The Coca-Cola Music Fest in Armenia has cancelled the performance of Iranian–Dutch singer Sevda Alizadeh, known professionally as Sevdaliza, following online pressure.
The news of the cancellation broke Monday morning — the festival, in its fourth edition, is scheduled to take place on 30 August.
In a brief post on social media, which did not permit comments, the organisers noted that ‘Sevdaliza will not perform’ and that they would publish the name of the new artist or artists that would replace her.
A hint that her performance could be cancelled came on Sunday in a proceeding post, when the festival noted that they ‘hear and acknowledge the opinions and concerns surrounding the headliner Sevdaliza’.
‘Our team is actively working with partners to review the situation and will issue an official statement very soon’, read the post.
The post saw hundreds of users comment, with some urging the organisers to cancel Sevdaliza’s performance, alleging that it was a ‘a shame that such a perverse person should perform in the first Christian country’.
Other users urged the organisers not to ‘give in to a crowd that hasn’t even bought tickets and isn’t planning to attend the event’.
‘Do what’s right, and not cancel an artist for their art. And finally, let’s move Armenia beyond this medieval mindset’, one user commented.
‘Moreover, we’ve now reached a point where even a slight noise is enough for an international corporation to get scared and quickly change its festival headliner’, the artist Arthur Rosencrantz wrote on Facebook.
The outrage appeared to stem from Svedaliza’s newly released music video for her son ‘Messiah, which depicts her in erotic scenes featuring Christian symbols.
Citing the video, users claimed that her performance in Armenia was 'a matter of dignity’ and that Armenians ‘honour a singer who mocks and disrespects our sacred values’.
‘Spiritual attacks’ or market tactic?
Aside from social media users, Svedaliza’s possible performance in Armenia sparked wide outrage amongst religious groups.
On Saturday, a Facebook page called the Srbazan Hayastan (Sacred Armenia) Initiative criticised Svedaliza’s upcoming performance in Armenia, calling it yet another one of the ‘spiritual attacks against our country and people’.
They warned against the devastating consequences of ignoring ‘spiritual laws’ — going so far as to say it could lead to war.
‘If you let evil inside, it will bring war and sorrow into your life, and it will be very difficult to get rid of it. It is better to prevent its entry into your life’, their post read.
Others speculated that the cancellation could have been a pre-planned tactic of Coca-Cola.
‘This whole [scandal] just needed to be organised, as a result, Coca-Cola strengthened its position in the hearts of the “faithful” public, secured massive PR with minimal investment, and killed several birds with one stone’, commentator Yasha Solomonyan wrote on social media.
Armenia has seen several similar cases of cancelled performances following public pressure, in several cases coming from religious circles.
In 2019, a concert by the death metal band Vader at the State Puppet Theatre was cancelled and moved to a different location.
In 2022, Russian rapper Morgenshtern’s concert was cancelled after he was labelled a satanist.
Sevdaliza’s cancelled performance followed a series of major concerts by renowned artists in Armenia, the biggest of which was pop star Jennifer Lopez’s concert in Yerevan on 3 August.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan noted that these concerts were ‘a rejoicing of life, peace taking place in Armenia’ in a social media post on 17 August, claiming that they attracted tens of thousands of visitors.
Arshaluys Barseghyan
