AZERBAIJAN EUROVISION 2024 - MY THOUGHTS ON ‘ÖZÜNLE APAR’ BY FAHREE FEAT. ILKIN DOVLATOV

[@CoCaSilvia]

I like this song, it sounds so relaxing and smooth hope they will qualify.

[@samiralakbarli9956]

Thanks for your hope ! My 💖 from 🇦🇿 !!!

[@alman666]

I've been quite enraptured with Azerbaijan's song this year, and this feels like the entry that's sounded most like the country itself, which I find to be commendable. They didn't go diving through the Melfest trashbin, and this is something authentic and I've been waiting for something like this from Azerbaijan for quite some time. I hope they qualify and I have the song as my second place. I think this can pop live, and Azerbaijan has been pretty good at staging, so I have this as a sleeper of sorts. Thanks for your thoughts, Rachel.

[@joebloggs396]

I still thought the X My Heart live was great (not the studio version). This is also good.

[@tiagofincher]

Regardless Azerbaijan situation, this song is pure gold. Such incredible middle east vibes. Truly magical

[@samiralakbarli9956]

My 💖 from 🇦🇿 !!!

[@christiangabrielzanotto4195]

Very good song and your reactions are awesome as always!!! I love it, Rachel. Go Azerbaiyjan! Greetings

[@samiralakbarli9956]

My 💖 from 🇦🇿 - The Land of Fire !!!

[@lovemeamerica]

Loving your reviews as always, Rachel ♥️

[@jimh8040]

Please don't stress yourself about Israel/Azerbaijan/Russia... keep doing whatever you feel comfortable doing, you can't please everyone

[@soppy6430]

handled with grace 👌

[@ThaGamingMisfit]

To me this is one of the most underrated songs of this year's edition? It has climbed into my top 7 now. I'm very afraid this song not qualifying, it's one the best Azerbaijani songs of the last decade I think. It's a fresh breath of air in all these solo girl songs we have.

[@XivSara]

6/10 😵‍💫 AZERBAIJAN EUROVISION 2024 - MY THOUGHTS ON ‘ÖZÜNLE APAR’ in top 10

[@samiralakbarli9956]

My 💖 from 🇦🇿 !!!

[@marestrampel9327]

Amazing reaction to people's concerns, i don't think you could have done it any better. Just wanted to put that out there because i dont think it will harbour you much love. ps. i love watching your videos because i genuinely feel smarter afterwords lol... Thanks❤🍉

[@barryreads650]

Thank you for covering the Azerbaijani entry :) I have always enjoyed your nuanced reactions to songs over the years. As for the situation, I just wanted to bring up the fact that Azerbaijan has just liberated its INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNISED territories from armenian occupation of 30 years. They have not claimed any lands that belong to any other country. You can look it up yourself easily. Regardless, thanks again for the dedicated video and keep up the great content :)

[@TH3REALD3ALZzz]

Ah, would have love you did a first reaction to this song but I do understand why you haven’t done so. Instead would you consider doing a reaction of the semi final performance in Malmö when it happens (if you end up having time to do so)?

[@inexlux6255]

❤⚘

[@ReeceChambers99]

I agree with pretty much everything you said. Instrumentally it's pretty strong but I'm not left enthralled by much else.

[@АсланСарыайлы]

AZERBAYCAN ❤❤❤🇦🇿🇦🇿🇦🇿

[@aidanf8632]

Thank you for the acknowledgment

[@keldeori3059]

I guess she will watch the Albania's revamp in her own time, if Armenia is the last one.

[@anar_namazov]

greetings from Azerbaijan. thank you for your honest comments. I'm personally happy with the song. if the staging will perfectly match with the song vibes, then I think it will do pretty well in the contest. uğurlar odlar yurdu!

[@torbenscheibe7179]

In my opinion ESC shouldn't be political even more combining. I would really appreciate watching Ukraine and Russia together on the stage arm in arm.

[@moonrider1156]

Dear Rachel, I really like your channel. However, with due respect, you seem highly uninformed about the situation in Caucasus. A quick search would have revealed that Azerbaijan has been occupied by Armenian armed forces for over 30 years, with over 700k of internally displaced people and horrific massacres (you can read about what happened in Khojaly). We are not talking only abou Karabakh but the surrounding regions. You can also look for 4 UN resolutions demanding the end of this occupation over these 4 decades. So no, Azerbaijan is not comparable to Israel as it never ever occupied another country but was instead occupied. The pre-history for this occupation is a copypast of the Russian occupation of Ukraine (who by the way officially and openly supported Azerbaijan in the second war as well as in first, together with Georgia (who also survived a similar invasion attempt in 2008). There is a nice book on this conflict by a British journalist called “the black garden” and a nice documentary by a Lithuanian journalist called “the endless corridor”. So, if you believe no country should defend itself and its people you should as well stop reviewing Ukraine’s entries?! I know there is a lot of propaganda from the Armenian side, but in the tike of misinformation I would advise you to form your own opinion from trusted sources.

[@ayoubmextress65]

I think you’ve really nailed this situation perfectly !

[@JustYetAnotherUser]

I said it once and I say it again. I'll continue watching and loving your channel regardless (even though i don't usually leave comments) and I respect your decision. But here is where we fall into hypocrisy, just because you're not as aware of the situation in Azerbaijan it doesnt mean it's not happening. So either you should have covered both Israel and Azerbaijan or none. Basically Azerbaijan gets an "advantage" due to your lack of knowledge, how is this fair?

