...
Expert on Ukrainian Eurovision victory: 'I think Putin is very upset' | Culture | DR Ukraine got a record number of viewers votes at this year's Eurovision - Russia was excluded and did not get on the board at all. Of Not only did Ukraine win this year's Eurovision Song Contest - they won superiorly with 165 points down to second place - and with a record number of viewers. At the same time, Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February, was completely banned from the world's biggest music competition in Turin. Flemming Splidsboel, who is a senior researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies. - They certainly notice it, and if the Russians had won, they would certainly have used it politically themselves. It was probably just before that a Russian winner had come to the Kremlin and had received a medal. Listen to Ukraine's winning song in the video here. If you ask Lisanne Wilken, associate professor at Aarhus University, who has researched the interplay between politics and Eurovision, the victory hurts on Putin.- He has his hands full at the moment with Sweden and Finland, who want in, the whole of Europe supports Ukraine, and clear messages are being sent that there is a great European sitting and saying that we agree with Ukraine. He sees that then, and that means a lot. I think he gets annoyed incredibly much. Normally, the winner of Eurovision stands for next year's music competition. While the organizers of Eurovision, the EBU, have already stated that it will be a challenge due to the war, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyj, has stated that the country will host next year. If that happens, it is a double whammy. to Russia, says Lisanne Wilken.- Russia plays Eurovision on the stage that they are really trying to win. Because then you can have the singing competition and show how amazing Russia is. It is a great pity for Putin that it will now be Ukraine that may get that chance at some point. Flemming Splidsboel explains that the Russians will see the Ukrainian victory as another leg in the hybrid war they believe the West is leading against them with, among other things, the exclusion of Russians by major or accusations of.- This confirms the impression they have of that we do not like them, but that we like Ukraine. That it's an unfair fight and that we do not understand them, and that reinforces the image they have of us. Everything is an attempt to humiliate and weaken Russia, he says. It confirms the impression they have that we do not like them, but that we like Ukraine Fleming Splidsboel, senior researcher at DIIS, Danish Institute for International Studies. must be seen in the light of the fact that Eurovision has historically had a different significance for the eastern countries than the music competition, for example, has had for Denmark. - It has been such a mysterious thing on the other side, where there was glamor and fun. It meant something to come with, and it was a kind of recognition that you were part of the European family, and that should not be denied. It has always been natural for us, but for others it has been like qualifying for Europe, and if you did well, it meant that you were approved, says Splidsboel. And this year is not the first time that there has been more at stake in a Ukrainian victory than just champagne and honors. In 2016, the Ukrainian singer Jamala won Eurovision, and here too the conflict between Russia and Ukraine was a theme. See the previous Ukrainian Eurovision winners here: Because even though the songs in Eurovision are officially not allowed to contain political content, the song '1944' was about Russia's deportation of the entire Crimean Tatar population during World War II. However, according to Lisanne Wilken, the EBU allowed Jamala's song because it was a personal story about her grandparents' experiences during the deportation. The Russian singer Sergei Lazarev was among the big favorites, but got a third place. In Russia, there was subsequently talk of voice manipulation and hybrid war. At the time, Jamala's victory was a huge thing for the Ukrainians. And it is also big this year, but not quite in the same way, assesses Flemming Splidsboel. A lot has changed since 2016.- It is important, but they have so many sympathy points in advance that it is not the same breakthrough as when Jamala won. It was huge. But then Ukraine was something we did not quite know, but today we are almost all Ukrainians.