Ukraine selects Crimean Tatar for Eurovision song contest
| Publisher | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| Publication Date | 22 February 2016 |
| Cite as | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Ukraine selects Crimean Tatar for Eurovision song contest, 22 February 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/570cdf44c.html [accessed 1 June 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
February 22, 2016
By RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service
The Crimean Tatar singer Jamala has been chosen to represent Ukraine at the Eurovision song contest in Sweden in May.
Jamala, whose real name is Susana Jamaladinova, will perform her song 1944, which is about Josef Stalin's deportation of Crimean Tatars to Central Asia.
Her song uses English lyrics with a chorus sung in Crimean Tatar.
Jamala – who was born in Osh, Kyrgyzstan – was chosen on February 21 from among five other contestants.
Jamala received the second-highest score from the judges and the highest from viewers voting via text message – even though most Crimean Tatars were unable to cast ballots because of the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014.
In Focus: Crimean Tatar Singer Hopes To Take People's Tragedy To Eurovision
Russian authorities kicked Ukrainian telecom companies out of the region after their takeover of the peninsula.
More than 250,000 Crimean Tatars were stuffed into train cars and sent to Central Asia in May 1944.
Tens of thousands died during the trip and thousands more perished from hunger and disease shortly after their arrival.
Crimean Tatars were not allowed to return to Crimea until the 1980s, but most came in the 1990s after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
With reporting by AP
Link to original story on RFE/RL website
