Rendering 15

   The article Russia vows reprisals for 'stolen' song contest votes was published on the site http://www.usatoday.com by Doug Stanglin on May 21, 2013.

  The article begins with the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who already has such divisive issues as Syria and North Korea on his plate, who weighed in Tuesday on another international topic: Votes "stolen" from the Russian entry in the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest. Lavrov issued a stern warning Tuesday after reports surfaced that Dina Garipova, the Russian contestant in Saturday's competition, was allegedly deprived of 10 points purportedly given by viewers in Azerbaijan, a former Soviet republic, the Interfax news agency reported.

   As we know, Garipova finished fifth with her ballad "What If," coming in 17 points behind fourth-place Norway. The "stolen" 10 points would not have made a difference in the overall ranking, but to Lavrov, that was not important.

   It’s turned out that Azerbaijan's ambassador to Moscow, well known Soviet-era crooner Polad Bulbuloglu, told Russian television that it was impossible that Garipova did not score any points in his country, The Guardian reported. In its own voting, Russia gave the Azerbaijani entry the maximum 12 points. Votes are based on text messages sent in by viewers. Mammadyarov said at the same press conference that the results "received from all three cellular operators gave second place to Russia," Interfax reported. "It is certainly a question to our Public Television what happened to the votes and how they disappeared." Ambassador Bulbuloglu, disclosed that Azerbaijan President Aliyev had ordered an investigation and votes were being recounted, the BBC reported. Camil Guliyev, head of Azerbaijan's state broadcaster, said the failure to allocate Russia any points was of serious concern.

   The author admits that The BBC noted that Azerbaijan has traditionally tried to maintain good relations with Moscow though there have been tensions over energy in the past.

   In conclusion it’s necessary to admit that Denmark's Emmelie de Forest won the popular European contest with 281 points, well ahead of second place Azerbaijan.

   As for my opinion, I liked the performance of Garipova. She is a worthy representative of our country.