Published: 15 May, 2009, 17:31
Edited: 15 May, 2009, 17:31
Russian pop singer/producer Philipp Kirkorov has pulled out of the professional Eurovision jury because of his friends taking part in the music contest.
Kirkorov’s press release says that the show-biz star is good friends with several participants of Eurovision, such as sexy singer from Greece Sakis Rouvas, which, according to Kirkorov, could raise doubts in some countries and participants about the objectivity of the Russian jury.
“Of course, me and my colleagues realize that when a professional gives points to contestants, his personal preferences are insignificant. However, I cannot let a single possibility of doubt of the objectivity of the professional Russian jury and therefore I’ve made a decision to pull out of it. It’ll give me a chance to be more expressing in my opinion and communicating with the contestants from different countries which for me, as a fan of Eurovision, an artist and a producer, is very important,” Kirkorov explained.
According to Life.ru, apart from the Greek contestant, Kirkorov has a similar attitude to Norwegian participant of Belarusian origin Alexander Rybak, who was invited to come over to his apartment the other day and was treated with black caviar.
Russian organizers of the Eurovision contest say they asked Kirkorov to head the professional jury because he’s one of the most popular Russian singers. Channel One’s head of PR Larisa Krymova was quoted as saying that they are sure “nothing would prevent Philipp from being an objective judge.”
Kirkorov once represented Russia at the Eurovision Song Contest and has been following the contest for 15 years. This year a new system of voting has been introduced. Previously the winner was chosen only by TV viewers. Now both the TV audience and the professional jury will make a decision. Russian composer/producer Igor Matvienko will head the jury instead of Kirkorov.