Hopes to Return in 2012
Eva Rivas, Armenia’s representative at the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest in Oslo, Norway in May, came in seventh with her song “Apricot Stone” (lyrics by Moscow-based Karen Kavaleryan, music by Armen Martirosyan).
According to Rivas and her producer, “Apricot Stone” is about the need for world peace and love. The song also symbolizes the Armenian Diaspora and Rivas’s yearning for her homeland.
Her performance of “Apricot Stone” earned a total of 141 points. Accompanying her on the duduk was Djivan Gasparyan, the renowned musician.
19-year-old Lena Meyer-Lundrut, representing Germany, claimed the winning spot with her pop song “Satellite,” which earned 246 points, followed by Turkey’s maNga (170 points), and Romania’s Paula Seling & Ovi (162 points). Voting points came from the viewers and national juries of 39 countries. In 2009, 42 countries participated. Missing from this year’s contest were Andorra, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Montenegro. Georgia had opted to stay out of the 2009 competition in Moscow after being instructed to change the lyrics to their song “We Don’t Wanna Put In” (read Putin). The song was back in this year’s competition and came in ninth.
At the finals, Armenia received 12 points (the maximum number of points one country can give to another) from Russia, the Netherlands, and Israel. In 2009, Israel had given 8 points to Armenia, Russia 5, and the Netherlands 5. Turkey gave Armenia 6 points, as it had the previous year. Armenia also received 10 points from Georgia, 8 from Spain, and 8 from Bulgaria.
Meanwhile following the semifinals, when representatives from both Armenia and Azerbaijan performed, the Azeri media made a fuss about the exclusion of Nagorno-Karabagh and “other occupied territories” from the map of Azerbaijan, which was shown before the Azeri performer’s show. In a separate incidence, the Azeri delegation protested the presence of the Nagorno-Karabagh flag in Oslo’s Telenor Arena, where the semifinals took place. Security personnel, however, refrained from intervening in “political affairs” and allowed the flag to remain, according to ArmeniaNow.com.
In an interview with Armenia’s public television, Rivas said she was pleased with her performance of Apricot Stone. “There is still some feeling of dissatisfaction with the place that we got,” Rivas added, “so I’d like to return there to get a victory for Armenia in 2012,” reported ArmeniaNow.com.
Below are the full results of the 2010 Eurovision song contest, as posted on the Eurovision website.
| Place | Country | Performer | Song | Points |
| 1 | Germany | Lena | Satellite | 246 |
| 2 | Turkey | maNga | We Could Be The Same | 170 |
| 3 | Romania | Paula Seling & Ovi | Playing With Fire | 162 |
| 4 | Denmark | Chanée & N’evergreen | In A Moment Like This | 149 |
| 5 | Azerbaijan | Safura | Drip Drop | 145 |
| 6 | Belgium | Tom Dice | Me And My Guitar | 143 |
| 7 | Armenia | Eva Rivas | Apricot Stone | 141 |
| 8 | Greece | Giorgos Alkaios & Friends | OPA | 140 |
| 9 | Georgia | Sofia Nizharadze | Shine | 136 |
| 10 | Ukraine | Alyosha | Sweet People | 108 |
| 11 | Russia | Peter Nalitch & Friends | Lost And Forgotten | 90 |
| 12 | France | Jessy Matador | Allez Olla Olé | 82 |
| 13 | Serbia | Milan Stanković | Ovo Je Balkan | 72 |
| 14 | Israel | Harel Skaat | Milim | 71 |
| 15 | Spain | Daniel Diges | Algo Pequeñito (Something Tiny) | 68 |
| 16 | Albania | Juliana Pasha | It’s All About You | 62 |
| 17 | Bosnia & Herzegovina | Vukašin Brajić | Thunder And Lightning | 51 |
| 18 | Portugal | Filipa Azevedo | Há Dias Assim | 43 |
| 19 | Iceland | Hera Björk | Je Ne Sais Quoi | 41 |
| 20 | Norway | Didrik Solli-Tangen | My Heart Is Yours | 35 |
| 21 | Cyprus | Jon Lilygreen & The Islanders | Life Looks Better In Spring | 27 |
| 22 | Moldova | Sunstroke Project & Olia Tira | Run Away | 27 |
| 23 | Ireland | Niamh Kavanagh | It’s For You | 25 |
| 24 | Belarus | 3+2 | Butterflies | 18 |
| 25 | United Kingdom | Josh | That Sounds Good To Me | 10 |
Eva’s background
Rivas was born Valeriya Reshetnikova-Tsaturyan on July 13, 1987 in Rostov-na-Donu, Russia, to an Armenian mother and an Armenian-Greek-Russian father. She left Rostov in 2006 and soon after adopted her Greek great-grandmother’s name, Eva Rivas, as her stage name.
