Eurovision Fan of the Week - Saro from Armenia

This week we have our very first Armenian for our weekly Eurovision Q&A! A regular in the Twitter community - we welcome Saro (also known as @WWESARO) and ask him a few questions.

What is your name and where are you from?

My name is Saro and I’m an Armenian living in the Netherlands.

What do you do or tell us something interesting about you?

I’m 19 years old student who loves Eurovision, wrestling, watching tv series and hanging out with friends. I also love reading books, travelling and learning new languages. I can speak 5 languages fluently (Dutch, Armenian and Turkish) and still trying to become fluent in German. “Game of Thrones” and “Black Mirror” are my favourite series of all time. 4 Horsewomen of WWE are my idols. Sasha Banks, Charlotte Flair and Seth Rollins are among my favourite wrestlers. As every Eurofan I want to attend Eurovision at least once in my life and hopefully that year will be this year.

That's some variety I have never seen before! Fingers crossed this is the year you make it to Eurovision! Certainly would be ideal living in the host nation. ~ Liv

When did you first get into Eurovision?

I remember when I was 6, Armenian community were talking about Armenia debuting in a song contest, but back then I didn’t know it was Eurovision. In 2009 I was at my grandparent’s house and they were watching Eurovision. I immediately loved the format of the contest and how music unites people together. Starting from 2010 I started watching Eurovision every year and started calling myself an Eurofan.

Can relate to grandparents getting you into the contest too - Eurovision transcends generation differences ~ Liv

Which is your favourite Eurovision year and why?

Actually this is so hard to answer. I think 2009 is my favourite. It was the very first Eurovision that I watched. I almost loved and still love all of the songs in the Final that year. Albania, Armenia, Turkey, Russia, Azerbaijan, Iceland, Estonia, Norway and Bosnia & Herzegovina were all amazing that year. I still find it difficult to choose my winner. 1997, 2012 and 2016 are the other Eurovision years that I love because of the amount of the good songs in both years and because of the fantastic production in 2016.

What changes would you like to see from Armenia at Eurovision?

I think Armenia should stop taking risks every year and try to send songs that they think are “original”. “2-minutes of building up without chorus and the big moment at the end” formula usually doesn’t work at Eurovision and we are sending songs with this formula every year since 2014. This did work in 2014 and 2016, but it’s not working anymore for us. I think we should give up on this and start sending songs like we used to from 2006-2010. I do have faith that something will change this year. Also I hope they keep choosing the song and the artist internally.

Which artist would you like to see represent your nation?

I think we have really amazing and extremely underrated Armenian artists that will perfectly fit for Eurovision. I hope the delegation considers sending someone from the diaspora next year, because we seriously have a lot of talented artists living in Los Angeles, Lebanon, Greece and Syria. Sarina Cross, Anush Petrosyan and Athena Manoukian are on my wishlist.

If you could change one thing about Eurovision what would it be? I would definitely change the amount of the juries voting at Eurovision. I think it’s not fair to have only 5 people to vote as juries. So I would expand it to 20. Also I would like to see them find a way to make the juries not work together and rank a particular country high or rank a particular country last.

*Vigorously nods in agreement* ~ Liv

Which artist would you like to see return to the competition? To be honest, I don’t like returning artists at Eurovision, because I would like to see new artists getting the chance to represent their country. However I do want artists return, if they were robbed before. I would love to see Aisel (Azerbaijan 2018) and Elhaida Dani (Albania 2015) and Sanja Ilic (Serbia 2018) return. Aisel didn’t deserve to be her country’s worst result and she certainly deserved better. I think she should return with a jazz song soon and take her rightful top 10 placement. I would like to see Sanja Ilic returning with a Balkan ballad soon.

If you could pick only three Eurovision songs to listen to for the rest of time, what would they be?

This is a hard one. If you have to listen to three songs ONLY, then you have to pick three different genres. One to cheer you up, one to make you feel happy and one to be there for you when you’re sad. I would probably pick O Jardim, Replay and Suus (not the remix one).

The funny thing is that none of these songs are my winners in their respective years, but these three are have always been there for me. If I have to watch three performances then it would be Fuego, Euphoria and Ktheju Tokës.

Which Eurovision song: Is the best winner? Aha. I will probably sound very cliché, but I have to say “Euphoria”. We will probably never have another iconic Eurovision winner as Loreen again. I love you Loreen <3

Nothing wrong with stanning the Queen of Eurovision! ~ Liv

Has the best live vocal? Suus by the one and only Rona Nishliu. Every single time I watch that performance I get goosebumps. It’s for me the best live vocal ever and I think she could have won ESC easily in 2011 or 2013.

Was robbed? I still can not believe how Oniro Mou (Greece 2018) didn’t even QUALIFY last year. I was truly heartbroken. Honorary mentions go to Ktheju Tokës (Albania 2019), O Jardim (Portugal 2018) and Vola (San Marino 2013). Is the best from this decade? Without any doubt Fuego (Cyprus 2018) is the best song and performance from this decade. I loved this song from the moment that it got released and hoped that she will nail it live, which she did. I’m still mad that she didn’t win last year.

Is your guilty pleasure? Haba Haba (Norway 2011) is so catchy that gets stuck in your head. Tornero (Romania 2006) and Shala lie (The Netherlands 2010) are the other songs I enjoy listening to.

Is your favourite National Final song (that didn't make it to Eurovision)? Statements by Loreen. I still can not believe let alone how it didn’t win, but how it didn’t even reach the final of Melodifestivalen. I will never forgive Sweden to rob Loreen. This would’ve easily been my winner in such a weak year 2017.

Any other interesting honourable mentions? Albania, Armenia and Greece are for me the best Eurovision countries. Tomorrow I Go (Albania 2005) , Dum Tek Tek (Turkey 2009) and Qele Qele (Armenia 2010) are my favourite 2000’s entries and I don’t know how none of them didn’t win in their respective years. Also Apricot Stone is the best Armenian entry and one of my favourite Eurovision songs of this decade. AND FINALLY Ktheju Tokës deserved to at least be in Top 10.

And finally... Tonight Again, Sound of Silence, Don’t Come Easy, We Got Love or Zero Gravity I would easily say Sound Of Silence. This was my winner in 2016. It had the total package to be a Eurovision winner. Dami Im stole the show that night with her vocals, mind-blowing staging and the perfect ballad. Brisbane 2017 should have happened.

Thank you for your time Saro!