The Eastern European country scored 534 points with its song 1944, sung by Jamala, real name Susana Jamaladinova, which was about the deportation of Crimean Tatars under former Soviet Union leader Josef Stalin.
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Jamala’s win comes even as her song, “1944”, drew criticism from Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russia’s government, which alleged that the song, written by Jamala, was anti-Russian and in violation of Eurovision rules.
Russian Federation annexed Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula in March 2014 following a contested referendum.
Jamala told the UK’s Guardian newspaper this week in a phone interview that she had not been home since Moscow’s intervention.
Ukraine’s song, ‘1944’, written and performed by Jamala, is ostensibly about the forcible deportation of Crimean Tatars, which led to thousands of deaths from starvation and disease. These two years have added so much sadness to my life. Eurovision organizers, however, have remarked that Jamala’s “1944” doesn’t breach any violations regarding political statements in lyrics.
“Thank you, Europe – welcome to Ukraine!” the artist said triumphantly as she accepted the Eurovision trophy in Stockholm on May 15.
This weekend, the 2016 Eurovision season came to an end with Ukraine winning the Grand Final in Stockholm and Australia finishing a close second.
Australia representative Demi Im took the second place with the song Sound of Silence (511 points), the Russian singer Sergey Lazarev took the third place (491 points).
Australia, who competed for the second time after appearing as a guest a year ago, were leading the contest nearly to the end but finished second, with Russian Federation coming third.
Ukraine will host next year’s singing contest following Jamala’s victory.
People at a restaurant in Kiev celebrate Ukrainian singer Jamala’s win in the Eurovision Song Contest. Crimea voted overwhelmingly to join Russian Federation and other elements in eastern Ukraine began a revolt against the new right-wing, pro-Western government.
The contest rules prohibit entries that are overtly political, although definitions are open to interpretation.
Eurovision is the longest-running worldwide TV song contest.
However many people in Russian Federation – which had been favourite to win the competition – have contended that the vote was political. Sweden landed in fifth place with the song If I Were Sorry sang by Frans.
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It looks like the victory of the Ukrainian contestant was not of the primary importance for Russia Today. She produced a solo performance of If Love Was A Crime and went to the stage with an astonishing dress that glowed in the dark.
