Eurovision 2017: scandal with Jamala, Maryna Poroshenko’s accent and SBU’s mercy to the Bulgarian singer
The contest is being accompanied by a series of scandals
The second semi-final of Eurovision-2017, which will define the finalists, took place in Kiev on 11 May. The Russian representatives definitely won't be among the finalists, Ukraine has forbidden her to enter the territory of the country. This contest can be called with confidence the most controversial in recent years. How intrigues, tickets in Russian and bad Russian accent has turned the contest from musical to political one, read in the article of Realnoe Vremya.
Russia is banned to participate in Eurovision 2017 and promised sanctions
On 12 March, on Channel One Russia, it was announced that Yuliya Samoylova would represent Russia at Eurovision song contest in 2017. A few days later, the security service of Ukraine forbid Yuliya Samoylova to enter the territory of the country. The thing is that according to one of the Ukrainian laws (entered into force on 15 May 2014), crossing the border with Crimea is allowed only through the administrative border with the Kherson region. Another way, according to the Ukrainian legislation, is considered a violation and shall be subject to penalty. In 2015, Samoylova visited Kerch, but under the Russian law, Crimea is considered to be part of Russia.
In the end, Samoylova was prohibited to enter Ukraine for three years. As Interfax reported, the Russian Foreign Ministry called the decision of the SBU ''outrageous, cynical and inhuman act''.
On 23 March, the day after the entry of the official ban, the organizers of Eurovision offered Yuliya Samoylova to perform via video conference. However, Ukraine reacted to it like this: Deputy Prime Minister Vyacheslav Kirilenko tweeted that a TV show with the participation of persona non grata in Ukraine is prohibited.
The ban is applied not only to artists but also journalists. ''None of those Russian journalists who are accredited in Kyiv for Eurovision and who has previously violated the state border of Ukraine illegally visiting Ukrainian Crimea will be admitted to the territory of our country,'' said a deputy of the Verkhovna Rada Anton Geraschenko.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Reference Group of the Eurovision Song Contest Frank-Dieter Freiling told the publication ZDF Heute that in respect of Ukraine and Russia there can be applied sanctions. According to him, Ukraine has not fulfilled the obligation to ensure the performance by the representative of Russia, and the representatives of the Russian delegation were not present at the mandatory pre-meetings in Kiev earlier this year. The European Broadcasting Union (the main organizer of Eurovision) will announce its decision after the contest.
Russian television refused to broadcast Eurovision 2017
The reaction of Russia to actions of the Ukrainian side was the refusal to broadcast the music contest in 2017. First was VGTRK and then Channel one Russia. On the website of the TV channel it was reported that the reason for this was the attempt of Ukraine to politicize the contest, which throughout its 62-year history aimed at unification of people.
VGTRK and Channel One were unified in the decision to send Yuliya Samoylova at Eurovision 2018 as a participant from Russia, regardless of place of the competition.
Hardcore fans of the contest from Russia now have to look for Internet streams.
Crimea in promo video and stolen letter
The Crimea topic was also raised after the appearance of the promo video of Ukrainian Eurovision. The 30-second video shows footage of various parts of Ukraine. The Swallow's Nest, the monument located on a cliff on the southern coast of Crimea, was also shown on the video.
The inscription Eurovision, placed near the International exhibition center in Kiev, at Brovarskoy Avenue, lost one letter. Probably, unknown person had a weakness for letter N, and therefore they stole it.
Against your own
The Ukrainian side put up barriers not only for Russian Yuliya Samoylova but also for singer Jamala. The same Jamala, who a year ago won Eurovision in Sweden and brought the contest to Kiev. The singer's producer Igor Tarnopolsky on his page on Facebook said that Jamala, in accordance with established regulations, was forbidden to walk on the red carpet. He also remembered that at the Eurovision song contest in 2016 in Stockholm all delegations on the red carpet were met by the winner of the 2015 Eurovision song contest Måns Zelmerlöw.
Besides, according to the producer of Jamala, neither his badge nor the badge of the singer worked on the entrance turnstiles, and at the opening ceremony there was no press wall or area for photographers and journalists, no the majority of delegations.
Tarnopolsky also mentioned other strangeness of the Ukrainian organizers:
''The night before the opening there was a call from an agency, which apparently develops the budget of Eurovision, and we were offered to go to the opening ceremony by helicopter. To the question ''Why to fly by helicopter?'' there was the answer that it was necessary for Ukraine's image. Moreover, it is unclear how the flight could help the image of the country, and it became clear that no permission for the flight over Kiev was issued, and none of the responsible services were aware of it. That is, we were offered to fly over closed for flights the capital of the country, to do an unauthorized land on the roof of the building, where the restricted access event was taking place, where the wife of the President of Ukraine performs,'' says Igor Tarnopolsky on his Facebook page.
English courses
In the absence of Jamala, the audience was not bored. The attention was drawn to the speech in English of the wife of Ukrainian President Marina Poroshenko. In social networks people avidly discussed her pronunciation, of course, remembering the unforgettable speech of current Deputy Prime Minister Vitaliy Mutko at the meeting room of the headquarters of FIFA in 2010.
Tickets in the Russian language
The winner of Eurovision 2004 Ukrainian singer Ruslana through all the same Facebook urged to buy tickets for the international music contest Eurovision 2017 published in the Ukrainian language. Thus, Ruslana invited to avoid ''betrayal''. The singer said that the tickets that she bought for the first semi-final on February 14 were in English, and the tickets to the second semi-final — in Ukrainian.
Here we would like to note that the service concert.ua, through which they sell tickets for Eurovision, for residents of Ukraine is opened by default in Russian (though also available in Ukrainian and Russian). This caused discontent of the inhabitants of the country, reports TASS.
Russian Bulgarian
Bulgaria at the musical contest Eurovision in Kiev is represented by 17-year-old Kristian Kostov. The young man was born in Moscow, lives in Bulgaria, he has dual citizenship. The Crimean topic surfaced again when there were reports that the young Christian performed in Crimea on 1 June 2014 (i.e. after the entry into force of the Ukrainian law).
The head of the press service of the SBU Elena Gitlyanskaya commented on this issue on Facebook:
''I would like to remind that in accordance with part 3 of article 13 of the law of Ukraine ''On legal status of foreigners and persons without citizenship'', the decision on ban to enter Ukraine is adopted by the Central Executive body that ensures implementation of state policy in the field of migration, the security service of Ukraine or bodies of the state border.
The security service of Ukraine takes a decision on ban to enter Ukraine for foreigners or stateless persons in the interests of national security of Ukraine. The decision on a ban to enter Ukraine is accepted if there is sufficient information received in accordance with the law, the fact of the committing of a socially dangerous act, regardless of the territory where it was committed, which is contrary to the interests of ensuring Ukraine's security, the prevention, identification, suppression and disclosure of which is within the competence of the security service of Ukraine.''
Judging from the words of Gitlyanskaya, we can conclude that the trip of Samoylova to Crimea did threaten Ukraine's national security. The performance by 14-year-old Kostov in Artek cannot be attributed to dangers, to the delight of Bulgaria.
Meanwhile, people's deputy of Ukraine Vadim Denisenko on his Facebook page said that Kristian Kostov needs to testify about his speech in Crimea in 2014.