Monday, June 1, 2009

Pop Star Lampoons 'Happy Nation' of Georgia



“Is there a nation as happy as ours?”

Sometimes it takes a supreme pop satirist to sum up a twisted situation in a suitably surreal way. Now, the past two gruelling months of confrontation between opposition and government in Georgia have been encapsulated in a hilarious pop video by singer Anri Jokhadze.

Taking as its theme a phrase from nineteenth-century Georgian poet-hero Ilia Chavchavadze, the Happy Nation video lampoons President Mikheil Saakashvili, his opponents, and various other Georgian celebrities, as well as satirising well-known Georgian pop-propaganda videos.

Anyone who’s familiar with the drama that’s been playing itself out on the streets in Tbilisi in recent weeks should take time out to watch. The final frames – if you get the references – are truly tragic-comic.

5 comments:

Khatia said...

მომეწონა ვიდეო, ძაან კარგი გაკეთებულია. გამოხატავს რა ბედნიერ დღეშიც ვართ და რა ბედნიერებიც :(

LIVLIVS MAXIMVS said...

Incredible! Though I could recognize only Misha and Nino :(

Satire returns to Caucasus?

Matthew Collin said...

Also 'featured' in the video alongside Mikheil Saakashvili and Nino Burjanadze are opposition leader Salome Zourabichvili, pop star/political activist Gia 'Utsnobi' Gachechiladze, TV talk show host Inga Grigolia, thwarted Eurovision entrants Stephane & 3G, and Russian president Vladimir Putin, among others. The final scenes poke fun at the government-funded 'Hello Abkhazia' pop video.

Anonymous said...

not to mention back-biting masseuse dr dot, the ever lovely eka beselia and a chain smoking irakli okruashvili. great stuff

Dv0rsky said...

Matthew, do you know what lyrics used Henry Jokhadze in this song?

It is a poem from Ilia Chavchavadze, written in the beginning of the 20th century.

Unfortunately, the text is still actual for today's Georgia.

More about Ilia here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilia_Chavchavadze

Unfortunately, I couldn't find online a translation of this piece of poetry.