Eurovision Jamala – Ukraine’s Jamala wins the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest final May 15 with a melancholic tune about the 1944 deportation of Crimean Tatars by Soviet authorities.
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The Eurovision victor herself said that it would be wrong to look for politics in her song.
Jamala, who is herself a Crimean Tatar, told the Guardian that she has not been home since shortly after Russia’s 2014 annexation of the peninsula, while her parents and family still live there. Her mistake meant the Danish jury overall gave Ukraine 12 points, when without her error, it would have given none at all.
“We understand the passions and emotions that are engendered through the Eurovision Song Contest”.
An insider has revealed to news.com.au that the team at the network are pushing to debut the Asia Pacific region song contest in Australia in 2017, saying: “There’s a flurry of activity after what happened (at the) weekend”. “I’ve already have a citizenship, I don’t need any other one”.
Had this year’s Eurovision song contest followed old voting rules, Australia would have triumphed over Ukraine, according to new analysis by data journalism site FiveThirtyEight.
“Who would have to be chosen for the jury in Serbia, Israel or Armenia, in order for Russian Federation to receive one point from Serbia, zero from Israel and just two from Armenia?” he asked, adding that viewers in those three countries, “as everywhere else, voted in favor of Russian Federation”.
Though everyone was anxious about having the next Eurovision Song Contest held Down Under, that problem was finally solved by the public’s votes.
The Ukrainian entry had won “thanks to broad support from both the juries as well as televoters”, the EBU said, adding that Jamala had done so through “an outstanding performance of an emotional song, telling a personal story”. The whole show, they insist, is no more than an exchange of political pleasantries between friendly countries rather than a real contest of musical talents. “Whether you agree or disagree, we call upon those who signed this petition to embrace the result, valid in accordance with the rules, and to continue a constructive dialogue about how to further strengthen and improve the Eurovision Song Contest”. Ukraine, then, is slated to host in 2017. Seven countries competed in 1956; this year, there were 42 entries.
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While Jamala is being hailed as a hero in Ukraine, Cold War-style conflict appears to have resurfaced in response to the contest.
