Armenia Places Seventh in Eurovision 2010 Final
Eva Rivas at the 2010 Eurovision Finals in Oslo. / © Giel Domen (EBU)
After all the glitz and money poured into the Europe’s most glamorous event, which commenced after two semi-finals and an almost four hour long finale, Germany’s cute, eccentric Lena took the top spot with her song “Satellite,” followed by Turkey’s rock group maNga and Romania’s infectious duo Ovi and Paula Seling. All the apricot stones in the world couldn’t have helped Armenia’s Eva Rivas place in the top three, but they did land her in seventh place – an accomplishment that might have been aided by her own prominent apricot stones.
Dubbed by British television presenter Graham Norton as winner of the “Miss Caucasus” title, Rivas’ earned 12 points – the maximum from a country – from Russia, Israel and The Netherlands. Armenia also received a surprise eight points from Spain. Armenia awarded 12 points to Georgia for Sofia Nizharadze’s ballad, “Shine,” 10 points to Russia for Peter Nalitch and Friends’ Lost and Forgotten” and eight points to Ukraine’s Alyosha for “Sweet People.”
Eva Rivas backstage with Jivan Gasparyan and friends a the second Eurovision semi-final. / © Indrek Galetin (EBU)
Finishing with 141 points, Rivas’ performance was more or less exactly the same as her semi-final number, although her hair (still as long as ever) was styled more appropriately for a televised appearance.
Still, distraction reigned in Rivas’ performance, so much so that it made focusing on the song at hand was a difficult task.
Then there was that giant apricot ‘stone’ on stage, which blossomed after one of Rivas’ dancers poured some imaginary water from his vase on it. Then there were the dancers and backup singers all together, fluttering on stage while she was singing. Her outfit and hair already made her larger than life, so adding more to the performance only took away from it.
Still, the buzz on social media networks like Facebook and Twitter however, made it apparent that “Apricot Stone” was an infectious hit.
Armenia first entered the Eurovision Song Contest in 2006, with André’s “Without Your Love” placing eighth. While sister duo Inga and Anush placed 10th with their song, “Jan Jan,” Sirusho’s 2008 performance of “Qélé Qélé” gave Armenia its best ever rank at fourth place. With the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest taking place in Berlin, fans will have to wait one more year to see what Armenia has in store for its sixth entry into the competition.
Watch Eva Rivas at the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest Final below
