Cem%3E(unchanged)%3C%2Fem%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EBahrain%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20November%2015%20%3Cem%3E(from%20September%2015)%3C%2Fem%3E%3B%20second%20daily%20service%20from%20January%201%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EKuwait%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20November%2015%20%3Cem%3E(from%20September%2016)%3C%2Fem%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EMumbai%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20January%201%20%3Cem%3E(from%20October%2027)%3C%2Fem%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EAhmedabad%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20January%201%20%3Cem%3E(from%20October%2027)%3C%2Fem%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EColombo%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20January%202%20%3Cem%3E(from%20January%201)%3C%2Fem%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EMuscat%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cem%3E%20%3C%2Fem%3EMarch%201%3Cem%3E%20(from%20December%201)%3C%2Fem%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ELyon%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20March%201%20%3Cem%3E(from%20December%201)%3C%2Fem%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EBologna%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20March%201%20%3Cem%3E(from%20December%201)%3C%2Fem%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cem%3ESource%3A%20Emirates%3C%2Fem%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?

1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull

2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight

3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge

4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own

5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed

The Africa Institute 101

Housed on the same site as the original Africa Hall, which first hosted an Arab-African Symposium in 1976, the newly renovated building will be home to a think tank and postgraduate studies hub (it will offer master’s and PhD programmes). The centre will focus on both the historical and contemporary links between Africa and the Gulf, and will serve as a meeting place for conferences, symposia, lectures, film screenings, plays, musical performances and more. In fact, today it is hosting a symposium – 5-plus-1: Rethinking Abstraction that will look at the six decades of Frank Bowling’s career, as well as those of his contemporaries that invested social, cultural and personal meaning into abstraction. 

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The years Ramadan fell in May

1987

1954

1921

1888

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COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESmartCrowd%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2018%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESiddiq%20Farid%20and%20Musfique%20Ahmed%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDubai%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFinTech%20%2F%20PropTech%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInitial%20investment%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%24650%2C000%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECurrent%20number%20of%20staff%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2035%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESeries%20A%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EVarious%20institutional%20investors%20and%20notable%20angel%20investors%20(500%20MENA%2C%20Shurooq%2C%20Mada%2C%20Seedstar%2C%20Tricap)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Museum of the Future in numbers
  •  78 metres is the height of the museum
  •  30,000 square metres is its total area
  •  17,000 square metres is the length of the stainless steel facade
  •  14 kilometres is the length of LED lights used on the facade
  •  1,024 individual pieces make up the exterior 
  •  7 floors in all, with one for administrative offices
  •  2,400 diagonally intersecting steel members frame the torus shape
  •  100 species of trees and plants dot the gardens
  •  Dh145 is the price of a ticket