BLACK SABBATH's TONY IOMMI Explains His Involvement With Armenian EUROVISION Song Entry

March 7, 2013

A song co-written by BLACK SABBATH guitarist Tony Iommi has been chosen as Armenia's entry into the Eurovision Song Contest.

DORIANS frontman Gor Sujyan's "Lonely Planet" was selected at a Saturday, March 2 national vote to be performed at Eurovision in Malmö, Sweden. The identity of the song's composers — Iommi (music) and Vardan Zadoyan (lyrics) — had been kept secret for a while.

The legendary axeman said on his web site: "Well, here's something different, one of my demo ideas has been chosen as the Armenian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest!

"It went on a short list and Saturday night was voted as the winner. I did the music and the performing band DORIANS wrote the lyrics. It's called 'Lonely Planet'.

"They're a good band, the singer has a really good voice and the lyrics they've written are in English. It now goes to the semi-final on May 16 in Malmö, Sweden.

"Glad to be able to be involved with Armenia again. The school is coming along fine, they've got the furniture sorted and it will be opened late summer."

Iommi and DEEP PURPLE/ex-BLACK SABBATH singer Ian Gillan have spent a lot of time in Armenia, fallen in love with the country and the people and have dedicated a lot of work to a nation still shocked after the earthquake that struck Armenia on December 7, 1988.

Iommi told BBC News that penning a song for Eurovision was a "new experience" for him.

"I've done a lot of things, but never that," he said.

"The thing is, I've always thought, 'oh no, not the Eurovision,' and here I am in it now."

After representatives from the Armenian Eurovision entry got in touch with Iommi to ask if he could write a song, "I first said, 'Oh, God, I don't know' — it seemed really strange, me doing a Eurovision song, I don't usually do that," he said. "But I said, 'I've got a rock ballad, I'll send it over.'" Iommi added he "really" hoped "Lonely Planet" did well in the contest, but said he expected it to be "slagged [off] like everything else does."

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