For the second time, Ukraine has won the Eurovision Song Contest, with this year’s entry, Jamala (Susana Jamaladinova), a Crimean Tatar performing her song, “1944” about the Soviet deportation of the Tatars from Crimea. Known by the Crimean Tatars as Sürgün, the deportation of the Crimean Tatars is another genocide committed by Stalin on the territory of Ukraine. It was commemorated globally on May 18, just days after Jamala won the Eurovision Song Contest on May 14 in Stockholm, Sweden.
Previously, Ruslana Lyzychko’s “Wild Dances” won the contest in 2004 for Ukraine. Ms. Lyzhychko offered words of support for Ukraine’s entry after Jamala’s semi-final performance. Ms. Lyzhychko was quoted via Facebook as saying: “…We are happy to tell the world: Welcome to Ukraine! Jamala you did everything you could and even more – you’ve changed the music for the better! This victory is well-deserved and strong! Symbolically enough that both times Ukraine wins with exotic: in 2004 with music of the Carpathians, and in 2016 – of Crimean Tatars! This is our different and unlimited Ukraine!”
This latest win for Ukraine on the international stage is a painful reminder for Russia that it stands alone against a united world.
In a case of sour grapes, Russia claims that Ukraine’s entry was political in nature, in an alleged violation of the Eurovision contest rules, and that Russia’s competitor, Sergey Lazarev, was robbed of the prize because of the contest’s alleged rigged voting system. Russia has announced that it plans to boycott the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest that is to be hosted by Ukraine. That has led commentators to ask: As Russia threatens to boycott next year’s contest, can we expect a revival of the Soviet-era Intervision song contest (Eurovision’s low-grade counterpart in the Soviet Union)?
The Atlantic Council’s Kateryna Smagliy wrote: “Artists can often repair what politicians fail to achieve. With just one sincere and deeply moving song, Jamala succeeded in what European and Ukrainian leaders have been struggling to do at various international conferences and diplomatic negotiation tables. She united Europe in its support of Ukraine and Crimean Tatars, and reminded global audiences that Crimea is Ukraine.”
Thanks to this latest high-profile event, Ukraine and Europe have been shown the effectiveness of a revitalized cultural diplomacy strategy against Russian moves. Ms. Smagliy also noted how a group of prominent Ukrainian writers and cultural activists have recently launched a petition to rename Kyiv’s Boryspil airport after painter Kazimir Malevich. A similar move was made in 2012 with the renaming of the Donetsk airport after composer Sergei Prokofiev, who was born in Donetsk. The Ukrainian diaspora of the U.S. and Canada, she added, can assist in the coordination of cultural policies, to share experience and to support efforts for Ukraine.
The Weekly congratulates Jamala on her win for Ukraine and for the Crimean Tatars, and hopes that this latest win will spur increased efforts by the international community to work with all of Ukraine and the Crimean Tatars to counter Russian aggression and disinformation, to remind Russia that these people and lands are not forgotten. We maintain the hope that one day, with ever-increasing international pressure, Russia will return control of Crimea to Ukraine.