believe it or not but Eurovision is all over the year. After all apart from still listening to the preferred songs the preparations are starting on the whole one year ahead choosing the hosting city and the hall where it is to take place (or building it if it is necessary like it was the case in Düsseldorf 2011), choosing the hosts, deciding and confirming the participation as a country. submitting the potential entries for the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest, choosing the artist that is going to represent its nation whether internally or with a pre-election show, promotion shows of the artists and picking personal favorites and of course the event itself with either a post-Eurovision-depression or rather -celebration and thanks to our new technologies also keeping in touch with the artists we liked.
About this depression or rather celebration I wanted to talk with a man of many words the 35-year-old Vahe Tilbian the African-Armenian member of Genealogy the super-group that represented Armenia and the Armenian diaspora in the Eurovision Song Contest this year in the Austrian capital Vienna.I got and kept in touch with this kind country-mate of mine and artist and asked him about his plans after Eurovision, Genealogy and a personal review on the Eurovision Song Contest. Read the whole interview below.
Fall4Me: Dear Vahe, thank you for having a chat with me. It is a big pleasure for me and my readers to have your attention.
So tell us, how do you feel after the Eurovision Song Contest?
Vahe Tilbian: I feel extremely honoured and humbled to have been given the chance to be part of this historic project. Huge thanks to AMPTV for creating this opportunity. To be able to represent Ethiopia the country I was born in and Armenia the country where my roots are from, both at the same time was an amazing privilege.
Apart from certainly enjoying summer what are you currently busy with? Do you have any projects going on or any plans you have made real after Eurovision?
It’s actually the rainy season in Addis Abeba, the capital of Ethiopia until late September so other than trying to stay warm and dry I also have my regular shows with my band at the Sheraton Hotel in Addis and in my off time I am working on an EP which may graduate to being a full album. Not sure yet.
It’s actually the rainy season in Addis Abeba, the capital of Ethiopia until late September so other than trying to stay warm and dry I also have my regular shows with my band at the Sheraton Hotel in Addis and in my off time I am working on an EP which may graduate to being a full album. Not sure yet.
What about your band Genealogy? I am aware of the fact that you and your band members are based all over the world and that it is hard to work on projects through such a distance but do you think you will unite for more projects such as an album for which you and the other members of the band would probably also write and produce, a tour, etc.? Your successful and popular cover of "Menq Enq Mer Sarery" (Engl.: We Are Our Mountains) seemed very promising.
I would love to work with Genealogy again but for now there’s no news of album or a tour unfortunately. I hope that will change.
I would love to work with Genealogy again but for now there’s no news of album or a tour unfortunately. I hope that will change.
Taking a look back at Eurovision, how contented are you with the whole results of the grand final and semi-finals? In particular which participants did you miss in the grand final? Who was rated unexpectedly good? What do you think about the winning entry? Did you live any disappointments? Who should have won in your opinion in which entries did you see winning potential?
If you see the video of us making the finals already tells you how ecstatic I was when Armenia was announced. Of course everyone wants to win and that’s why you take part in a competition but not everyone does win so you just have to do your very best and be happy with your performance. The rest is up to the votes and you can never know what listeners will like and vote for. People like what they like and vote for what they like. One hopes it has nothing to do with politics or borders.
If you see the video of us making the finals already tells you how ecstatic I was when Armenia was announced. Of course everyone wants to win and that’s why you take part in a competition but not everyone does win so you just have to do your very best and be happy with your performance. The rest is up to the votes and you can never know what listeners will like and vote for. People like what they like and vote for what they like. One hopes it has nothing to do with politics or borders.
With regard to your own performance. What do you think is the reason that Genealogy was rated rather bad with a 16th place and 34 points? What did you find very good about your performance what could have been better? Do you think you should have been rated higher? What did you have what other Armenian entries before did not have and this year's participants?
I don’t think Genealogy was ranked badly to be honest. We did the very best that we could and represented our country as perfectly as we could have, representing both Armenia and the Armenian diaspora of 13 million people. It was an amazing feeling. I think that was the main difference between previous entries and Genealogy. We literally represented the whole world. We made the finals which was a great achievement but ended up not getting many votes from voters and the jury. But I guess it could have been worse as some countries got zero votes.
Of course I would have loved for Armenia to be top 10 but like I said above, a competition is a competition. Someone wins, many don’t.
I don’t think Genealogy was ranked badly to be honest. We did the very best that we could and represented our country as perfectly as we could have, representing both Armenia and the Armenian diaspora of 13 million people. It was an amazing feeling. I think that was the main difference between previous entries and Genealogy. We literally represented the whole world. We made the finals which was a great achievement but ended up not getting many votes from voters and the jury. But I guess it could have been worse as some countries got zero votes.
Of course I would have loved for Armenia to be top 10 but like I said above, a competition is a competition. Someone wins, many don’t.
What is you advice for Armenia's next Eurovision contestant? What kind of song could you imagine or do you even have some artists in mind whom you would wish to represent Armenia next year in Stockholm?
My advice is to be yourself, always and sing from your heart. You can always tell when someone is not singing or performing from the heart. This is a huge stage and an amazing honour so whoever is chosen to represent Armenia for 2016 will be a great vocalist and musician. As for the style of music, I leave it up to the professionals. They know what they’re doing. Forgive my arrogance and just to put it out there, I, myself, would love to represent Armenia again in Stockholm. :-)
Last but not least, is there something you would like to say in general and to the readers and followers of this blog?
Thank you for this opportunity Johanna. I really appreciate the love and passion and want to take this chance I am given to thank everyone for the countless social media messages and for the continued support of both Genealogy and myself as an artist. Thanks to all who voted for Armenia. I am so thankful to the amazing team in Armenia from AMPTV (Hanrayin) for everything they did for us. A group of extremely professional young talented people who I appreciate to the maximum. God bless you all.
Thank you for this opportunity Johanna. I really appreciate the love and passion and want to take this chance I am given to thank everyone for the countless social media messages and for the continued support of both Genealogy and myself as an artist. Thanks to all who voted for Armenia. I am so thankful to the amazing team in Armenia from AMPTV (Hanrayin) for everything they did for us. A group of extremely professional young talented people who I appreciate to the maximum. God bless you all.
Photos: AMPTV
Xoxo ♥ Johanna
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