Georgia: The Nation on Stage

          For many of the smaller nations located in Europe, the stage of the Eurovision Song Contest is a way to showcase their country’s culture or traditional music genre to the entire continent. These performances, especially in terms for the lesser-known countries, are sometimes the only way to present not only the country, but also the country’s diversity.

          Although at first glance Georgia’s 2010 Eurovision Song Contest entry, Sofia Nizharadze’s “Shine” may have seemed a bit stereotypical-pop-song-esque, but looking deeper into the performance details sheds a new light on the song. The Grand Final performance started off with six people on stage: Sofia Nizharadze (2010, Georgia) along with two background vocalists and three backup dancers. Although choreographed and placed meticulously together, when carefully examining the repetition in colors of the performers’ outfits and background lighting, there seemed to be a theme of coloration. The colors of all the performers’ garments were red and white, matching with the long silks hanging in the background. These silks changed from colors red and white throughout the performance, while hanging in cross-like and parallel shapes behind the performers. The colors red and white appear on the national flag of Georgia, therefore projecting the nation’s presence in the song. With the lyrics, “You can’t go back to before/But tomorrow will bring even more” (European Broadcasting Union, 2010) stating the importance of looking forward to the future instead of focusing on the past. This lyric is followed by, “Shine, shine like the stars in the sky” (European Broadcasting Union, 2010) offering the viewer the idea of comfort in being your truest self. Georgia is telling Europe that they will always be their truest self no matter what barriers they might have. Throughout the performance the repetition of a cross can also be seen. Firstly, as a diamond necklace on the Georgian-born singer, Sofia Nizharadze (2010), then the shape of the silks in the background, and finally, in the ending formation of all the performers. Nizharadze (2010, Georgia), along with her background dancers, is seen quickly creating the shape of a cross in the front of the stage at the very end of the performance. The silks in the back of the main stage create a total of four crosses, adding Nizharadze’s (2010, Georgia) cross in the equation, there would be a total of five crosses on the stage. This directly correlates to the five crosses known on the Georgian national flag (Administration of the President of Georgia, 2015). The camera’s wide angle at the end of the performance is also an added feature into seeing all the crosses on stage at once. Again, these crosses further emphasize the importance of the country of Georgia in the song. The song closes not only with the performers in the shape of a cross, but with added fire special effects coming directly out of the stage to emphasize this dramatic ending.

          The 2011 Eurovision entry is definitely a change of tone as the nationally-known band Eldrine’s “One Day More” song takes place. This fusion of punk, metal, rap, and a bit of screamo, is a completely different style of music, showcasing the diversity of genre Georgia places into its’ submissions. Each member of the Georgian band (2011) is wearing a black garment of clothing, each with a different neon statement color sewn onto the black outfit. The grunge look is perfected with a projection of bricks shown in the background. The continuous change in camera angles, always showing a different depiction of the performers could be looked at as an insight into the lyrics being sung. Although showing no diversity in the English language being sung, the refrain is sung as, “I wanna give it on fire/Uncover vicious desire/Abandon painful denial/Find every reason to stay” (European Broadcasting Union, 2011) showcasing the optimistic outlook the singer has. Although the genre and sound of punk and metal can be misjudged at times for being negative and aggressive, this song shows itself to be about a positive perspective on life and finding every reason to live. The chorus following with, “Another forbidden sensation/Another emotional flare/Down with the fake hesitation/Gee, yeah, - I am ready to pay/Pay for the hopeless despair/Gonna live one more day of my fate” (European Broadcasting Union, 2011) as Eldrine (Georgia, 2011) speaks about changing their pessimistic outlook for a positive one. They are now pushing away the negative connotations and instead finding every reason, no matter good or bad, to live out their life. The repetition in the colors of red and white are still apparent throughout this punk performance, as the quickly strobing lights on the main stage are colored red and white. This feature is subconsciously giving the audience a connection between the country Georgia and the colors red and white, whether they know it or not.

