114-611: Susana Alimivna Jamaladinova (born 27 August 1983), known professionally as Jamala , is a Ukrainian singer. She represented Ukraine and won the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 with her song " 1944 ". In 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023 and 2024 she served as a judge at Vidbir , the Ukrainian national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest. In November 2023, Russia added Jamala to its wanted list. Susana Dzhamaladinova
228-561: A backing vocalist for Croatia. Active EBU member broadcasters in Andorra , Luxembourg , Monaco , Slovakia (despite the country's return to the Eurovision Young Dancers in 2015 ) and Turkey confirmed non-participation prior to the announcement of the participants list by the EBU. Lebanese broadcaster TL had not ruled out debuting in 2016, but it ultimately did not appear on
342-513: A bid had approximately three weeks to submit their offer to SVT. SVT announced on 1 June the conditions under which cities and venues could announce their interest in hosting the contest: An announcement regarding the venue was expected from SVT by midsummer, with the Ericsson Globe announced as the venue on 8 July. Key † Host venue The Eurovision Village was the official Eurovision Song Contest fan and sponsors' area during
456-514: A capacity of approximately 16,000 attendees, and this was the second time the contest has been staged at the venue, after the Eurovision Song Contest 2000 . Host broadcaster Sveriges Television (SVT) announced on 24 May, the day after winning the 2015 contest, that the Tele2 Arena in Stockholm was their first choice venue. However, other cities and arenas were invited to apply, and those making
570-862: A concert tour which featured several dates scheduled in March and April prior to the Eurovision Song Contest. On 23 April, Jamala performed "1944" during the STB programme Ukrayina maye talant Diti . In addition to her appearances within Ukraine, Jamala also promoted "1944" on 9 April during a performance at the Eurovision in Concert event which was held at the Melkweg venue in Amsterdam , Netherlands and hosted by Cornald Maas and Hera Björk . According to Eurovision rules, all nations with
684-448: A final, held on 21 February 2016; nine entries competed in each semi-final with the top three from each semi-final advancing to the final. In the final, "1944" performed by Jamala was selected as the winner after tying for first place following the combination of votes from a three-member jury panel and a public televote—the tie was decided in Jamala's favour after "1944" scored the highest with
798-466: A pastiche of past entries which featured appearances from Lordi and Alexander Rybak , winners of the contest in 2006 and 2009 respectively and performed by Zelmerlöw and Mede, a sketch starring Lynda Woodruff, played by Sarah Dawn Finer , and a performance of " Fire in the Rain " and "Heroes" by Zelmerlöw, from his albums Chameleon and Perfectly Damaged respectively. During the live broadcast of
912-527: A poorly structured selection process, while Romania was disqualified on 22 April 2016 due to repeated non-payment of debts by their national broadcaster to the EBU. Seven artists returned after having previously participated in the contest. Deen returned after previously representing Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2004 , finishing ninth in the final with the song " In the Disco ". Kaliopi returned after previously representing Macedonia in 2012 , finishing 13th in
1026-543: A random order. As the new voting system would give equal weight to jury and televoting results, a national jury result could not be used as a backup result for the televoting or vice versa. Therefore, if a country could not deliver a valid televoting/jury result, a substitute result would be calculated by the jury/televoting result of a pre-selected group of countries approved by the contest's Reference Group. The Director General of Radiotelevisione della Repubblica di San Marino (SMRTV), Carlo Romeo , stated on 23 February that
1140-530: A special guest in 2015, but by invitation of the EBU due to the associate membership status of the Special Broadcasting Service . However, instead of pre-qualifying for the final and voting in all three live shows, as was the case in 2015, Australia entered the second semi-final and voted only in that semi-final and the final. Portugal did not enter, largely due to its national broadcaster's insufficient promotion of their music-based media, as well as
1254-495: A special project which involved the presentation of nine stage costume designs by different designers. On 12 April, Jamala and the Vogue team ultimately selected the costume designed by Ivan Frolov. Jamala's outfit for the contest was ultimately determined during the rehearsals in Stockholm where the costume by Frolov and an additional two options designed by STB chief stylist Dmitry Kuryata were considered. Following Jamala's victory at
SECTION 10
#17328724269821368-430: Is a summary of the maximum 12 points awarded by each country's professional jury and televote in the final. Countries in bold gave the maximum 24 points (12 points apiece from professional jury and televoting) to the specified entrant. Most countries sent commentators to Stockholm or commentated from their own country, in order to add insight to the participants and, if necessary, the provision of voting information. It
1482-776: Is an activist of the Muslim Crimean Tatar community. In November 2017, Jamala announced that she and Suleimanov were expecting their first child together. On 27 March 2018 their son Emir-Rahman Seit-Bekir ogly Suleimanov was born. Jamala is fluent in Ukrainian , Crimean Tatar , Russian and English . In February 2022, amidst the Russian invasion of Ukraine , she and her two children left Ukraine and initially took refuge in Romania , before eventually landing in Turkey. After February 24, 2022,
1596-601: Is hoped that Eurovision the Party would become an annual event in the host city of the contest. Eligibility for potential participation in the Eurovision Song Contest requires a national broadcaster with active EBU membership capable of receiving the contest via the Eurovision network and broadcasting it live nationwide. The EBU issued an invitation to participate in the contest to all active members and associate member Australia . Participating countries had until 15 September 2015 to submit their applications for participation in
