Deprecated: Creation of dynamic property ATTO_PluginUpdate::$license is deprecated in /mnt/storage/stage/www/wp-content/plugins/advanced-taxonomy-terms-order/include/class.atto.plugin-updater.php on line 29
Ukraine drops Eurovision entry just days after public vote following row over Russia - Attitude Skip to main content
Deprecated: mb_convert_encoding(): Handling HTML entities via mbstring is deprecated; use htmlspecialchars, htmlentities, or mb_encode_numericentity/mb_decode_numericentity instead in /mnt/storage/stage/builds/streampublishing-attitude-server/latest-1.16.1-1793359797.063729/pugpig-attitude-theme/functions.php on line 974

Deprecated: Return type of PugpigSiteGoogleAnalytics_Vendor\Google\Protobuf\Internal\RepeatedField::offsetExists($offset) should either be compatible with ArrayAccess::offsetExists(mixed $offset): bool, or the #[\ReturnTypeWillChange] attribute should be used to temporarily suppress the notice in /mnt/storage/stage/builds/pugpig-site-server/latest-1.61.0-1793359797.063729/pugpig-site-google-analytics/src/vendor/google/protobuf/src/Google/Protobuf/Internal/RepeatedField.php on line 218

Deprecated: Return type of PugpigSiteGoogleAnalytics_Vendor\Google\Protobuf\Internal\RepeatedField::offsetGet($offset) should either be compatible with ArrayAccess::offsetGet(mixed $offset): mixed, or the #[\ReturnTypeWillChange] attribute should be used to temporarily suppress the notice in /mnt/storage/stage/builds/pugpig-site-server/latest-1.61.0-1793359797.063729/pugpig-site-google-analytics/src/vendor/google/protobuf/src/Google/Protobuf/Internal/RepeatedField.php on line 116

Deprecated: Return type of PugpigSiteGoogleAnalytics_Vendor\Google\Protobuf\Internal\RepeatedField::offsetSet($offset, $value) should either be compatible with ArrayAccess::offsetSet(mixed $offset, mixed $value): void, or the #[\ReturnTypeWillChange] attribute should be used to temporarily suppress the notice in /mnt/storage/stage/builds/pugpig-site-server/latest-1.61.0-1793359797.063729/pugpig-site-google-analytics/src/vendor/google/protobuf/src/Google/Protobuf/Internal/RepeatedField.php on line 132

Deprecated: Return type of PugpigSiteGoogleAnalytics_Vendor\Google\Protobuf\Internal\RepeatedField::offsetUnset($offset) should either be compatible with ArrayAccess::offsetUnset(mixed $offset): void, or the #[\ReturnTypeWillChange] attribute should be used to temporarily suppress the notice in /mnt/storage/stage/builds/pugpig-site-server/latest-1.61.0-1793359797.063729/pugpig-site-google-analytics/src/vendor/google/protobuf/src/Google/Protobuf/Internal/RepeatedField.php on line 200

Deprecated: Return type of PugpigSiteGoogleAnalytics_Vendor\Google\Protobuf\Internal\RepeatedField::getIterator() should either be compatible with IteratorAggregate::getIterator(): Traversable, or the #[\ReturnTypeWillChange] attribute should be used to temporarily suppress the notice in /mnt/storage/stage/builds/pugpig-site-server/latest-1.61.0-1793359797.063729/pugpig-site-google-analytics/src/vendor/google/protobuf/src/Google/Protobuf/Internal/RepeatedField.php on line 225

Deprecated: Return type of PugpigSiteGoogleAnalytics_Vendor\Google\Protobuf\Internal\RepeatedField::count() should either be compatible with Countable::count(): int, or the #[\ReturnTypeWillChange] attribute should be used to temporarily suppress the notice in /mnt/storage/stage/builds/pugpig-site-server/latest-1.61.0-1793359797.063729/pugpig-site-google-analytics/src/vendor/google/protobuf/src/Google/Protobuf/Internal/RepeatedField.php on line 236