          Finally, the 2012 Georgian performance, Andri Jokhadze’s “I’m a Joker”, is the most diverse out of the three performances discussed. This Georgian-loved pop singer is known for his vocal range of more than four octaves, which can be seen in the line, “I wanna fly…” (European Broadcasting Union, 2012). I believe this multi-layered song is about turning from good to evil. This performance first starts out with a single spotlight on Andri Jokhadze (Georgia, 2012) dressed in a hooded, dark red robe with a white rope tied across his waist. The song starts out slow with an opera style sung in Georgian, translated into English as, “Expectation will be over/I regret my every day spent without you/I miss your voice/and there is always something left to say” (European Broadcasting Union, 2012). I think this slower paced part of the song represents the purity and holiness that Jokhadze (Georgia, 2012) before turning to the evil side. The fact that these lyrics were sung in Georgian further proves the more traditional style this verse is trying to demonstrate. After this slow, modest start, the song transitions with four women background singers all dressed in black leotards chanting, “Do what you wanna” (European Broadcasting Union, 2012) repeatedly. I interpreted this as the evil spirits tempting Jokhadze (Georgia, 2012) to come to the “evil” side. This chant ends with a pop-influenced sound adding to the lyrics, “I'm a joker/I'm a rocker/Hold me baby, love me baby, forever, ever, ever/I'm a shocker/I'm a poker/Got no fear, got no tear baby/Never and never” (European Broadcasting Union, 2012) The mood immediately changes to an upbeat pop sound as he dances around with the four background dancers. After a few more verses, a dancer with a long, bright, red ponytail wearing a black unitard appears and starts dancing around Jokhadze (Georgia, 2012). Dancing uncontrollably, the dancer can be interpreted as a symbol of the darkness inside him. When you think of fire in a religious aspect, many think of Hell and the Devil, and the fire special effects on the main stage add that emotion to the performance. Although this artist doesn’t show diversity in his origin, Andri Jokhadze (Georgia, 2012) was the first man to represent Georgia in the Eurovision Song Contest (European Broadcasting Union, 2012).

          Georgian is not the most well-known country in Europe, therefore the Eurovision Song Contest is a way for the nation to make itself and its’ diversity acknowledged by the rest of the continent. Although they have diversity in their music genres, their choice for performers is never diverse. All three performers listed have all been born and raised in Georgia. This lack in diversity can come off as unwelcoming to different cultures and people. The repetition of the red and white coloration can also come off too strong, therefore unreceptive to anyone who isn’t from Georgia. Although I understand pride in your country, if Georgia keeps displaying it at this large rate, the lack of diversity will continue to rise causing an unwelcoming presence within the country.

Word Count: 1306

Works Cited:

Administration of the President of Georgia (2015). State symbols. Official Website of the President of

Georgia. Retrieved from https://www.president.gov.ge/ka-GE/saqartvelo/sakhelmcifo-simboloebi.aspx

Eldrine. (2011). One Day More (Georgia). Eurovision Song Contest 2011 Düsseldorf. Retrieved from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=121&v=s2EwiTBiEDU

European Broadcasting Union. (2010). Sofia Nizharadze: Shine. The Official Website of the Eurovision

Song Contest. Retrieved from

https://eurovision.tv/participant/sofia-nizharadze/info

European Broadcasting Union. (2011). Eldrine: One Day More. The Official Website of the Eurovision

Song Contest. Retrieved from

https://eurovision.tv/participant/eldrine/info

European Broadcasting Union. (2012). Andri Jokhadze: I’m a Joker. The Official Website of the Eurovision

Song Contest. Retrieved from

https://eurovision.tv/participant/anri-jokhadze/info

Jokhadze, A. (2012). I’m a Joker (Georgia). Eurovision Song Contest 2012 Baku. Retrieved from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=168&v=xfpKnMBjdrU

Nizharadze, S. (2010). Shine (Georgia). Eurovision Song Contest 2010 Oslo. Retrieved from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5yTMGxFiPw

Georgia: The National Self (and the "other")

Personally, I believe the term “national identity” refers to a single nation’s unique characteristics derived from its culture that define who they are. Perhaps a specific traditional music, language, dance, or cooking dish gives them a sense of pride in themselves as a nation compared to other countries across the world. National identity also tends to be alongside a comparison of a separate country, usually bordering the nation. This “other” country is a very important part in distinguishing a country’s national identity.

The country of Georgia has built an extremely strong national identity, as they are one of the oldest countries in the world, starting their creation in the year 300 B.C (CIA World Factbook, 2017a). Although the country of Georgia can at times be confused with the country in the United States, or just completely forgotten about, Georgians are loud and proud of where they come from.

Language is a very prevalent and unique characteristic in the country of Georgia. The official language of Georgia is Georgian, which 87.6% of the population speak (CIA World Factbook, 2017b). An incredible feature of Georgian is that it is one of the only languages in the world to have no influence by any European or Asian language. This very complicated and complex language has 3 alphabets including: Asomtavruli, Nuskhuri and Mkhedruli. This language has stood through centuries upon centuries of intruders coming in and out of the country, and the fact that the language has stayed the same through all those years proves the strength and pride Georgia has for its history.

Another example of Georgians’ national identity is their religion. 83.4% of Georgians are Orthodox, which happens to be the official religion of the country (CIA World Factbook, 2017b). This follows with 10.7% Muslims, which can be traced back to the Azerbaijanian community in the country (CIA World Factbook, 2017b). Being religious is an extremely important moral throughout the country of Georgia. Georgia was one of the first countries in the world to adopt the religion of Christianity in 327 C.E., as it is known that Jesus has done his workings around this area of the world (CIA World Factbook, 2017b).

A final example of Georgia’s national identity is their traditional musical culture. Through the art of singing, Georgians showcase their exquisite talent. The traditional music genre is known as polyphonic singing. Although polyphonic singing can be heard all over the world, the country of Georgia was one of the first to adopt this genre of music (Ivane Javakhishvili, 2010). The polyphonic genre of music is defined as, “a style of musical composition employing two or more simultaneous but relatively independent melodic lines” (Merriam-Webster's collegiate dictionary, 1993).