1710-626: The Eurovision Song Contest . It took place in Stockholm , Sweden , following the country's victory at the 2015 contest with the song " Heroes " by Måns Zelmerlöw . Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Sveriges Television (SVT), the contest was held at the Globe Arena and consisted of two semi-finals on 10 and 12 May, and a final on 14 May 2016. The three live shows were presented by Petra Mede and
1824-462: The Eurovision Song Contest 2016 with the song "1944" . The song is about the deportation of the Crimean Tatars in 1944 and particularly about her great-grandmother, who lost her daughter while being deported to Central Asia . Jamala wrote the song's lyrics in 2014. In the second semi-final of the contest, Jamala performed 14th and was one of ten participants who qualified for the grand final. It
1938-420: The 2016 Irish entry "Sunlight" as a guest. The Hardkiss and Jamala were tied at 11 points each but since Jamala received the most votes from the public she was declared the winner. The 2016 Ukrainian entry garnered international media exposure both for Jamala, a Ukrainian singer of Crimean Tatar descent, and the song "1944", which was inspired by the story of her great-grandmother during the 1944 deportation of
2052-482: The 2016 contest. His experience as a television presenter includes Melodifestivalen 2010 and SVT sing-along show Allsång på Skansen . Christer Björkman told Expressen on 25 May that Gina Dirawi , Petra Mede and Sanna Nielsen were also being considered as hosts, but it was reported on 1 June that SVT was considering Zelmerlöw and Dolph Lundgren as co-hosts. Expressen reported on 19 August that Mede and Zelmerlöw were SVT's first choice of hosts, while it
2166-578: The Crimean Tatars in the Soviet Union under the rule of Joseph Stalin . Jamala stated that one of the reasons for entering the Ukrainian national selection and participating in the Eurovision Song Contest was so that people would hear a song written "in a state of helplessness", drawing comparison between the 1944 deportation of Crimean Tatars and the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation in 2014. International media reported that although
2280-443: The EBU on 21 January, based on historical voting patterns as calculated by the contest's official televoting partner Digame. Drawing from different pots helps in reducing the chance of so-called neighbour voting and increasing suspense in the semi-finals. Sweden and Germany were pre-allocated to vote and perform in the first and second semi-final respectively due to requests from their respective broadcasters, which were approved by
2394-412: The EBU released a statement clearing the entry of any rule violations as the insignificant viewership of the video was seen as not having given the song an unfair advantage. The rule was used by the EBU in prior contest years to clear the 2013 Dutch entry and the 2013 Belarusian entry for the competition. Eurovision Song Contest 2016 The Eurovision Song Contest 2016 was the 61st edition of
SECTION 20
#17328724269822508-406: The EBU. The EBU announced on 1 May 2016 that the opening act of the first semi-final would be a performance of "Heroes" by Måns Zelmerlöw, while the opening act of the second semi-final would be a musical theatre comedy song entitled "That's Eurovision", composed by Matheson Bayley and written by Bayley, Edward af Sillén and Daniel Réhn, and performed by Zelmerlöw and Mede. The opening act of
2622-533: The Eurovision Song Contest after the nation withdrew from the 2015 due to financial and political reasons related to the Russo-Ukrainian War . The Ukrainian broadcaster National Television Company of Ukraine (NTU) organised a national final in collaboration with commercial broadcaster STB in order to select the Ukrainian entry for the 2016 contest in Stockholm , Sweden. The national selection consisted of two semi-finals, held on 6 and 13 February 2016, and
2736-402: The Eurovision Song Contest. A petition was started on Change.org on 15 May 2016 calling on the EBU and the contest's organisers to void the final results in view of the fact that the overall winner only placed second in both the jury and televote. The EBU later responded to the petition by stating that Jamala's win was decided upon by juries made up of professionals of the music industry and by
2850-521: The LED screens during the final chorus. The stage director and choreographer for the Ukrainian performance was Konstantin Tomilchenko. The two backing vocalists that joined Jamala on stage were Alina Kosenko and Aleksandra Makarovskaya. At the end of the show, Ukraine was announced as having finished in the top 10 and subsequently qualifying for the grand final. It was later revealed that Ukraine placed second in
2964-518: The Romanian government to repay the debt before 20 April or face exclusion from the contest. The EBU announced on 22 April that after the Romanian government had failed to repay the debt by the deadline, TVR were expelled from the EBU, consequently disqualifying Romania from the contest. The Director General of the EBU, Ingrid Deltenre , said that while "it is regrettable that we are forced to take this action […] The continued indebtedness of TVR jeopardizes
3078-567: The Swedish jury vote was also announced live from the event by Gina Dirawi . A pre-party and after-party was also held and featured performances from former contest winners Carola and Loreen as well as Danny Saucedo , Panetoz and DJ Tim Henri. Executive producer Johan Bernhagen has stated that the event complements existing events being held at the Eurovision Village and the EuroClub, and it
3192-532: The Ukrainian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2016. The competition took place at the STB Studios in Hostomel , Kyiv Oblast and consisted of two semi-finals held on 6 and 13 February 2016 and a final on 21 February 2016. All shows in the competition were hosted by Dmytro Tankovich and Oleksandr Pedan and broadcast on both UA:Pershyi and STB as well as online via NTU's YouTube broadcasts. The selection of