According to her website (www.evarivas.com), from 1996-2004 she was a soloist in the Arevik Ensemble in Rostov, through which she earned recognition, awards, and medals. In 2003, she graduated from Image Elite, a modeling studio. She has earned titles such as “Little Beauty of Rostov,” “Golden Voice of Rostov,” “Miss Pearl of Don” and, while in Yerevan, “Vice-Miss of the Caucasus.” After leaving Arevik, Rivas continued to enter contests, and in 2008, signed a contract with Armenian Production. She gained even more popularity when in 2009, she chose to sing Sayat Nova’s “Tamam Ashkharh” at the Tashir 2009 Music Festival. That same year, Rivas released a music video for “Tamam Ashkharh,” which was directed by Bookhadir Yuldeshev and shot in Armenia, Afghanistan, Algeria, and Uzbekistan. She has also appeared on Armenian TV shows.
Nanore Barsoumian
Latest posts by Nanore Barsoumian (see all)
- What’s Behind All the Pro-Azerbaijan Articles? - October 24, 2020
- Sharp Rise in Hate Speech Threatens Turkey’s Armenians - October 8, 2020
- When Erdogan Apologizes - May 9, 2019
If it wasn’t for the recent addition of the national juries in the voting system, Rivas would’ve come in first place for sure. Even the German media says so. When Sirusho came in fourth, there were no juries that year. I’m sure she would’ve come in ninth if there had been. The addition of the juries made it a lot easier to manipulate the results of the contest. Omar Harfouch noticed how Azeri officials were bribing and pressuring the jurors to vote for Azerbaijan. It really frustrates me that Rivas was robbed like this. I’m happy that she’ll come back in 2012 to try to pull off a Dima Bilan but I’m not sure if she can if the juries are not removed by then.
Eav jan.. you are our Armenian jewel with your beauty, and voice.. Please know that Turkey and Azerbajian WERE NOT EVEN CLOSE to what you produced with your song.. I am absolutely shocked to see them getting higher score than Armenia.. Our song was absolutely beautiful in lyrics and in music.. However, don’t worry.. You will remain our winner no matter what.. You can definintely see from the on-line votes.. I do not know if the on-line votes were created by Eva’s production team or not; however whoever did that helped alot of us listen to every country’s music and vote according to our opinion. Armenia by far had the MOST votes… Turkey and Azerbajian received lower than ever..and Turkey giving Eva score of 6 shows their understanding what true music and story telling mean…However, no worries… Eva will come back even stronger in 2012.
God Bless you Eva and God Bless Armenians around the world……
I’m glad that Eva Rivas got the 7th spot because to me she was very nerves in a way that she was not performing properly, I have her video of the same song performed in a studio which was perfect and flawless that I proudly sent to my ODAR friends even naming her the “Armenian Angelina Jolie” but in her live performance she was not able to hold some of the ending notes of the song and to be honest not that I want to put her down but if it was me she was going to get much lover position, considering that I’m not a musician and just have a pair of good ears I was anticipating she to finish in much lower position.
Be real people, her lyrics didn’t make sense, and her English was no better! That is why she brought Armenia down to 7.
She’s another sellout that wouldn’t sing in her own language, oh wait, I wonder if she even knows Armenian or just Russian.
