Russian anger at Ukraine’s winning song
Print Edition
UKRAINIAN singer Jamala snatched victory from arch-rival Russia to win the Eurovision song contest, adding a touch of political drama to the annual extravaganza.
After a tense vote count on Saturday, during which it seemed Australia was going to run away with the crown until the audience votes came in, Jamala was declared the winner in Stockholm after a heart-felt performance of “1944,” a song about the deportations of Crimean Tatars during World War II.
Jamala’s entry — which stirred controversy over criticism of Russia’s recent annexation of Crimea — scored 534 points, closely followed by Australia’s Dami Im with 511 points, the juries’ favorite.
The hotly tipped former Russian child star Sergey Lazarev came in third with 491 points.
Germany was the worst performer of the evening, with Jamie-Lee Kriewitz’s “Ghost” scoring just 11 points, followed by the Czech Republic with 41 points.
In Moscow, Russian lawmakers lashed out at Ukraine’s “political” victory, with one newspaper saying Moscow’s entrant was robbed.
“It was not the Ukrainian singer Jamala and her song ‘1944’ that won the Eurovision 2016, it was politics that beat art,” Russian senator Frants Klintsevich told reporters as he called for Russia to possibly skip next year’s tournament, which will be held in Ukraine.
Jamala described the win as “amazing.” “I was sure that if you sing, if you talk about truth it really could touch people,” the 32-year-old said at the winner’s press conference.
The turnaround in the final minutes of the show capped an eventful 61st edition of the love-it-or-hate-it competition, which was expected to be the most-watched Eurovision since the event was first staged in 1956.
Scores were decided by national juries as well as viewers. In an attempt to give the outcome a more democratic feel this year, fans were given the final say — adding some last-minute suspense.
Among the evening’s other highlights was a guest appearance by US pop star Justin Timberlake, who entertained the crowd with his hit “Rock Your Body” before performing his new single, the upbeat “Can’t Stop the Feeling.”
For the first time, the song contest was broadcast live in the US on the Logo channel, which is aimed at the LGBT community.
The show was also live-streamed on YouTube, giving Google a piece of a pie once reserved for European public broadcasters.
“The Eurovision song contest is now a truly global phenomenon,” producer Jon Ola Sand said, amid expectations that the show will push last year’s record of 197 million viewers worldwide.
Characterized by critics as a potpourri of bizarre performance antics, special effects and cheese, the light-hearted contest usually tries to avoid controversy and steer clear of geopolitics but this year was always going to be different.
Political leaders in Moscow and Crimea had initially sought to get Jamala’s song disqualified, arguing that it criticized Russia’s annexation of the Black Sea peninsula in March 2014. The jury approved the lyrics nonetheless, setting the stage for a monumental confrontation.
Inspired by Jamala’s great-grandmother’s story, “1944” recounts the deportation of the Crimean Tatars, and she sings it partly in the Tatar language.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko was among the first to congratulate Jamala.
“Yes!!!” Poroshenko tweeted. “An unbelievable performance and victory! All of Ukraine gives you its heartfelt thanks, Jamala.”
Ahead of showtime, bookies tipped Russia’s Lazarev and his catchy “You Are the Only One” tune to win the contest between 26 finalists — 25 Europeans and one Australian.
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