3306-456: The Ukrainian national final, the singer stated that an extensive promotional tour would not be necessary as the internet solves many problems by allowing access to information and performances. Jamala's PR manager, Denis Kozlovskiy, noted that the international media interest the song received had already completed a large part of the promotional campaign. Jamala announced that she would focus her promotional efforts in Ukraine where she would begin
3420-468: The age of nine, singing 12 folk and children's Crimean Tatar songs. She entered the Simferopol Music College and later graduated from Tchaikovsky National Music Academy of Ukraine as an opera singer, but preferred a career in pop music. On 14 February 2010, she released her first single "You Are Made of Love" from her debut studio album For Every Heart . She released "It's Me, Jamala" as
3534-559: The best artist as voted on by the shows' commentators; and the Composer Award, given to the best and most original composition as voted by the participating composers. Jamala was awarded the Artistic Award, which was accepted at the awards ceremony by Jamala. Voting during the three shows was conducted under a new system that involved each country now awarding two sets of points from 1-8, 10 and 12: one from their professional jury and
Jamala - Misplaced Pages Continue
3648-447: The breakdown of the jury voting and televoting conducted during the two shows: The following members comprised the Ukrainian jury: Ukraine is, and will remain, the winner of the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest. Whether you agree or disagree, we call upon those who signed this petition to embrace the result, valid in accordance with the rules, and to continue a constructive dialogue about how to further strengthen and improve
3762-420: The case since 2006 , and the national spokesperson announcing only the country to which they award 12 points. After the results of the professional juries were presented, the televoting points from all participating countries would be combined, providing one score for each song. The new voting system would also be used to determine the qualifiers from each semi-final, but, as before, the qualifiers are announced in
3876-461: The celebrity participated in the GIDNA project from Future for Ukraine Charity Foundation . While reading the votes at the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 , she announced that she was expecting her third child. Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 Ukraine participated in and won the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 with the song " 1944 " written and performed by Jamala . Ukraine returned to
3990-439: The collaboration between the two broadcasters stating that they would do everything possible for the Ukrainian contender to represent the country successfully. Likewise, CEO of STB Vladimir Borodyansky stated that together the broadcasters would create "a national movement" by organising a selection that would involve the best producers, directors and choreographers. Vidbir 2016 was the first edition of Vidbir which selected
4104-433: The combination of these scores advanced to the final. The third stage was the final, which took place on 21 February 2016 and featured the six acts that qualified from the semi-finals vying to represent Ukraine in Stockholm. The winner was selected via the 50/50 combination of votes from a public televote and an expert jury. Both the public televote and the expert jury assigned scores ranging from 1 (lowest) to 6 (highest) and
4218-474: The competing entries for the national final and ultimately the Ukrainian Eurovision entry took place over three stages. In the first stage, artists and songwriters had the opportunity to apply for the competition either through an online submission form or by attending a scheduled audition during designated dates. Eighteen acts were selected and announced on 26 January 2016. The second stage consisted of
4332-400: The competition. On 12 April 2011, she released her debut studio album For Every Heart through Moon Records Ukraine . On 8 November 2012, she released "Ya Lyublyu Tebya" ( Russian : «Я Люблю́ Тебя́» , English: "I Love You" ) as the lead single from her second studio album All or Nothing . She released "Hurt" as the second single, and "Kaktus" ( Ukrainian : «Ка́ктус» , English: "Cactus" )
4446-627: The contest, and until 10 October to withdraw their applications without facing financial sanctions. It had been initially announced on 26 November 2015 that 43 countries would participate in the contest, equalling the record number of participants set in 2008 and 2011 . However, Romania was disqualified from participation on 22 April 2016, subsequently reducing the number of participating countries to 42. Four countries returned after absences from recent contests: Bosnia and Herzegovina since 2012 , Bulgaria and Croatia since 2013 and Ukraine since 2014 . Australia also returned after debuting as
4560-512: The contest. However, his selection was criticised due to his history of expressing far-right political views in his actions and lyrics, including a speech made at a protest in 2014 supporting the assertion that the German Reich continues to exist within its pre-World War II borders , his propagation of conspiracy theories surrounding the September 11 attacks and the 2008 financial crisis , and
4674-462: The country would debut at the 2016 contest, without further elaboration; this was promptly denied by the EBU. Liechtensteiner broadcaster 1 FL TV was also unable to debut at the contest due to insufficient funding for EBU membership. The preliminary dates for the contest were announced on 16 March 2015 at a Heads of Delegation meeting in Vienna, with the semi-finals taking place on 10 and 12 May, and
Jamala - Misplaced Pages Continue
4788-471: The dialogue of hosts were interpreted by three sign language performers: The international sign broadcasts was streamed online alongside the three live shows, with the following countries also televising the broadcasts: Romania's participation was reported to be in danger on 19 April 2016 due to repeated non-payment of debts by Televiziunea Română (TVR) to the EBU, totalling CHF 16 million (€14.56 million) dating back to January 2007. The EBU had requested
