Hayk Simonyan, director of Doping Space, which organized the concert of world star Jennifer Lopez in Yerevan, presented several details related to the organization of the concert.

According to "Armenpress", Hayk Simonyan touched upon the topic in an interview with the ReOpen Media platform.

"From a commercial point of view, this is the largest concert in Armenia. Ten years ago, we hosted a System of a Down concert, which, in terms of participation, was the largest we had ever seen. However, from a commercial standpoint, it was our first concert with such indicators. Holding such events in any country speaks of several things. First, you are a country that can host people and provide them with activities beyond the concert, as a concert alone is insufficient for someone to visit a country; a certain entertainment combination is needed. The second point is that the country possesses the intellectual resources to organize such an event. This is because such events inherently involve a comprehensive business component, encompassing negotiation skills and meticulous control of every detail. Thirdly, this also speaks of the fact that we are a safe country, because for such stars, security is one of the top priorities; Jennifer Lopez, if I am not mistaken, arrived with a team of 98 people, they need to prove that you are safe not only in terms of external factors, but also internally. Internally, it is much easier, as for externally, the question arises, how many years should pass without war for us to begin to present ourselves as safe from that point of view as well," Simonyan noted.

Speaking about the state's expenditure of resources in organizing the concert and the benefits derived from it, he emphasized:

"If I did not believe that this phenomenon is effective, I would not make an effort. We didn't invent the bicycle, but there is no more effective way to attract this number of tourists faster than such events. Until when do we have to go to our neighboring Georgia to enjoy concerts and "envy" them? Why don't we invite them too? Even in economically much richer countries, the state provides great support for such events; for example, in Abu Dhabi, there is almost no concert that the state does not have some involvement in. From the point of view of organizing such concerts, state support is critical, with several components. First, you need a fairly large stadium to attract 60-80 thousand people during one concert. This allows you to organize the concert without having to charge very high ticket prices. Second, there must be a certain number of people who will be solvent and will be able to buy a ticket with an average price of 100-200 euros. Third, you need to have a developed market to import the equipment necessary for the concert."

Referring to the rumors about the high costs, Simonyan said:

"The amount is large, but it is not the high costs that are to be feared, but the low income. If you have an event that costs $1 million and does not bring you any benefit, it cannot be preferable to having an event that costs several million dollars more. Still, the benefit to the state is several times greater. We did not bring Jennifer Lopez; we invited her to bring tourists, so that all this would be justified and healthy. For the first time in history, we had queues on the Georgian side that were once common when tourists from Armenia visited Georgia for such events. The owners of hotels and restaurants are the people who can immediately see this effect."

Simonyan also referred to the rumors about the money spent, elaborating: "Many manipulate that $6 million was given to the star; in fact, the structure of that money is fundamental. Out of $6 million, only $1 million was returned to the state in the form of value-added tax, in addition to this, there are other tax revenues, for example, we have 25 percent of the star's fee as non-resident income tax, that is, if the star's fee is $2 million, about $500 thousand was returned to the state budget. That is, about $1.6-2 million of the total amount was automatically transferred to the state budget; the rest of the amount includes the star's fee and other organizational expenses.

Simonyan added that the name of Armenia began to take on new shades in this sphere, because subconsciously, such events speak, among other things, about the fact that this country is fascinating for stars.

"Because they are not the stars who come exclusively for money. Until the country passes a certain validation, they cannot trust you with their image, so that later that money does not "come out of their noses" and they do not have an irreversible image loss. Without the state, such events cannot take place, because the state is the biggest beneficiary. If we compare the number of tourists with this period last year, I am sure we will see a significant difference."

Referring to the organizational issues of Snoop Dogg's canceled concert in Yerevan, the director of Doping Space noted:

"Few people know that before Snoop Dogg's name was mentioned, we had negotiations with Jennifer Lopez's team, as a result of which we already had a concert date, September 8, 2023, but due to certain circumstances, Lopez's team canceled the entire tour, after which we started looking at who else was on tour, and Snoop Dogg was the alternative. On the day of Snoop Dogg's concert cancellation, we had 10,700 tickets purchased. Given how many people were ready to attend, it's surprising that he's considered a burnt-out star. The choice of stars is not accidental; it is done as a result of calculation and research. We developed a plan and applied to the state with that initiative. However, the state imposed a condition: the company must have a 100 percent bank guarantee for the invested amount to ensure state funds are not at risk. We successfully resolved this issue. Few people know, but the amount that the state provided was not at risk from the beginning and could not be."

Simonyan also provided details about the cancellation of Snoop Dogg's concert.

"During the events of September 2023, the decision to cancel the concert was made by the state, but I think that it was a painful but correct decision. There was an option to either close the program or find a way to hold the concert later, but the problem was that Snoop Dogg was no longer going on tour, which made organizing the concert much more difficult and more expensive. If we cancel the concert, no clause in the contract obliges the other party to return even one percent of the amount. I met with him and his family, and after discussing the difficult situation our nation has been in, he returned the entire amount of the fee. There is simply no such precedent when an artist returns the money even in the event of cancellation three months in advance, let alone a few days in advance. The return of the money allowed us to continue the project and organize this event. For me, it was more important not to have Jennifer Lopez's concert, but to have been able to overcome the effect of the cancellation of Snoop Dogg's concert, because in such cases there is a very high risk of being blocked and deprived of the opportunity to hold such events."

Earlier, it was known that the Armenian government allocated $6 million to the Doping Space company to carry out the organizational work of Jennifer Lopez's concert in Yerevan. The government had allocated $6 million to the same company in 2023 to organize a concert by world-famous rapper Snoop Dogg in Yerevan. Still, that concert was canceled due to Azerbaijan's military aggression against Nagorno-Karabakh. At its August 1 session, the government amended its previous decision and directed the $6 million earmarked for the Snoop Dogg concert to the organization of a Jennifer Lopez concert.