Music, kitsch and politics took centre stage at the 61st edition of the Eurovision Song Contest in Stockholm on Saturday night.
The competition was won by Ukraine with 534 points.
The country’s candidate, 32-year-old jazz singer Jamala, had called on Europeans to support her to show they were “not indifferent to suffering” in Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in 2014.
She said her song, “1944”, was not only about the deportation of the Crimean Tatar population during World War II, but also about the events of the past two years in the peninsula, which was annexed by Russia in 2014.
Australia came second with 511 points with “The Sound of Silence” by Dami Im, while Russia – a pre-contest favourite, was third with Sergei Lazarev’s “You Are The Only One” on 491 points.
The final was broadcast to an estimated 200 million viewers in Europe and beyond – including, for the first time, in the United States.
Read more: Jamala’s ‘political’ song wins Eurovision for Ukraine in Stockholm | euronews, world news
The competition was won by Ukraine with 534 points.
The country’s candidate, 32-year-old jazz singer Jamala, had called on Europeans to support her to show they were “not indifferent to suffering” in Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in 2014.
She said her song, “1944”, was not only about the deportation of the Crimean Tatar population during World War II, but also about the events of the past two years in the peninsula, which was annexed by Russia in 2014.
Australia came second with 511 points with “The Sound of Silence” by Dami Im, while Russia – a pre-contest favourite, was third with Sergei Lazarev’s “You Are The Only One” on 491 points.
The final was broadcast to an estimated 200 million viewers in Europe and beyond – including, for the first time, in the United States.
Read more: Jamala’s ‘political’ song wins Eurovision for Ukraine in Stockholm | euronews, world news