Ukraine political song won Eurovision that upset Russia - Financial Times

Politically charged Ukraine song wins Eurovision
Contentious ‘1944’ performance inflames Russia for focusing on Crimea
Crimean Tatar singer Susana Jamaladinova, known as Jamala, waves to supporters after performing in the Ukrainian national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest outside Kiev, Ukraine, February 21, 2016. Jamaladinova was chosen as the Ukraine's entry for 2016 Eurovision Song Contest. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko - RTX27YHR
Crimean Tatar singer Susana Jamaladinova, known as Jamala, is the Eurovision entry for Ukraine © Reuters

YESTERDAY by: Roman Olearchyk in Kiev
A politically charged song by Ukraine’s Susana Jamaladinova that draws attention to Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea won Saturday night’s Eurovision contest held in Stockholm, edging out performances by Russia and Australia.

The emotional “1944” by Ms Jamaladinova, an ethnic Crimean Tatar who goes by the stage name Jamala, stood out from Eurovision’s traditional kitsch pop entries and has been criticised in Russia for breaking contest rules by being political.

The song recounts Joseph Stalin’s forced deportation of hundreds of thousands of the Crimean Tatars from the peninsula during the second world war. In doing so, it makes parallels to the persecution of Crimea Tatars and other pro-Ukraine leaning residents of the peninsula that was seized by Russia two years ago. It also draws attention to a still smouldering, two-year war with Russian-backed separatists in Ukraine’s far east, which has claimed about 9,300 lives.


Shifting from English to Tatar, Jamala’s ballad starts with the sombre line: “When strangers are coming, they come to your house, they kill you and say ‘we’re not guilty’.”

It continues: “Where is your heart? Humanity rise.”

Initially, voting by judges put Jamala in second place behind Australia’s Dami Im. But as votes from viewers were added in the combined system, a performance by Russia’s Sergey Lazarev jumped up the rankings, putting the three in a dead heat for first place.

After the final votes from viewers were counted, Jamala leapt into first with 534 points. The performers from Australia and Russia finished with 511 and 491, respectively.

“I really want peace and love to everyone,” Jamala cried out after the results were announced.

“Welcome to Ukraine!” she added after securing the war-torn and recession-battered country the right to host next year’s contest.

About 240,000 Crimean Tatars were deported by the Soviets towards the end of the second world war. The Crimean ethnic minority claim thousands died along the journey or from starvation after being displaced in central Asia. They describe that operation as ethnic cleansing. They were encouraged to return to a newly independent Ukraine after the 1991 collapse of the USSR.

Since occupying Crimea, Russian authorities have shut down Tatar media outlets and launched legal proceedings against dozens of Tatars, Human Rights Watch said in a recent report.

MPs in Russia, which denies persecuting Crimea Tatars and waging a proxy separatist war in eastern Ukraine, have denounced Ukraine’s decision to enter Jamala’s song to Eurovision.


In a sarcastic tweet, Dmitry Rogozin, Russia’s deputy prime minister, proposed Russia should be represented in next year’s Eurovision by Sergey Shnurov, a singer from the band Leningrad known for using foul language in performances. “Win or no win,” he added, “he will send them all off [in curses].”

Many in Ukraine hoped Jamala’s performance would raise international awareness about what they describe as continued Russian aggression.

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“Her performance in Stockholm is a loud SOS signal to the world from Crimean Tatars, who are now facing massive repression in their homeland,” Alima Alieva of CrimeaSOS, an advocacy group for Crimeans’ rights, told the Financial Times ahead of the contest.

Describing Jamala’s performance as a “screaming soul” representing all ethnic minorities “who need protection”, Tamila Tasheva, another co-ordinator from CrimeaSOS, urged the world to prevent past hostilities from repeating.

Kiev has not given up on reclaiming control of Crimea through diplomacy and is seeking billions of dollars in damages for loss of the peninsula and its assets through lawsuits in The Hague.

Few countries have recognised Russia’s Crimea annexation. Ukraine’s strongest backers, the US and EU, continue to urge Russia to end what they describe as an illegal occupation.