Crimea riverODDLY for a pop show that is meant to be apolitical, the Eurovision song contest causes a fission of fury nearly every year. In 2014 Conchita Wurst, a bearded drag queen from Austria, won the annual festival of kitsch, leading to calls in Russia and Belarus for Ms Wurst’s song not to be transmitted and accusations that the show was a “hotbed of sodomy”. Last year Ukraine won the contest with “1944”, a song about the deportation of Crimean Tatars under Stalin sung by Jamala, herself an ethnic Crimean Tatar. This infuriated the Russian government, which had invaded and annexed Crimea in 2014.
This year yet another squabble is brewing among the latex and glitter. Ukraine is hosting the contest, which will be held on May 13th. Channel One, Russia’s main broadcaster, has put up as Russia’s representative Yulia Samoilova, a 28-year-old wheelchair-bound singer (pictured). Ms Samoilova performed in Crimea in 2015; this means she falls foul of Ukraine’s travel ban on prominent Russians who have either been to Crimea since the annexation or who openly support their government’s policy there. Shortly after she was selected, the...Continue reading
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