In terms of the “other” nation that has heavily influenced Georgian culture, the answer is a bit complicated. Although many people know about the invasion of Russia into Ukraine, many are not very knowledgeable of the invasion of Russia into Georgia or the history between these two countries. In 1991, Georgia declared independence from the Soviet Union, but two regions in Georgia, known as South Ossetia and Abkhazia, were not in favor of this decision (BBC Monitoring, 2017a). In 1992 South Ossetia, along with Abkhazia in 1999, declared independence from the country of Georgia because of said disagreement (BBC Monitoring, 2017b, 2017c). Although these regions both declared themselves independent in the late 1990s, only a few countries around the world, including Russia, see them as separate from Georgia (BBC Monitoring, 2017c). Therefore, when referring to these areas, the term “autonomous breakaway regions of Georgia” is usually preferred.  In August of 2008, Russia sent many explosives and soldiers into Georgia wanting to “protect” South Ossetia due to Russia’s accusation of Georgia’s “aggression against South Ossetia” (Peter Roudik, 2015). For five days in August 2008, there were incredible amounts of war and violence throughout the region of South Ossetia and the Georgian borders surrounding it (BBC Monitoring, 2017c). Although the UN tried to investigate this attack, they were removed from the area due to Russia’s veto (CNN Library, 2017). Today, people are still trying to find out what caused Russia’s attack and why the war really started in the first place.

In Anna Triandafyllidou’s work, National Identity and the ‘Other’, she brings up the idea of two types of “others” known as the significant internal and external “others”. Triandafyllidou (1998), defines an external “other” as, “those that form a separate political system” (p. 600). Later she states how an external significant other can also be defined as another threating or non-threatening nation. The internal significant “other” is one who “belong to the same political entity with the ingroup” (Triandafyllidou, 1998). Further on, Triandafyllidou (1998), describes that an internal significant other can be as simple as a group with different cultural beliefs including “language, traditions and myths from origin” (p.601).

Triandafyllidou’s idea on significant external and internal “others” directly correlates to the two autonomous breakaway regions of Georgia: South Ossetia and Abkhazia. I believe these two breakaway regions would be classified underneath the internal significant other who is a, “small nation existing within a larger multinational state” or in more simpler terms, a nation within a larger nation (Triandafyllidou, 602). What’s a bit strange about the situation is that most of the world doesn’t see these two regions as their own country, therefore still placing them underneath the internal significant ‘other’ category instead of an external significant ‘other’.

The country of Russia could also be placed under the category of external significant ‘other’, but personally, I would not consider them an “other” that heavily influenced the cultural community. Although Georgia did break away from the Soviet Union in the early 1990s and the two countries did have a war in 2008, Russia has had no direct influence into Georgian’s culture. Yes, Russia did fight for the South Ossetian people, but the official boundary hasn’t changed to the rest of the world. Therefore, in my opinion, Russia did not profoundly affect Georgia.

Although Georgia has recently been at war, surprisingly there haven’t been any influences through linguistic, musical, or religious traditions to the country of Georgia from both internal significant others: South Ossetia and Abkhazia or external significant other: Russia. Georgia has once again stuck to its roots, even through hardship, and kept the people and their customs sacred. Even though Georgia might have some disagreements with each significant other, Georgia’s national identity has never been influenced or wavered by any country, and that is something to be proud of.

Word Count (1082)

Works cited:

BBC Monitoring, (2017a). Georgia Country Profile. BBC News. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-17301647

BBC Monitoring, (2017b). Abkhazia Profile. BBC News. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-18175030

BBC Monitoring, (2017c). South Ossetia Profile. BBC News. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-18269210

CIA World Factbook (2017a). Introduction. Georgia.

CIA World Factbook (2017b). People and Society. Georgia.

CNN Library (2017). 2008 Georgia Russia Conflict Fast Facts. Retrieved from https://www.cnn.com/2014/03/13/world/europe/2008-georgia-russia-conflict/index.html

Ivane Javakhishvili (2010). The views and theories of Georgian authors. In: Rusudan Tsurtsumua and Joseph Jordania (editors), Echoes from Georgia: Seventeen Arguments on Georgian Polyphony (collection of essays). New York: Nova Science, pg 19-34.

Merriam-Webster's collegiate dictionary (10th ed.).(1993). Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster. Definition: Polyphony

Peter Roudik (2015). “Russian Federation: Legal Aspects of War in Georgia. Library of Congress. Retrieved from https://www.loc.gov/law/help/legal-aspects-of-war/russian-georgia-war.php

Triandafyllidou, Anna (1998). National identity and the 'other'. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 21(4), 593-612. Retrived from http://login.proxy.seattleu.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.proxy.seattleu.edu/docview/210167159?accountid=28598