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Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi says Eurovision song may be 'slagged off'
Rock guitarist sounds less than optimistic about ballad he wrote for
Armenia's official Eurovision entry
Sean Michaels
http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2013/mar/08/black-sabbath-tony-iommi-eurovision
guardian.co.uk, Friday 8 March 2013 12.28 GMT
Tony Iommi: not too cool for Eurovision, where Armenia will perform a
song written by the Black Sabbath rocker. Photograph: Leon
Neal/AFP/Getty Images
Tony Iommi does not have high hopes for the song he wrote for
Eurovision 2013. Despite his uneasy pride at Lonely Planet being used
as Armenia's official entry, the Black Sabbath guitarist said the
track will probably get "slagged [off], like everything else does".
"I've always thought, 'Oh no, not the Eurovision', and here I am in it
now," Iommi said in an interview with BBC News. It certainly wasn't
the 65-year-old who got in touch with Yerevan's Eurovision bosses:
reps for the Armenian public television network contacted the rocker
and asked for his help. "I first said: 'Oh God, I don't know,'" Iommi
recalled. "It seemed really strange, me doing a Eurovision song, I
don't usually do that. But I said: 'I've got a rock ballad, I'll send
it over.'"
Iommi's riffing balladry soon became Lonely Planet, with lyrics by
Vardan Zadoyan. It was one of four tracks presented to Armenian voters
by singer Gor Sujyan and his band Dorians. Lonely Planet won out over
tunes with titles such as Toy Planet, No Time and The Truth. "The
singer has a really good voice," Iommi said on his website.
In interviews with the Armenian press, Sujyan laid out his priorities
as the country's Eurovision nominee. Iommi's name wasn't mentioned
even once. "[The] song calls for peace. We hope that everybody who
listens to this song will think about that message," Sujyan told ESC
Daily.
In another interview, the singer promised that he and Dorians would
truly rock. "It seems to me that it will be beneficient neither for us
nor to the country if we lose face," he said.
A competitor since 2006, Armenia has never won Eurovision, and it sat
out last year's contest due to hostilities with the host country,
Azerbaijan. But Armenia will compete at this year's event, on 18 May,
appearing in Malmö, Sweden, alongside performers such as the UK
nominee, Total Eclipse of the Heart singer Bonnie Tyler.
From: A. Papazian
Rock guitarist sounds less than optimistic about ballad he wrote for
Armenia's official Eurovision entry
Sean Michaels
http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2013/mar/08/black-sabbath-tony-iommi-eurovision
guardian.co.uk, Friday 8 March 2013 12.28 GMT
Tony Iommi: not too cool for Eurovision, where Armenia will perform a
song written by the Black Sabbath rocker. Photograph: Leon
Neal/AFP/Getty Images
Tony Iommi does not have high hopes for the song he wrote for
Eurovision 2013. Despite his uneasy pride at Lonely Planet being used
as Armenia's official entry, the Black Sabbath guitarist said the
track will probably get "slagged [off], like everything else does".
"I've always thought, 'Oh no, not the Eurovision', and here I am in it
now," Iommi said in an interview with BBC News. It certainly wasn't
the 65-year-old who got in touch with Yerevan's Eurovision bosses:
reps for the Armenian public television network contacted the rocker
and asked for his help. "I first said: 'Oh God, I don't know,'" Iommi
recalled. "It seemed really strange, me doing a Eurovision song, I
don't usually do that. But I said: 'I've got a rock ballad, I'll send
it over.'"
Iommi's riffing balladry soon became Lonely Planet, with lyrics by
Vardan Zadoyan. It was one of four tracks presented to Armenian voters
by singer Gor Sujyan and his band Dorians. Lonely Planet won out over
tunes with titles such as Toy Planet, No Time and The Truth. "The
singer has a really good voice," Iommi said on his website.
In interviews with the Armenian press, Sujyan laid out his priorities
as the country's Eurovision nominee. Iommi's name wasn't mentioned
even once. "[The] song calls for peace. We hope that everybody who
listens to this song will think about that message," Sujyan told ESC
Daily.
In another interview, the singer promised that he and Dorians would
truly rock. "It seems to me that it will be beneficient neither for us
nor to the country if we lose face," he said.
A competitor since 2006, Armenia has never won Eurovision, and it sat
out last year's contest due to hostilities with the host country,
Azerbaijan. But Armenia will compete at this year's event, on 18 May,
appearing in Malmö, Sweden, alongside performers such as the UK
nominee, Total Eclipse of the Heart singer Bonnie Tyler.
From: A. Papazian