- Title: AZERBAIJAN: Hungarian band brings song of unity to Eurovision
- Date: 18th May 2012
- Summary: BAKU, AZERBAIJAN (MAY 18, 2012) (REUTERS) ( ** BEWARE FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY **) VARIOUS OF HUNGARIAN EUROVISION SONG CONTEST 2012 ENTRY 'COMPACT DISCO' PERFORMING AT DRESS REHEARSAL PHOTOGRAPHER TAKING PHOTOS VARIOUS OF COMPACT DISCO PERFORMING
- Embargoed: 2nd June 2012 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Azerbaijan
- Country: Azerbaijan
- Topics: Entertainment
- Reuters ID: LVA24WJTIA8PPVJL0HO4K3ILCUD8
- Story Text: Hungary's entry into the Eurovision Song Contest, the electric band Compact Disco, rehearsed before journalists on Friday (May 18) in Baku, before holding a news briefing to talk about the song they chose to perform and support from the home country.
The four-man band is performing their original ballad "Sound Of Our Hearts" for the competition that pits European singers against each other in a wildly popular televised competition.
The band members reacted in the news conference to questions about their song's soulful, emotional sound.
"We are kind of emotional, uh, men, if you like, because I think deep inside everybody is. And we're just not ashamed to put it there," said band manager Adam Berczes.
But, he added, the song was chosen especially for Eurovision to show the unity of all people. Azerbaijan, the mostly-Muslim, ex-Soviet country of 9 million is hosting Eurovision.
"Not everything is about love when it comes to lyrics of Compact Disco. The best example is this, this song what we entered here in this competition. That's not about love. That's about a much wider spectrum of feeling. It's not between two persons. It's between communities and nations and faiths, and religions," Berczes said.
Berczes said the band was pleased with the level of support among fans in Hungary, despite the tough competition to get the national spot.
"Of course there were various reactions. The hard core fans of the other artists, they were disappointed, but generally we have very very favourable reviews and opinions about the fact that we won the national selection and we are here now," he said.
Rights groups and Western governments have previously urged Azerbaijan, where government critics have been imprisoned on what supporters have called fabricated charges, to take steps to ensure freedom of expression and assembly. Critics accuse President Ilham Aliyev, who succeeded his late father in 2003, of clamping down on dissent, including during protests last year inspired by the Arab Spring. The secular government says Azerbaijan enjoys full freedom of speech and a thriving opposition press.
While band members did not wade into politics during their news conference, they said their song concentrated on the ways that individuals could make a difference in the world.
"You don't have to save the world and try to achieve world peace in your living room, but you can start behaving much nicer with the fellow human beings around you. And to illustrate the need for this was showing that it can be the same, and it can be two persons, it doesn't really matter, if you are dirt poor or filthy rich, if you are not a good person, your life will be miserable," Berczes said.
Band members of Compact Disco have been performing and recording music together since 2005, but only four years later their first album was launched. Now they are one of the most popular acts in Hungary. They face the first semi-final on May 22, another semi on May 24 and, if successful, the grand final on May 26. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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