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Georgia drops out of Eurovision over Putin song
2009-03-11
TBILISI (AFP) - Georgia said on Wednesday it was pulling out of the Eurovision Song Contest in Moscow after contest organisers rejected a Georgian entry that poked fun at Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. "We have decided not to change the lyrics or choose a different song. We will not go to Moscow and will not take part in Eurovision 2009," said Natia Uznadze, a producer with Georgian public television responsible for the Caucasus nation's Eurovision entry. "It's still not clear to us why Eurovision took this decision. We have not received a concrete explanation," she told AFP. The song titled "We don't wanna put in," performed by the group Stephane and 3G with its play on the prime minister's surname, was rejected by Eurovision organisers on Tuesday for the May 14-16 event, which Russia is hosting. Georgia and Russia remain deeply at odds after a brief war between the two countries over the rebel region of South Ossetia last August. Georgia chose the song after initially considering boycotting the contest. A group of experts that oversees the contest decided the song did not comply with a section of the rules declaring that "no lyrics, speeches, gestures of a political or similar nature shall be permitted." The Georgian group's producer, Kakhaber Tsiskaridze, said he suspected the song was rejected under political pressure from Moscow. "We suspect that this decision is a result of political pressure from Russia. If that is the case, it's unacceptable," he said. He said he disagreed that the song was overtly political. "Where in the lyrics are there any political statements or insults to someone?" he said. With its chorus of "We don't wanna put in/The negative move/It's killin' the groove", the song was unlikely to get a warm reception in Moscow. Russian troops and tanks poured into Georgia last August in response to a Georgian military attempt to retake the Moscow-backed rebel region of South Ossetia. Russian forces occupied swathes of territory and bombed targets across Georgia before mostly withdrawing to within South Ossetia and another breakaway region, Abkhazia.
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