Thursday, March 28

Eurovision wages the other war


Sergey Lazarev, in the center, Russian representative in 2016 at Eurovision.

The musical contest has also been punctuated by the geopolitical struggles between Russia and Ukraine, with vetoes even for singers

It was the year 1994 when Russia participated for the first time in the Eurovision Song Contest. The European Broadcasting Union (UER), which has just expelled it for this year’s edition in Turin, accepted the country as a member of this group of radio and television stations that, among other functions, organizes the musical contest that was born with the aim to unite post-war Europe through song. That declaration of intent has been entrenched, on occasions, by geopolitical conflicts that have overshadowed a musical and television show that is followed every year by nearly 200 million viewers around the world.

In the last decade, the tension between Russia and Ukraine has been increasing while criticism from Eurofans has also grown –remembered are the booing of the Russian representatives at Eurovision– against Vladimir Putin after he banned in 2013 the «propaganda homosexual”. However, it was not until 2022 when the EBU, which has always wanted to separate the political struggles from Eurovision, has acted forcefully, preventing Russia from participating in the festival due to the invasion of Ukraine. Belarus was also expelled in 2019 for its attacks on freedom of the press and expression.

The clash between the two countries reached its peak in 2016 with the Ukrainian representative Jamala and the song ‘1944’, which managed to win the glass microphone in the European contest. Against the background of the Russian annexation of Crimea, the singer performed this theme that dealt with the massive deportations suffered by the Tatars during Stalinism, of which her own parents were victims. Many saw in this performance a political message against Putin, but the artist herself insisted that it was a family story. From Russia they accused their neighbors of wanting to impose on European viewers “a false vision of an alleged harassment of the Tatars in Russian Crimea.” The EBU clarified that the song did not contain a “political speech” –something that the festival’s own rules do not allow–, but Ukraine accepted the victory as a victory against its opponent.

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That edition, the two countries decided not to give each other any points in the votes of the professional jury –easier to control by their respective television stations–, although in the televote, which is decided by the viewers, they did manage to support each other. The following year, when the Eurovision was held in Kiev, the Russian singer Yulia Samoilova was prevented from entering, so the country could not participate in the 2017 Eurovision after refusing to compete electronically as proposed by the EBU.

Goodbye to Russia?

In 2007, years before the tension escalated, Ukraine also used the lyrics of one of its songs to send a subliminal message to Russia. The character of Verka Serduchka, played by actor Andriy Danilko, achieved second place with ‘Dancing Lasha Tumbai’, an extravagant proposal where it seemed that ‘Russia goodbye’ was said in English (Russia, goodbye).

This same year, what was going to be the Ukrainian representative for Eurovision 2022, Alina Pash, resigned after receiving accusations of being disloyal to her country for attending a private event in Crimea in 2015 without the official entry document from the State Border Service. established by Ukrainian law. I am an artist, not a politician. I don’t have an army of PR and lawyers to withstand all this attack and pressure on my social media. I don’t want hate or this virtual war », she denounced in a message posted on Facebook.

On the other hand, former representatives of Russia in the European contest expressed their rejection of the war through social networks, as is the case of Manizha (2021), which published a black photo on Instagram accompanied by a text in which he wrote who had family in Ukraine: “I’m crying because it’s not my choice. The current aggression is against my will, against the will of my family. It is against the will of our peoples.” Also Sergey Lazarev, who was the Russian candidate in 2016 and 2019, showed his rejection of the invasion and confessed to being “crying like a child” in the face of the conflict. “Nobody supports the war. I want my children to live in times of peace. No to war! », he reiterated.


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