Published: 22 May, 2009, 18:52
Edited: 22 May, 2009, 18:52
At the peak of Moscow’s Eurovision-2009, the Georgian capital held an alternative international musical festival called “Tbilisi Open Air, Altervision.”
This musical event that took place from May 15 till May 17 from the very beginning was thought to be an ideological alternative to Eurovision, and was sanctioned by President Saakashvili. Organizers promise to make it an annual music happening.
The festival was first planned to be held in the summer, but the idea to hold it during the final days of the Eurovision Song Contest in Moscow came from the musicians-participants of the show in Tbilisi, Novie Izvestia daily reports. The festival proved the negative attitude of a number of people and musicians towards Eurovision, which is more and more often called bureaucratic and political.
On the other hand, the Georgian “Altervision” scored its popularity mostly due to the European Song Contest: without the scandal which arose around the provocative song intended to represent Georgia at Eurovision in Moscow, “We Don’t Wanna Put In,” there would have been much less interest in the Open Air festival in Tbilisi.
The festival featured 24 entrants from Russia, the UK, and other countries of Europe. The scandalous might-have-been Eurovision entry was also performed here.
There were no genre limitations; however rock, jazz, and funk were the most popular. But even despite free admission to the festival, and the organizers’ attempts to make it a decent – and even intellectual – musical event without the shadow of politics, the situation still went beyond their control.
The Tbilisi Open Air Festival has definitely not become the most significant musical event in history. But it added a page to the scandalous biography of Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili.
The president appeared at the festival’s concerts on the third and last evening, shortly before the performance of "Stephane and 3G" with the same song which left Georgia out of Eurovision 2009 in Moscow.
 Georgian group "Stephane and 3G" performs at the Tbilisi Open Air Alter/Vision music festival in Tbilisi May 17, 2009 (AFP Photo / Vano Shlamov) |
Despite having admitted that he’s not very much into rock music, Mikhail Saakashvili could not resist the temptation of political comments:
“Our band under the pressure of Russia and direct political intervention was removed from Eurovision, but much stronger groups and performers have come to Tbilisi. This is support of our freedom and solidarity with the Georgian people,” Saakashvili said.
“All the European press is here, such numerous media has not been seen in Georgia since the August war. With its help, the world will see that, despite the war, Georgia and Georgian youth have not given in; [the world] will see the country where the youth thirsts for freedom and democracy,” Novie Izvestia daily quotes Saakashvili as saying.
However, Izvestia daily reports that the young visitors of the Open Air were far from being glad to see Saakashvili on stage.
 AFP Photo / Vano Shlamov |
The President was jeered by teenagers, the only social group with which until recently he was not hesitant to communicate. As soon as the Saakashvili appeared on the stage screens, a row started in the crowd: people were calling for his resignation, and teenagers began to throw bottles and cans of beer toward the Georgian leader.
The paper reports that the President’s bodyguards even had to take out their guns to cover the Georgian Commander-In-Chief dumbfounded with the hostile reception of the young citizens. He allegedly had to run off in his armored car.
According to Izvestia, the live broadcast of the show on Georgian television was immediately interrupted with 15 minutes of ads, so that the scandal would be hushed up. However the opposition media managed to make it public.