It’s about the songs, not the politics. That has been the message of the Eurovision Song Contest for years. Yet in practice it is almost impossible to keep politics out. Political statements and politically charged images often find their way to the stage or the green room, the past teaches.
British Eurovision connoisseur Paul Jordan has even been promoted on the subject. “As soon as the countries submit their entry, a Eurovision committee will check whether there is no politically charged message in the song,” he explains. According to him, the organization tries not to get burned by political issues. Just look at the submission of Belarus, which was rejected twice this year. “
Tensions between countries
But political statements are not limited to the songs that are sung. Countries sometimes make political decisions themselves. In 1978, when Israel won the Eurovision Song Contest, the event was also broadcast in Jordan. But as it gradually became clear during the evening that Israel would win, the broadcast was interrupted. Viewers in Jordan thought Belgium had won. That country was at the top before the broadcast ended.
Also the tensions between Russia and Ukraine often managed to reach the stage in recent years. Two years after the annexation of Crimea, Ukraine won with the song in 2016 1944 from Jamala. The song is a personal account of her grandmother who was deported from Crimea by the Soviets under Stalin in World War II along with 400,000 other Crimean Tatars.
The 2016 Ukrainian Winning Number:
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