Italy hosts this Saturday the final of the 66th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, with the notable absence of one country: Russia, which was excluded from the contest in February after its invasion of Ukraine. Despite the fact that the organizers of the contest insist that the contest is a non-political event, the conflict in Europe seems, according to previous bets, that it will dominate the public vote.
At the gates of the start of the Eurovision Song Contest 2022, which takes place this Saturday night in Turin (Italy) at 9:00 p.m. local time, the bets already define the preferences of the televote.
Sweden and last year’s winner Italy are among the bookmakers’ favourites, with both countries featuring love ballads that often do well in the contest. Another favorite to win is Ukraine, represented by a less traditional candidate: the folk-rap group ‘Kalush Orchestra’.
Ukraine’s status among the favorites is inextricably linked to the war Russia is waging on its soil. Since Russian troops entered Ukraine on February 24, Russia has faced international sanctions, including being banned from competing in sports competitions around the world.
The day after the invasion, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which owns the Eurovision rights, announced that Russia would be banned from participating in the 2022 contest.
“In light of the unprecedented crisis in Ukraine, the inclusion of a Russian entry in this year’s Competition would bring the competition into disrepute,” the EBU said in a statement.
Songs are often rejected from the Eurovision Song Contest for being too political, but it is rare that a country is disqualified for its political stance. The last time it happened was almost 30 years ago, in 1993. As a result of the sanctions imposed by the United Nations, Yugoslavia, directed by Slobodan Milosevic, was excluded from Eurovision in the midst of the war in Yugoslavia.
what had to be done
The decision to ban Russia’s participation this year was not controversial among fans. “Most fans thought it was the only thing to do,” said Simon Bennett, president of OGAE International, a Eurovision fan group with national committees in 43 countries. “Nobody was happy at all [de la prohibición]but most thought it was inappropriate for Russia to compete.”
The EBU also quickly reached a consensus on Russia, said Eurovision historian Dean Vuletic. “The pressure came from within the EBU, especially from the Nordic countries, which threatened not to participate if Russia was allowed,” he explained. “And for Eurovision it was more important to have Sweden than Russia.”
Sweden is one of the most prolific winners of Eurovision, having won the contest six times, most famously in 1974 with ABBA’s ‘Waterloo’.
The exclusion of Russia this year is the accumulation of years of tensions with Ukraine that have taken place on the Eurovision stage. In 2014, Russia was not officially excluded from the contest following its annexation of Crimea, but was stymied by Ukraine in subsequent years.
The next time Ukraine competed in the contest after annexation was in 2016, when it was represented by Jamala, a singer of Crimean Tatar origin. Ella’s song ‘1944’, which commemorates Ella’s historic deportation of Ella’s people from Ella’s Crimea, won the contest.
As the winner, Ukraine hosted the contest the following year, and tensions with Russia increased. Ukrainian organizers refused to allow the Russian candidate, disabled singer Yulia Samoilova, to enter the country, arguing that she had performed in Crimea since annexation and thus violated Ukrainian law.
Russia refused to send another interpreter or to participate remotely, resulting in a de facto exclusion from the final.
The tensions between the two countries were also visible in previous editions of Eurovision. “It started much earlier, with the Orange Revolution,” Vuletic said. In 2004 and 2005, presidential elections believed to be rigged in favor of pro-Russian candidate Viktor Yanukovych sparked protests in Ukraine.
“One of the spokespersons for the revolution was the singer Ruslana,” Vuletic said. That same year, Ruslana won the 2004 Eurovision final with her song ‘Wild Dances’.
When the contest was held in Ukraine the following year, the country had a pro-European president, Viktor Yushchenko, who attended the event to award the winner and extol European values.
Ruslana became a deputy and was heavily involved in the 2014 ‘Maidan Revolution’, protesting the government’s decision not to sign a free trade and political association agreement with the European Union.
The definition of soft power
Despite the efforts of the EBU, it seems that the countries are willing to use the Eurovision Song Contest for political purposes. “The reasons are similar in sport and in Eurovision,” explained Lukas Aubin, a specialist in Russia and the geopolitics of sport. “These events are a way for countries to highlight their national identity, build a narrative and improve their image. It’s the definition of soft power.”
Ukraine is not the only country to do so. “Russia has been instrumentalizing the Eurovision Song Contest for a long time, investing a lot of money to participate, producing very lavish tickets, with expensive stage effects,” Vuletic said.
In 2009, Russia spent more than any previous host country when it hosted the Eurovision final in Moscow. Since then, only Azerbaijan has spent more.
In 2022, the Russian authorities have taken a more critical stance on Eurovision and its LGBT values in particular, signaling a change in attitude.
“The contest is very popular in Russia and in the former Soviet countries,” Aubin said. “But the Russian authorities are opportunists and want to participate in Eurovision to show their best face. Then, as soon as they are criticized or excluded, they play the victims and criticize the contest.”
When Ukraine won the contest with Jamala in 2016, “it was seen as an insult in Moscow,” Aubin said. This year’s exclusion from the Festival fits perfectly into the Russian narrative that the West is hostile to Russia. Ultimately, “Eurovision is seen as a weapon of Western soft power,” Aubin said. Thus, Russia’s relationship with the West defines its attitude towards Eurovision.
in favor of Ukraine
Meanwhile, Ukraine continues to use the contest to build its own image on the international stage. His proposal this year is a mixture of rap and traditional Ukrainian music entitled “Stefania”. “The song was created before the war, but in context, it has taken a patriotic turn,” Vuletic said.
In the song, the lyrics address a mother. The group sings: “I will always find my way home, even if all roads are destroyed.” It’s hard to avoid matching the lyrics to the images of destruction that have come out of Ukraine in recent months.
At the same time, the Ukrainian authorities have stressed that the members of the group have received special authorization to travel to Italy for the contest, while other Ukrainian men their age have been prohibited from leaving the country, in case they are needed to the war effort.
For many, it will be impossible to separate Ukraine’s performance at Eurovision from the context of the war.
“The public’s televoting will probably be overwhelmingly favorable to Ukraine to show support,” Bennett said.
The public vote will open after the singers have performed in this Saturday’s final, but half of the points are awarded by a professional jury, which is more difficult to predict.
Above all, because the Ukrainian performance is not the typical one that attracts the Eurovision audience. “If it was a normal year, we wouldn’t be talking about Ukraine winning,” Bennett said.
Win or not, the group is expected to have a strong performance this Saturday in Turin.
The event is usually seen by more than 200 million people in more than 30 countries each year. That’s why “Ukraine doesn’t have to win the Eurovision Song Contest to beat Russia here,” Vuletic said. “He won the day Russia was banned.”
*Adapted from its English version
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