4902-412: The draw determined in which semi-final the "Big Five" and host country Sweden would have to vote. The second part of the draw decided in which half of the respective semi-finals each country would perform, with the exact running order determined by the producers of the show at a later date. The EBU originally announced that the running order would be revealed on 5 April, however for undisclosed reasons this
5016-409: The entry that had the highest number of points following the combination of these scores was declared the winner. Viewers participating in the public televote during the three live shows had the opportunity to submit a single vote per phone number for each of the participating entries via SMS. In the event of a tie during the semi-finals and final, the tie was decided in favour of the entry that received
5130-416: The event within Ukraine and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. NTU confirmed their intentions to participate at the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest on 16 September 2015. In the past, NTU had alternated between both internal selections and national finals in order to select the Ukrainian entry. Between 2011 and 2014, the broadcaster had set up national finals with several artists to choose both
5244-440: The events week. There it was possible to watch performances by local artists, as well as the live shows broadcast from the main venue. Located at Kungsträdgården in Stockholm , it was open from 6 to 13 May 2016. The EuroClub was the venue for the official after-parties and private performances by contest participants. Unlike the Eurovision Village, access to the EuroClub was restricted to accredited fans, delegates, and press. It
5358-532: The exceptions of the host country (Sweden) and the " Big Five " (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into
5472-506: The final list of participating countries. The EBU announced on 18 December 2015 that Kazakh broadcaster Khabar Agency would become an associate EBU member on 1 January 2016. However, Kazakhstan would be unable to debut at the contest as eligibility for participation requires a national broadcaster with active EBU membership. Despite the EBU's positive response to Chinese broadcaster Hunan Television 's interest in participating, in June 2015
5586-555: The final on Logo TV in the United States, Timberlake's performance was replaced by a reprise of "The Grey People" from the first semi-final, while the official DVD release removed it entirely. In an interview with The Guardian , the contest's Executive Supervisor, Jon Ola Sand , revealed that this was due to rights restrictions. Eighteen countries participated in the first semi-final. France , Spain , and Sweden voted in this semi-final. The highlighted countries qualified for
5700-586: The final on 14 May 2016. These were subject to change depending on SVT, but were later confirmed when Stockholm was announced as the host city. Discussions were held in 2014 between the EBU and the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) regarding the inclusion of a guest performance from the ABU TV Song Festival at the contest. The EBU confirmed on 16 July 2015 that they would be looking into
5814-431: The final was a parade of flags similar to final opening ceremonies since 2013, themed as a tribute to Swedish fashion design and dance music with artists being welcomed on stage in a catwalk fashion show with flags being projected onto 26 dresses designed by Bea Szenfeld . The interval acts of both semi-finals were sketches choreographed by Fredrik Rydman : "The Grey People" in the first semi-final and "Man vs Machine" in
SECTION 50
#17328724269825928-416: The final with the song " Crno i belo ". She was also selected to represent Macedonia in 1996 with "Samo ti", but was eliminated in a non-televised pre-qualifying round. Poli Genova returned after previously representing Bulgaria in 2011 , finishing 12th in the second semi-final with the song " Na inat ". Ira Losco returned after previously representing Malta in 2002 , finishing in second place with
6042-513: The final with the song " Zauvijek moja ". Armenian backing vocalist Monica previously represented Armenia in Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2008 . Sahlene , who represented Estonia in 2002 , returned as a backing vocalist for Australia . Martina Majerle , who represented Slovenia in 2009 and provided backing vocals numerous times for Croatia 2003 , Montenegro 2008 , 2014 and Slovenia 2007 , 2011 , 2012 , returned as
6156-411: The final, including the jury final where the professional juries cast their final votes before the live show. Jamala performed a repeat of her semi-final performance during the final on 14 May. Ukraine won the contest placing first with a score of 534 points: 323 points from the televoting and 211 points from the juries. This was Ukraine's second victory in the Eurovision Song Contest; their first victory
6270-447: The final. 26 countries participated in the final, with all 42 participating countries eligible to vote. The running order for the final was revealed after the second semi-final qualifiers' press conference on 13 May. The spokespersons announced the 12-point score from their respective country's national jury in the following order: Below is a summary of the maximum 12 points awarded by each country's professional jury and televote in
6384-486: The final. Eighteen countries participated in the second semi-final. Germany , Italy , and the United Kingdom voted in this semi-final. Romania were originally planned to perform twelfth in this semi-final, but were disqualified due to repeated non-payment of debts to the EBU, resulting in countries originally planned to perform thirteenth or later to do so one place earlier. The highlighted countries qualified for
6498-579: The financial stability of the EBU itself". However, because the official album of the contest had been produced before the disqualification, the planned Romanian entry, "Moment of Silence", performed by Ovidiu Anton, would remain on both digital and physical copies of the album. The song had been written following the Colectiv nightclub fire in October 2015. Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) announced on 19 November 2015 that Xavier Naidoo would represent Germany in
