By Adam Taylor
Eurovision, the campy-yet-surprisingly-popular pan-European song contest,
is set to take place in May. And much as in previous years, the event will
likely be filled with cheesy songs, debatable costumes – and simmering
geopolitical tension.
For a taste of the latter, look no further than Ukraine's planned entry
this year, a slow-burning pop song by an artist called Jamala. A hint
of the song's intent is included in its title: "1944." The first
line, sung in English, makes things even clearer. "When strangers are
coming, they come to your house," Jamala sings, "they kill you all
inside, [saying] 'We're not guilty, not guilty.'"
Jamala has told journalists that the song is inspired by her own
great-grandmother's experience being deported from Crimea by
Joseph Stalin. At the tail end of World War II, the Soviet leader had
ordered the mass expulsion of the Crimean Tatar population from the region for
their perceived disloyalty. Hundreds of thousands of Tatars were forced from
the Crimean Peninsula, with as many as half dying along the way. It was only after the fall of the Soviet Union that
they were allowed to return, despite having roots in the region that stretch
back centuries.
It's an unusual choice for a song, but while the subject matter may be
historical, for many Ukrainians it likely conjured up more modern event:
The 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine by Russia, largely against the
wishes of the peninsula's Tatar minority, who understandably have reservations
about Moscow. While the song's lyrics do not mention the present-day situation,
the implication seems clear. "This song ... is precisely what we are
all suffering in Ukraine today," one of the judges who voted for the song,
singer and former Eurovision winner Ruslana, said on Sunday,
according to Agence France-Presse.
Speaking to Reuters, Jamala, 32, explained that her own family decided to stay in Crimea after
the annexation, refusing to be forced to leave again. She has not seen them
since summer 2014, the news agency reported. "It is very scary even
to think that something may happen to them because of me feeling so free
here," she said. "I understand that my every word may harm them
there."
A number of Russian lawmakers have offered responses to the song
choice, with Leonid Slutsky, chairman of the Duma committee for relations
with former Soviet states, calling it a "political choice" while Vadim Dengin, head of the
Information Committee in the State Duma, suggested it was designed to
"offend Russia." According to Russian news agency RIA Novosti, Ruslan Balbec, vice premier of the Crimean government, urged Kiev
not to turn the "authoritative international cultural competition"
into a "choreographed political performance."
It is unclear
whether the song will be allowed to enter Eurovision. In theory at least,
political lyrics are banned. In 2009, shortly after the two nations went
to war, Georgia was forced to pull out of the competition after submitting a
song with lyrics that clearly mocked Russian President Vladimir Putin –
that song was called "We Don't Wanna Put In."
Both Russia
and Ukraine have won the contest just one previous time in the past. Last year,
Russia's hopes of winning the event faced an additional hurdle of nationalistic
pride from its neighbors, many of whom voted against the Russian entry, a ballad called "A Million Voices."
Related post: Cimean singer Jamala to represent Ukraine at Eurovision
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