Deprecated: Return type of PugpigSiteGoogleAnalytics_Vendor\Google\Protobuf\Internal\RepeatedFieldIter::current() should either be compatible with Iterator::current(): mixed, or the #[\ReturnTypeWillChange] attribute should be used to temporarily suppress the notice in /mnt/storage/stage/builds/pugpig-site-server/latest-1.61.0-1793359797.063729/pugpig-site-google-analytics/src/vendor/google/protobuf/src/Google/Protobuf/Internal/RepeatedFieldIter.php on line 78

Deprecated: Return type of PugpigSiteGoogleAnalytics_Vendor\Google\Protobuf\Internal\RepeatedFieldIter::next() should either be compatible with Iterator::next(): void, or the #[\ReturnTypeWillChange] attribute should be used to temporarily suppress the notice in /mnt/storage/stage/builds/pugpig-site-server/latest-1.61.0-1793359797.063729/pugpig-site-google-analytics/src/vendor/google/protobuf/src/Google/Protobuf/Internal/RepeatedFieldIter.php on line 96

Deprecated: Return type of PugpigSiteGoogleAnalytics_Vendor\Google\Protobuf\Internal\RepeatedFieldIter::key() should either be compatible with Iterator::key(): mixed, or the #[\ReturnTypeWillChange] attribute should be used to temporarily suppress the notice in /mnt/storage/stage/builds/pugpig-site-server/latest-1.61.0-1793359797.063729/pugpig-site-google-analytics/src/vendor/google/protobuf/src/Google/Protobuf/Internal/RepeatedFieldIter.php on line 87

Deprecated: Return type of PugpigSiteGoogleAnalytics_Vendor\Google\Protobuf\Internal\RepeatedFieldIter::valid() should either be compatible with Iterator::valid(): bool, or the #[\ReturnTypeWillChange] attribute should be used to temporarily suppress the notice in /mnt/storage/stage/builds/pugpig-site-server/latest-1.61.0-1793359797.063729/pugpig-site-google-analytics/src/vendor/google/protobuf/src/Google/Protobuf/Internal/RepeatedFieldIter.php on line 105

Deprecated: Return type of PugpigSiteGoogleAnalytics_Vendor\Google\Protobuf\Internal\RepeatedFieldIter::rewind() should either be compatible with Iterator::rewind(): void, or the #[\ReturnTypeWillChange] attribute should be used to temporarily suppress the notice in /mnt/storage/stage/builds/pugpig-site-server/latest-1.61.0-1793359797.063729/pugpig-site-google-analytics/src/vendor/google/protobuf/src/Google/Protobuf/Internal/RepeatedFieldIter.php on line 69

Home Culture Culture Film & TV

Ukraine drops Eurovision entry just days after public vote following row over Russia

Maruv's 'Siren Song' was selected for Eurovision by the Ukrainian public on Saturday (23 February).

By Will Stroude

Ukraine’s Eurovision entry has been dropped just days after her selection following a row over Russia.

Ukrainian singer Maruv won a public vote on Saturday (23 February) with her track ‘Siren Song’, but will no longer take part in the comption after refusing to sign a contract with Ukraine’s national broadcaster which would have reportedly banned her from performing in neighbouring Russia.

Tensions between Russia and Ukraine remain high almost five years after Russia annexed the Ukrainian territory of Crimea in 2014, while the ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine between Russian-backed separatists and the Ukrainian government has killed over 10,000 people to date the BBC reports.

In a statement on Facebook, Maruv said she was a “musician” and “not a bat in the political arena”, and that the contract she had been asked to sign amounted to “censorship”.

“I am a citizen of Ukraine, I pay taxes and sincerely love Ukraine”, the 27-year-old, real name is Anna Korsun, wrote.

“[I am] not ready to perform with slogans, turning your stay at the competition in the promo of our politicians.”

In a statement, the state-funded Ukrainian broacaster UA:PBC said: “The performer representing Ukraine… also has commitments of becoming a cultural ambassador of Ukraine and delivering not only their music but also expressing the opinion of the Ukrainian society in the world.

“After the negotiations, UA:PBC and the singer Maruv have not found common ground in the mission of the representative of Ukraine at the international song contest.”

In 2017, the then-Eurovision host Ukraine banned Russia’s act from performing the competition after it emerged that she had ‘illegally’ performed in Crimea by entering through Russia rather than Ukraine.

UA:PBC says it will now start looking for another artist to represent Ukraine at Eurovision, which is set to take place in Israel in May.