6612-418: The first semi-final. Countries in bold gave the maximum 24 points (12 points apiece from professional jury and televoting) to the specified entrant. Below is a summary of the maximum 12 points awarded by each country's professional jury and televote in the second semi-final. Countries in bold gave the maximum 24 points (12 points apiece from professional jury and televoting) to the specified entrant. Below
6726-472: The highest score from the public televote. The jury panel that voted during the three shows consisted of: Crimean Tatar leaders pledged to enable people in Crimea to vote in the national selection; according to Crimean Tatar public figure Refat Chubarov : "If Crimeans are not able to vote in such Ukrainian competitions, we are silently agreeing with those who say Crimea is not part of Ukraine." In 2014 Crimea
6840-422: The jury show on 11 May where the professional juries of each country watched and voted on the competing entries. The Ukrainian performance featured Jamala performing on stage in a blue costume designed by Ivan Frolov together with two backing vocalists. The performance focused on Jamala as the predominately dark stage displayed yellow, red and orange colours and patterns with a large colourful tree appearing on
6954-442: The latter being absent from the final for the first time since 2000. In the final, Australia's second-place finish was an improvement on its fifth-place finish in 2015, while Bulgaria finished fourth, its best result since its debut and first participation in a final since 2007. The contest was the first to implement a voting system change since 1975 : each country's professional jury points were announced largely as before, while
SECTION 60
#17328724269827068-522: The lyrics. Jamala also stated that she would change the lyrics if required to do so by the EBU. In an interview for Euronews published on 3 March, Jamala stated that there is no political statement being made in the song and that the purpose of the song was to commemorate her great-grandmother and the thousands of Crimean Tatars. On 9 March, the EBU announced that the Eurovision Song Contest Reference Group concluded that "1944"
7182-404: The matter with the organising body of the contest, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), and that their absence would be limited to one year only with an expected return in 2016. On 18 November 2015, it was announced that NTU would collaborate with commercial broadcaster STB in order to organise a national final to select the 2016 Ukrainian entry. General director of NTU Zurab Alasania praised
7296-409: The other from televoting. Each nation's jury consisted of five music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. This jury judged each entry based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. In addition, no member of a national jury
7410-441: The performances of the competing entries, 2016 Belarusian Eurovision entrant Ivan performed the 2016 Belarusian entry "Help You Fly" and 2016 Spanish Eurovision entrant Barei performed the 2016 Spanish entry " Say Yay! " as guests in the first and second semi-finals respectively. The final took place on 21 February 2016. The six entries that qualified from the semi-finals competed. The winner, " 1944 " performed by Jamala ,
7524-495: The possibility of the proposal, which was discussed at the ABU General Assembly in 2014. SVT proposed a change of start time of the contest from 21:00 CEST to 20:00 CEST on 9 September, arguing that such a change would help to promote family viewing of the contest, especially in eastern Europe when it would run late into the night. However, the EBU published the public rules of the contest on 28 October, which stated that
7638-443: The previous year's winner Måns Zelmerlöw. Forty-two countries participated in the contest. Bosnia and Herzegovina , Bulgaria , Croatia and Ukraine returned after absences from recent contests, while Australia also returned after debuting as a special guest in 2015. Portugal did not enter, largely due to their national broadcaster's insufficient promotion of its music-based media, while Romania had planned to participate, but
7752-469: The public. "1944" is the first Eurovision Song Contest song to feature lyrics in the Crimean Tatar language . The Ukrainian entry caused controversy and garnered international media interest both for Jamala, a Ukrainian singer of Crimean Tatar descent, and the song "1944", which was inspired by the story of her great-grandmother during the 1944 deportation of the Crimean Tatars in the Soviet Union under
7866-487: The results of each national televote were combined and announced in reverse order. It was also the first contest to be broadcast on live television in the United States , and the EBU recorded a record-breaking 204 million viewers for the contest, beating the 2015 viewing figures by over 5 million. The contest took place in the Globe Arena in Stockholm , following Sweden's victory at the 2015 contest. The Globe Arena has
7980-451: The reverse order the countries appeared in the semi-final running order. Ukraine was drawn to compete in the second half. Following this draw, the shows' producers decided upon the running order of the final, as they had done for the semi-finals. Ukraine was subsequently placed to perform in position 21, following the entry from Latvia and before the entry from Malta . Jamala once again took part in dress rehearsals on 13 and 14 May before
8094-434: The rule of Joseph Stalin . Despite media reports that the song could be disqualified due to its alleged political overtones, the Eurovision Song Contest Reference Group cleared the song for the competition and stated that neither the title nor the lyrics of the song contained political speech. Ukraine was drawn to compete in the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 12 May 2016. Performing during
8208-403: The rules of the contest, songs "must not have been commercially released before the 1st of September 2015". However, the rules also specify that if a song had been made available to the public prior to that date, the entry would be evaluated for eligibility and could still compete as long as the release did not give the song an unfair competitive advantage against the other entries. On 19 May 2016,
