QUICK TAKES - May 14, 2009
- Share via
Last year’s conflict between Georgia and Russia has moved to the cultural front.
Georgia is staging its own music festival this weekend in a snub to the Eurovision Song Contest in Moscow after the country’s entry was rejected for mocking Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
Georgia pulled out of Eurovision after organizers said it should revise the lyrics of its entry, a disco anthem by Stephane & 3G called “We Don’t Wanna Put In” -- a barely disguised swipe at Putin, whose country defeated Georgia in a brief war last August.
Stephane & 3G will instead perform the song on the final night of Tbilisi Open Air, a three-day music festival in the Georgian capital starting Friday.
Tbilisi Open Air -- a festival rather than a competition -- will feature more than 20 acts from 10 countries, including Britain, Germany, France, Italy and Russia, in the biggest such music event in Georgia since independence in 1991.
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