[@marestrampel9327]

Because she's not a historian or a politician, and casual media usually only covers 1 side of an story. Eurovision is a very timely thing where if you want research and make a morally sound decision on these topics it might take more time than is compatible with the quick turn out rate of the videos about eurovision. She is not supporting azerbaijans image or chance of winning or anything with these videos, so the stakes are not "that" high. Don't get me wrong i don't disagree with you, its not something to sweep unthere the rug or someting. I just think we need to look at these situations a little differently. She's solely talking about the musical aspects of the song...

[@joebloggs396]

The Israeli broadcaster sent a song directly about the conflict.

[@edotensei7917]

At least it's not a song with a poltical meaning. The artist has the right to be respected as much as the others and he isn't responsible for what's happening in the Caucasus.

[@arvinroidoatienza7082]

​@@edotensei7917I mean, Azerbaijan never did. Despite the fact that they have been given opportunities every time. Georgia was banned for doing so and Armenia does it a lot.

[@sarahenchanted]

I think alot of people are being more objective with 🇦🇿 because the song itself isn't propaganda and not bringing the contest into disrepute like another entry is. (I'm aware of another version of the Azeri song with suggestive lyrics but since that was likely a demo and that version probably wasn't submitted there's not much we can do). I absolutely agree they should be both treated the same but because the Azeri entry in its current form is inoffensive I get why on a surface level people are talking about it objectively.

[@sarahenchanted]

Subjectively, the song is fine on its own but nothing groundbreaking for me and not super competitive. Maybe that'll change when we see the staging but they haven't had the best televote results in the past couple years so I'm leaning toward this not qualifying. Glad Azerbaijani is being used for once at least.

[@ESCVerso]

I admit this is a song in want of a strong hook to build itself around, but I thought you would like it more. I'm fond of its subtle arc, to be honest, though I can admit this wasn't built for Eurovision. I actually prefer it to some of this year's fan favorites, including a song to which you gave a 10/10, though it's not in my top 10 or anything.

[@Rafaelinux]

While it is indeed hypocritical to cover Azerbaijan after refusing to cover Israel, I'd rather you cover every single song, as it's your music analysis and not your political opinions I'm here for to enjoy.

[@jimh8040]

It's not hypocritical to do what she feels comfortable doing. She's decided to not cover Israel and partially cover Azerbaijan and it's her channel to do with what she wishes. I know the 'All or Nothing' stance sounds easiest to do, but if you keep moving down the scale when do you stop? Russia? Israel? Azerbaijan? Serbia?

[@barryreads650]

I do not really get why the azerbaijani entry is treated this way. Azerbaijan has just liberated its INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNISED territories from armenian occupation of 30 years. Azerbaijan has never claimed any of lands that belong to another country. But i agree with you that she can choose to cover any songs as she pleases, all we have to do is respect her choice :)

[@vruyrmovsisyan6259]

​@barryreads650 azerbaijan starved, attacked and drove out over 100.000 people from their homeland. It's also currently occupying internationally recognized armenian territory since the attack on armenia in 2022

[@ShekerYusifzade]

👍👍

[@ElmoIsDope]

Totally respect the decisions made, but I'm curious as to whether you will include Azerbaijan and/or Israel's entry in prediction videos and alike. By the way, I agree that the strings add a lot to the song!

[@Eum67]

Isn’t Mugham Iranian? It is…as a musician you may be familiar how Persian songs were structured and how they created notes

[@barryreads650]

no it is not. Mugham is azerbaijani. thank you :)

[@talibahmadov2897]

Open Wikipedia and read about Mugham. Many nations has own mugham. And Azerbaijan has own mugham. All countries mughams are deferent. Azerbaijan mugham has many layers.

[@TheManInBlueFlames]

Thank you for doing something different with Israel and Azerbaijan. Eurovision should be about the MUSIC _not_ the politics. Massive respect!

[@Eum67]

Thank you so much from Armenia & Artsakh. Pls keep raising our silenced voice. We’re being gagged and are forgotten by the world.

[@johndoe-yw7eb]

Thank you for your approach to both this, and the Israel entry ❤

[@arvinroidoatienza7082]

Ah weird decision on this one. I mean, Azerbaijan has a bad record but they never really involve politics in Eurovision or in their entries. To the point that they actually wanted to welcome Armenia to Baku just for the contest but you know what happened. Although they did in the Asian Games 2015. Which is weird since Armenia does that and they don't really have a good record too. Anyways I actually love how they finally embracing themselves rather than importing from Swedes. I reckon you're gonna use this same format for Israel. Brace yourself because Hurricane is much worse. And the back story of its writing doesn't help.

[@TheManInBlueFlames]

Same with Russia but Russia got banned! Azerbaijan are known for their attacks on the Armenians as 300,000 had to flee their homes and move! They had a recent one a few years ago! Do your research!

[@simoncasteloesc]

I think you could do the same with Israel, it's a bit unfair

[@georgehand]

Another entry where I say I don’t get it 🇦🇿🇦🇿🇦🇿

[@IanIa303]

When will we be getting a reaction to Albania?

[@Ecd4life23]

she did one earlier albeit it wasn't revamp

[@irs719]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/e3irmaqhoK9losksi=uMVCBxPc9jtnh-YY Or do you mean the revamp? Does Rachel usually do reactions to revamps?

[@IanIa303]

@@irs719 i meant revamp yeah

[@ThaGamingMisfit]

The revamp is worse than the original, I feel like a second reaction isn't needed her.

[@Leifdk1]

The featured vocalist is definitely the selling point of the song. The rest feels fairly generic. Not bad, but also not very memorable aside from that. Still, at step up from last year. Don’t think this will qualify.

[@jutjubow]

For me it's bland.