Zara,
Yes she sings Sayat Nova.
No matter what… she is Armenian and representing Armenia.. the studio music that we all heard was absolutely beautiful… now if it did not come out as great live as in the studio, then no one can do much about it.
However, the support and encouragement is all that is needed.. we did not get #1 this year; we will fight and get that position in 2012. but after I read Dro’s comment, I have to agree with him.. having these jurors judging the music is absolutely stupid.. if you are going to have jurors who by nature are against each other, you can kiss your score goodbye.. no matter how great the singer is … One thing I did not get clarification on this juror matter.. did they have a jury representative from each country that sung that day or only few?
Gayane
Great song…..gorgeous lady:):)
One thing though, her hair. OMG, talk about long!!!. Makes you wonder how she manages it. Hair that long would be a nightmare to keep clean properly.
Zara,
you are being too harsh. I don’t think Eva wrote the lyrics herself. Whoever did, does not seem to know English well but did the best he/she could. Why don’t you offer your help for our next Eurvision song if you are so concerned?
Eva is not a sellout. Most songs presented at Eurovision have lyrics written in English, including the winning song from Germany.
Eva well done, I am proud of being Armenian and proud of Eva. We Armenians always putting each other down. Yes she is partly Greek and may not speak much Armenian, but at least she feels she is Armenian. I live in England and most Armenians in London Church could not even give a hoot about Armenians but they can speak Armenian. They certanly make me feel foreign when I go there yet I can speak Armenian and both of my parents are Armenian. Why do not we Armenians love each other instead of finding faults with each other?
Most Armenians do not marry Armenians they find foreign women more atractive instead.That is why I am single and Eva is partly Greek.
Angelina Jolie? Are you kidding? That’s an insult to Eva. Eva is the second coming of the Goddess Anahid. I say, welcome back Golden Mother. Any Armenian critics of Eva, her live performance, or the song itself should have their heads examined. Check out what odars write about her; they are all enamored. Yet Armenians criticize.
She is a true Armenian, notwithstanding a Greek great grandmother. Go to Youtube and check out her “fashion shoot.” When the photographer made a move her modesty would not allow, she reacts. Might be a little subtle for some, but to a real Armenian, it’s obvious that she is the real deal–as hamest as she is gorgeous.
Dear a,
As I said before; I have Eva’s video of the same song performed in studio; I love it and once in a while I listen to it, and I still think she looks like Angelina Jolie in that video, BTW I used that as an complement; if someone (by mistake in my case) tell me I look like Brad Pitt I’m not gona show such reaction that you for.
How do you know? Maybe she likes to be called Angelina’s look alike.
Don’t tell me you have a crush on her and trying to get her attention. :-)
No crush. I’m an Armenian grandmother. I doubt someone more beautiful than Angelina Jolie would be flattered to be likened to her. My grandmother used to say that Armenians had mixed inferiority/superiority complexes. Looks like you ended up with just the inferiority part.
Beautifully said, Gayane. Even the greatest voices hit a sour note from time to time in a live performance. To be glad this wonderful young Armenian woman came in 7th boggles the mind. I can’t write what I really feel, because I keep getting censored.
Mersi “A” jan… I am still unsure the reason we did not win…..I know we won on the internet grading…
In addition, I would lean toward you in regards to Eva being compared with Angelina Jolie.. even though Angelina is beautiful in her own way.. I don’t really see a resemblance except her lips.. but Eva is even more beautiful because she is Hayuhi…again who cares the % of the ARmenian blood in her right??… She represents Armenia.. and we need to be proud of her…
Carl… she does have long and gorgeous hair… :) however, i believe her hair is fine..don’t see her having any problems keeping it clean..lol especially for an artist..they have their own hair dressers and such..:) you are funny..:) but she is gorgeous.. i agree with you..:)
Gayane
a is right, the non-Armenians love her. Check out how many of them joined Rivas’ Facebook group:
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001163882597&ref=pymk#!/evarivas2010?ref=ts
I hope that link works.