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Jedward is again representing Ireland this year (Photo: Beacon Radio)

Feature

Regime bulldozers take gloss off euro-pop festival

Jedward is again representing Ireland this year (Photo: Beacon Radio)

Serious human rights violations in Azerbaijan have harmed the image of Europe's yearly festival of camp pop - Eurovision.

If Irish twins Jedward or French singer Anggun make finals in Baku in May to sing lines such as "never been in love so deep before" and "in my heart, in my mind I see you and I" viewers might spare a thought for families whose homes were destroyed to make the city look nice on TV.

"I woke up because the building was shaking and I could hear something like thu...

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Author Bio

Andrew Rettman is EUobserver's foreign editor, writing about foreign and security issues since 2005. He is Polish, but grew up in the UK, and lives in Brussels. He has also written for The Guardian, The Times of London, and Intelligence Online.

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