8322-448: The runner-up in the contest on two occasions: in 2007 with the song " Dancing Lasha Tumbai " performed by Verka Serduchka and in 2008 with the song " Shady Lady " performed by Ani Lorak . Ukraine's least successful result had been 19th place, which they achieved during the 2005 , with the song " Razom nas bahato " performed by GreenJolly . The Ukrainian national broadcaster, National Television Company of Ukraine (NTU), broadcasts
8436-414: The same pot. On 25 January 2016, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Ukraine was placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 12 May 2016, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show. Once all the competing songs for the 2016 contest had been released, the running order for
8550-512: The second semi-final respectively. The EBU announced on 9 May that one of the interval acts of the final would be a world premiere live performance of " Can't Stop the Feeling! " and " Rock Your Body " by Justin Timberlake. He was the first "global megastar" in the contest's 61-year-history to perform during the interval. Other interval acts in the final included a sketch called "Love Love Peace Peace",
8664-421: The second single on 18 October 2010. On 23 November 2010, she released "Smile" as the third single from the album. Early in 2011, she participated on the national selection show in an attempt to represent Ukraine at the Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Smile". The song was a crowd favorite and Jamala herself managed to land a spot in the finals of the competition. However, she later decided to withdraw from
8778-544: The selection of the song and stated: "I am confident that Jamala will present with dignity our country at the Eurovision. I believe that the whole world will know about 1944". During a press conference for the Ukrainian Independent Information Agency on 26 February, Jamala stated that "1944" has no political overtones and that she could not be held responsible for the interpretations others make from
8892-404: The semi-final, receiving a total of 287 points: 152 points from the televoting and 135 points from the juries. Shortly after the second semi-final, a winners' press conference was held for the ten qualifying countries. As part of this press conference, the qualifying artists took part in a draw to determine which half of the grand final they would subsequently participate in. This draw was done in
9006-522: The semi-finals and the final were broadcast on UA:Pershyi with commentary by Timur Miroshnychenko and Tetiana Terekhova . The three shows were also broadcast via radio on Radio Ukraine with commentary by Olena Zelinchenko. The Ukrainian spokesperson, who announced the top 12-point score awarded by the Ukrainian jury during the final, was 2007 Ukrainian representative Verka Serduchka . Jamala took part in technical rehearsals on 5 and 7 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 11 and 12 May. This included
9120-484: The semi-finals was decided by the shows' producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Originally, Ukraine was set to perform in position 15, following the entry from Denmark and before the entry from Norway . However, following Romania's disqualification from the contest on 22 April and subsequent removal from the running order of the second semi-final, Ukraine's performing position shifted to 14. In Ukraine, both
9234-421: The show in position 14, "1944" was announced among the top 10 entries of the second semi-final and therefore qualified to compete in the final on 14 May. It was later revealed that Ukraine placed second out of the 18 participating countries in the semi-final with 287 points. In the final, Ukraine performed in position 21 and placed first out of the 26 participating countries, winning the contest with 534 points. This
9348-482: The song " 7th Wonder ". Donny Montell returned after previously representing Lithuania in 2012 , finishing 14th in the final with the song " Love Is Blind ". Greta Salóme returned after previously representing Iceland in 2012 with Jónsi , finishing 20th in the final with the song " Never Forget ". Bojan Jovović returned for Montenegro as part of Highway after previously representing Serbia and Montenegro in 2005 as part of No Name , finishing seventh in
9462-414: The song "Mamo". Viktoria Petryk represented Ukraine in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2008 . Two semi-finals took place on 6 and 13 February 2016. In each semi-final nine acts competed and the top three entries determined following the combination of votes from a public televote and an expert jury advanced to the final of the competition, while the remaining six entries were eliminated. In addition to
9576-430: The song and performer to compete at Eurovision for Ukraine, with both the public and a panel of jury members involved in the selection. In September 2014, the Ukrainian broadcaster announced that the country would not participate in the 2015 because of the unstable financial and political situation caused by the conflict in east Ukraine . Along with the announcement of their withdrawal, NTU revealed that it had discussed
9690-525: The song lyrics do not directly reference the Crimean deportation event in 1944, the entry could violate the Eurovision Song Contest rules which state that "no lyrics, speeches, gestures of political or similar nature shall be permitted". Representatives of the Russian parliament's lower house, State Duma , called for the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to reject the Ukrainian entry on the grounds that its selection
9804-399: The start time would remain at 21:00 CEST. The EBU announced on 23 September that rather than using clips from their respective music videos, extended clips from the dress rehearsals of the six acts who qualified directly to the final (the " Big Five " and host nation Sweden) would be shown as previews during the semi-final in which they were allocated to vote. The core team for the contest
9918-420: The televised semi-finals which took place on 6 and 13 February 2016 with nine acts competing in each show. Three acts were selected to advance from each semi-final based on the 50/50 combination of votes from a public televote and an expert jury. Both the public televote and the expert jury assigned scores ranging from 1 (lowest) to 9 (highest) and the three entries that had the highest number of points following
