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Eurovision 2015 Contestants: Azerbaijan

Since Azerbaijan first participated in Eurovision in 2008, the country has basically gone crazy for the contest. It has become the country’s most watched program on local broadcaster Azeri TV. So popular it doesn’t matter that the three-hour long show starts airing after midnight.

After winning the contest in 2011 — with a record-low average of 5.26 points, which still got the faces of the victorious performers Eldar Gasimov and Nigar Jamal onto 15,000 stamps — Azerbaijan spent a whopping 880,000,000 euros organizing the event in its capital Baku in 2012. The following year, Eurovision even became a matter of national concern when President Ilham Aliyev ordered an enquiry into why his country did not award Russia any points in the final.

And we thought the show itself was already over-dramatic.

Azerbaijan seems as determined as ever to win the Eurovision again this year. To represent their country, the Azerbaijanis chose Elnur Hüseynov, no other than this year’s winner of The Voice Turkey. The 28-year-old, born in Turkmenistan, already ran for Azerbaijan in 2008 with another pop singer called Samir Javadzadeh.

In Vienna this year, he will be performing a “mystical contemporary ballad” called “Hour Of The Wolf,” which is about not sleeping tonight and losing one’s mind. In the video, Elnur can be seen theatrically singing around his apartment — which, fortunately, doesn’t seem to bother his flatmates.

Our vote:

Does it make you want to visit that country? 2.25/10

Was there enough glitter? 2/10

Ok to quit your day job? 2.5/10

OVERALL AVERAGE: 2.25/10

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Society

How Argentina Is Changing Tactics To Combat Gender Violence

Argentina has tweaked its protocols for responding to sexual and domestic violence. It hopes to encourage victims to report crimes and reveal information vital to a prosecution.

A black and white image of a woman looking at a memorial wall in Argentina.

A woman looking at a memorial wall in Argentina.

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Mara Resio

BUENOS AIRES - In the first three months of 2023, Argentina counted 116 killings of women, transvestites and trans-people, according to a local NGO, Observatorio MuMaLá. They reveal a pattern in these killings, repeated every year: most femicides happen at home, and 70% of victims were protected in principle by a restraining order on the aggressor.

✉️ You can receive our LGBTQ+ International roundup every week directly in your inbox. Subscribe here.

Now, legal action against gender violence, which must begin with a formal complaint to the police, has a crucial tool — the Protocol for the Investigation and Litigation of Cases of Sexual Violence (Protocolo de investigación y litigio de casos de violencia sexual). The protocol was recommended by the acting head of the state prosecution service, Eduardo Casal, and laid out by the agency's Specialized Prosecution Unit for Violence Against Women (UFEM).

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