Ukraine wins Eurovision song contest with politically charged 1944

Singer Jamala calls for ‘peace and love’ after beating rivals with ballad
about deportation of Crimean Tatars, seen as criticism of Russia’s actions
in 2014

Heidi Stephens in Stockholm, Guardian staff and agencies
Sunday 15 May 2016 00.33 BST

Ukraine has won the 2016 Eurovision song contest with an entry whose politically charged lyrics have caused tensions with neighbouring Russia. Singer-songwriter Jamala was crowned the winner for her haunting rendition of the ballad 1944, which evoked the deportation of Crimean Tatars by Josef Stalin and has been interpreted as a criticism of Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014. As she collected her trophy, she pleaded for “peace and love”.

Before the final, which was held in Stockholm on Saturday evening and seen by many as the most politicised edition of the competition to date, Jamala had said her victory would show that Europeans were “ready to hear about the pain of other people”.

Jamala, whose real name is Susana Jamaladynova, is herself a Crimean Tatar who has not been home since shortly after Russia’s 2014 annexation of the peninsula. Her parents and extended family still live there.

“(If I win,) it will mean that modern European people are not indifferent, and are ready to hear about the pain of other people and are ready to sympathise,” Jamala told the Guardian by phone from the Swedish capital shortly before the contest.

[font size=1]-snip-[/font]