10032-556: The title People's Artist of Ukraine by then-Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko . She has then continued to release new music, including "I Believe in U", which she performed at the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 as an interval act, along with "Zamanyly". On 17 May 2016, Poroshenko announced that the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry would be nominating Jamala as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador . On 12 October 2018, Jamala released her fifth studio album, Kryla . The title track
10146-591: The union denied that China would debut at the contest. That same month, it was reported that Faroese broadcaster KVF had applied for active EBU membership in order to take part in the contest; the application was rejected due to the islands' membership of the Danish Realm . Despite Kosovo not being recognised by 15 states in Europe and its broadcaster RTK having neither active nor associate EBU membership, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Petrit Selimi tweeted that
10260-481: The use of a substitute televoting result discriminated against microstates like San Marino, which only used a professional jury due to their use of the Italian phone system and would therefore have its voting representation diminished under the new system, and criticised the EBU for not contacting its members before making the decision. After his victory in the 2015 contest, Måns Zelmerlöw announced his interest in hosting
10374-463: The viewing public. The EBU went on to say that Ukraine would remain the winner, regardless of the petition's view. Following the contest, reports emerged of a potential rule violation in regards to the eligibility of the Ukrainian entry after a video performance of "1944" dating back to May 2015 was discovered on YouTube. The video featured Jamala performing a medley of songs, which included an early version of "1944" with different lyrics. According to
10488-419: The voting system of Melodifestivalen , involved each country awarding two sets of points from 1–8, 10 and 12: one from their professional jury and the other from televoting. Televoting votes from all the countries would be pooled. After viewers cast their votes, the results of each professional jury would be presented, with countries receiving 1–8 and 10 points being displayed on-screen, instead of 1–7 as had been
10602-463: Was Ukraine's second win in the Eurovision Song Contest; their first victory was in 2004 . Prior to the 2016 contest, Ukraine had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest twelve times since its first entry in 2003 , winning it in 2004 with the song " Wild Dances " performed by Ruslana . Following the introduction of semi-finals for the 2004 , Ukraine had managed to qualify to final in every contest they participated in thus far. Ukraine had been
10716-629: Was announced at a press conference on 14 December that they would indeed co-host. The press conferences were presented by Jovan Radomir and Catarina Rolfsdotter-Jansson, who also provided commentary from the red carpet event in front of the Stockholm Palace , before the official welcome party at Stockholm City Hall on 8 May 2016. The draw to determine the allocation of the participating countries into their respective semi-finals took place at Stockholm City Hall on 25 January 2016, hosted by Alexandra Pascalidou and Jovan Radomir. The first part of
10830-425: Was announced by SVT and the EBU on 26 October. Johan Bernhagen and Martin Österdahl were executive producers, while Tobias Åberg was head of production. The three live shows were directed by Sven Stojanović and the contest was produced by Christer Björkman . The EBU announced on 18 February 2016 that a new voting system would be implemented at the contest for the first time since 1975. The new system, inspired by
10944-455: Was announced later that she placed second, scoring 287 points, and won the televoting with 152 points On 14 May 2016, Jamala won the competition with 534 points. Jamala's song was considered by Russian media and lawmakers to be critical of the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the " ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine" in Donbas. After her Eurovision Song Contest victory, she was awarded
11058-505: Was assigned as the music producer of the show and was the lead in reviewing the received submissions and shortlisting entries to compete in the national final. On 26 January 2016, the eighteen selected competing acts were announced. The eighteen acts were allocated to one of two semi-finals during a draw that took place on 27 January, which was hosted by Ruslana. Among the competing artists was former Eurovision Song Contest contestant Anastasia Prikhodko , who represented Russia in 2009 with
11172-562: Was born in Osh , Kirghiz SSR , to a Muslim Crimean Tatar father and an Armenian mother. Her Crimean Tatar ancestors were forcibly resettled from Crimea to the central Asian republic under Joseph Stalin during World War II , although her own relatives fought on the Soviet side. In 1989 her family returned to Crimea . Her maternal ancestors are Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh region. They were well-to-do peasants until her great-grandfather's land
11286-607: Was confiscated and he was exiled to Osh where he changed his Armenian name to make it sound more Russian. She grew up in a family of musicians — her mother worked as a teacher at a music school, and her father was a conductor by education. Her parents divorced for about four years so that her mother could purchase a house in Crimea for the family under her maiden name. During this period, Soviet authorities did not allow ethnic Crimean Tatars , like her father, to purchase property in Crimea. Jamala has been fond of music since her early childhood. She made her first professional recording at
11400-407: Was disqualified due to repeated non-payment of debts by its national broadcaster to the EBU. The winner was Ukraine with the song " 1944 ", performed and written by Jamala . Australia , Russia , Bulgaria and host country Sweden rounded out the top five. This was the first time since the introduction of professional jury voting in 2009 that the overall winner won neither the jury vote, which
