From today’s Times:
Russia’s entry for the Eurovision song contest was mired in controversy today after a Ukrainian singer was picked to represent the country at the final in Moscow.
The choice of Anastasia Prikhodko and her song Mamo, sung in Russian and Ukrainian, sparked allegations of vote-rigging from one losing finalist and caused angry debate among Russian fans of the contest. (Source: Times)
There would be some delicious irony in a Ukrainian representing Russia this year. The two countries aren’t entirely best of friends, and last year’s contest really should have been won by Ani Lorak, singing for Ukraine, but actually went to a far inferior song from Russia.
This didn’t surprise everyone. Garry Mulholland, writing in The Observer, knew who last year’s winner would be before the show even opened. He was covering the show in host country Serbia:
‘So … you are working at Eurovision?’ [his Belgrade taxi driver asked him]. I confess that I am. ‘Then maybe you can tell me … how come I was told three months before that it was arranged for Russia to win?’
The taxi driver didn’t seem to offer much in the way of evidence, but he was correct, and similar allegations of pre-determined outcomes and cats being let out of bags seem to be a factor this year, too.
Back to today’s story in the Times:
The losing finalist, Valeriya, was seen to storm off the set after the result was announced on Russia’s state-run Channel One television. Her producer Yusif Prigozhin later demanded a re-run of the contest, claiming that he had been told that Ms Prikhodko would win days earlier.
Eurovision is political – it has been for a long time, but not on the level most people claim. Block voting simply doesn’t exist, and the reason that certain national clusters vote for each other is that they come from the same part of the continent and thus like similar sounding music (and know each others’ artists).
The real politics of the contest happens not on the night itself but in the lead-up, like this. And, of course, like Georgia’s controversial 2009 entry ‘We Don’t Wanna Put In’.
When sung, ‘Put In’ sounds like Putin, the Russian Prime Minister who oversaw Russia’s invasion of their country last year.
Related posts:
- Reason 5 why the UK won’t win Eurovision 2009
The last of five reasons why the UK won’t win this year’s Eurovision Song Contest (aside from the dismalness of our own entry) is Hungary’s... - Eurovision round-up: what the papers say
If you’ve ever wondered why the UK puts in such awful songs for Eurovision, the answer could be purely financial: it costs a lot of... - Reason 1 why the UK won’t win Eurovision 2009
So the UK clearly doesn’t want to win Eurovision this year. Perhaps the BBC is saving all of its budget for the Olympics, and has...
Tags: eurovision