11514-622: Was eligible for the contest as neither the title nor the lyrics of the song contained political speech. As part of NTU's collaboration with the commercial broadcaster STB, all costs related to the preparations surrounding the Ukrainian entry, including travel and accommodation in Stockholm, were covered by STB. In early March, Jamala began rehearsals for her Eurovision performance together with stage director and choreographer Konstantin Tomilchenko. Jamala announced that her performance would feature 3D mapping graphics developed by Front Pictures. In early April, Jamala collaborated with Vogue Ukraine in
11628-458: Was in 2004 . The Marcel Bezençon Awards , first awarded during the 2002 contest , are awards honouring the best competing songs in the final each year. Named after the creator of the annual contest, Marcel Bezençon , the awards are divided into 3 categories: the Press Award, given to the best entry as voted on by the accredited media and press during the event; the Artistic Award, presented to
11742-519: Was intended to offend Russia. Crimea's deputy prime minister, Ruslan Baalbek, stated that the Ukrainian authorities used the song for political purposes with the aim of "capitalising on the tragedy of the Tatars to impose on European viewers a false picture of alleged harassment of the Tatars in the Russian Crimea." In contrast, Mustafa Dzhemilev , a prominent Crimean Tatar politician in Ukraine, commended
11856-477: Was later put back to 8 April. Eighteen countries participated in the first semi-final, while nineteen countries were planned to participate in the second semi-final, but this was reduced to eighteen on 22 April due to the disqualification of Romania . From each semi-final, ten countries joined the "Big Five" and Sweden in the final, where a total of twenty-six countries participated. The thirty-seven semi-finalists were allocated into six pots, which were published by
11970-694: Was located in a temporary building on the quay next to the water in front of the Royal Palace of Stockholm. The EBU announced on 14 March 2016 that the Tele2 Arena in Stockholm would host a live event running alongside the final of the contest on 14 May. Eurovision the Party , hosted by Sanna Nielsen , allowed fans to watch the final on a big screen and featured backstage material from the Globe Arena such as Nielsen conducting exclusive interviews and appearing with hosts Petra Mede and Måns Zelmerlöw. The results of
12084-403: Was permitted to be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently. The individual rankings of each jury member as well as the nation's televoting results were released shortly after the grand final. Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Ukraine and awarded by Ukraine in the second semi-final and grand final of the contest, and
12198-615: Was released as the first single on 21 March 2018. She had previously performed the track as the interval act for the 2018 Ukrainian national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest, Vidbir . In 2022, she appeared in season 26 of the Polish TV show Taniec z Gwiazdami ( Dancing with the Stars ) . Jamala performed "1944" during the flag parade in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 , alongside fellow past Ukrainian entrants Go_A , Tina Karol , and Verka Serduchka . One year later, she
12312-417: Was released as the lead single from her third studio album. "Shlyakh dodomu" ( Ukrainian : «Шлях додо́му» , English: "The way home" ) was released as the second single on 18 May 2015. On 15 June 2015, "Podykh" ( Ukrainian : «По́дих» , English: "Breath" ) was released as the third single. She released her album Podykh on 12 October 2015, through Enjoy Records. Jamala successfully represented Ukraine in
12426-401: Was released on 6 March 2013, as the third and final single from the album. She released All or Nothing on 19 March 2013, through Moon Records Ukraine . On 25 September 2014, she released "Zaplutalas" ( Ukrainian : «Заплу́талась» , English: "Confused" ) as the lead single from her debut EP Thank You . The EP was released on 1 October 2014, through Enjoy Records. On 26 March 2015, "Ochyma"
12540-461: Was reported by the EBU that the contest was viewed by a worldwide television audience of over 200 million viewers, beating the 2015 record which was viewed by 197 million. SVT announced on 22 April 2016 that they would offer International Sign broadcasts of all three live shows for the hearing impaired. All three broadcasts were produced by Julia Kankkonen. The performances of competing entries were interpreted by ten sign language performers and
12654-465: Was selected through the combination of votes from a public televote and an expert jury. Ties were decided in favour of the entries that received higher scores from the public televote. "1944" is the first Eurovision Song Contest song to feature lyrics in the Crimean Tatar language . 382,602 votes were registered by the televote during the show. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, 2016 Irish Eurovision entrant Nicky Byrne performed
12768-720: Was the Ukrainian spokesperson at the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 . On 26 April 2017, Jamala married Bekir Suleimanov. Their relationship became known in September 2016, when she appeared with him at the Manhattan Short Film Festival . The couple married in the Kyiv Islamic Cultural Center using the traditional wedding ceremony Nikah . Suleimanov had recently graduated from the Physics and Mathematics Department of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv and
12882-450: Was unilaterally annexed by Russia . Artists and composers had the opportunity to submit their entries via an online submission form which accepted entries between 19 November 2015 and 20 January 2016. In addition, interested performers could also attend auditions that were held between 5 and 20 December 2015 in the following cities and locations: Composer and producer Konstantin Meladze
12996-409: Was won by Australia, nor the televote, which was won by Russia, with Ukraine placing second in both. "1944" is the first song containing lyrics in Crimean Tatar to win the contest. The Czech Republic managed to qualify for the final for the first time in five attempts since its debut in 2007 , while both Bosnia and Herzegovina and Greece failed to qualify from the semi-finals for the first time ever,
#981018