Ukraine will not be sending a participant to 2019 Eurovision song contest in Israel, after the winner of the national selection Maruv refused to sign the contract to represent the country. Runner-ups Kazka and Freedom Jazz also declined participation in Eurovision 2019, after being offered the option. Thus, the broadcaster had chosen to cancel Ukraine’s participation altogether.
Ukraine at Eurovision 2019: Another scandal
The scandal has shaken Ukrainian music fans and caused a lot of controversy in the European cultural sphere. The TV company has conducted a national competition to determine a singer or group that would represent Ukraine in Tel Aviv, but the winner refused to sign the agreement requiring her to abide by protocols requested by the broadcaster.
The competitors who achieved #2 and #3 position in the contest, Kazka and Freedom Jazz, also declined participation, when offered by the broadcaster.
As the result, Ukraine is now withdrawing from participation in this year’s most popular singing contest on the planet, Segodnya.ua reported.
Politics are to blame, the winner of the national selection holds
Maruv, the female singer who won the national competition, expressed her unhappiness with the selection committee’s requirements to comply with the official political views, which strongly revolve around the situation with the Ukraine’s eastern neighbour, Russia.
Russia’s takeover of the Crimean peninsula in 2014 and the simultaneous separatists drive in Luhansk and Donetsk regions of Ukraine, which, according to the Ukrainian authorities, is sponsored by the Russian government, are the main issues in relations between the two former allies.
It didn’t help to keep the cultural life separate from the politics when Ukraine won 2016 Eurovision with the politically charged song “1944”, supposedly relating to the events of the mid-20th century but in reality being a statement about the current affairs with a strong anti-Russian message.
After winning Eurovision 2016, Ukraine then hosted the contest in Kyiv (Kiev) in 2017, when the national security department refused entry to the Russian participant, causing another scandal.
To make a point, Russia in 2018 sent the same person to the contest, wheelchair-bound Yuliya Samoylova, who was appointed by the Russian broadcaster in 2017 but couldn’t perform in Ukraine due to refusal of entry to the country. The appointment of Samoylova was met with unhappiness from even Russian viewers who saw it as a political move rather than an attempt to honestly compete in the contest to win, since the pick of Russian TV authorities was an obviously weak vocalist. Samoylova didn’t score well in 2018 in Portugal, where the contest took place last year.
Now, in 2019, it seems that ‘the singing games’ continue.
Singer Maruv won the national selection for Eurovision 2019 in Ukraine with the over sexualized BDSM-themed ‘Siren Song’, but refused to sign the contract with the broadcaster STB.ua over freedom of expression concerns.
Maruv 2019
Maruv, 27-year-old Ukrainian singer with a song accompanied by a BDSM-styled sexualized performance, won the national selection and was to sign a contract to represent Ukraine in the international contest in Israel in May this year. But she refused, saying that the broadcasting company was trying to severely limit her freedom of expression.
In her interview after cancelling her participation in Eurovision to KP.ua, Maruv said her team was only given 24 hours to sign the contract with the broadcaster.
Among contract requirements, which apparently caused Maruv to refuse to sign the agreement with the Ukrainian broadcaster, were the following, Segodnya.ua reported:
- Do not allow during the stage performance or video recording any messages, gestures, or other actions that are not in the script.
- Participate in rehearsals, filming, TV and radio programs, promotion tours, press conferences, interviews and other events at request of the organizers.
- Do not hold press conferences or give interviews about preparation and participation in Eurovision song contest, unless agreed with the organizers.
- Do not allow any actions, activities or say anything that could have a political message or could be used in political aspects.
- Do not perform on the territory of the Russian Federation from the moment of signing the agreement and for 3 months after the end of the competition.
- Be independently responsible for expenses in connection with the participation in Eurovision 2019 (i.e. the TV company would not be covering the singer’s expenses to participate, all competitors knew it in advance).
- Transfer rights to the intellectual property for the contest song and the rights for the materials used in conjunction with the Eurovision song contest.
- If these conditions have been violated, the fine for the breach is 2 million Ukrainian hryvnia (USD 74,000).
Maruv’s hit song ‘Drunk Groove’ made her known and scored over 90 million views on YouTube. Her Eurovision 2019 contest song is very similar in content.
Maruv’s win at Ukraine’s Eurovision selection contest
Maruv, whose real name is Anna Korsun, is known for her positive attitude towards Russia as opposed to the strong line against the eastern neighbour, in tune with the official Ukrainian politics. She became widely known after the hit song ‘Drunk Groove’, which scored tons of views on YouTube.
The quality of Maruv’s song was also questioned, with much stronger vocalists in the final who didn’t score as high. However, the group “Kazka”, which seemed to be the apparent favourite of STB, didn’t attract enough viewer votes to win. But Eurovision is never a contest of the best vocal performance, but a popularity competition where the most outrageous often wins.
Maruv’s song was outrageous enough to attract viewers’ attention — see the video below.
Eurovision 2019
It’s the fourth year in a row that the political conflict between Russia and Ukraine is casting a shadow over the bright Eurovision contest that intends to be apolitical.
The TV company’s statement said, “UA:PBC and the singer Maruv have not found common ground in the mission of the representative of Ukraine at the international song contest.
“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.”
Korsun herself stated she wasn’t going to become a political tool but wanted to remain a musician who expresses herself without borders. She also mentioned that 3 other countries offered her to represent them… It could be Moldova, Russia, or Belarus.
No matter which countries offered Maruv to sing for them, it’s surely not the end of this year’s Eurovision controversy. You’ll see more in the coming weeks, culminating in May’s show in Israel! Never a dull moment with Eurovision.
What are your thoughts about this?
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I think that many of those conditions would have been cause for concern to any performer, even without the political implications. Not a great way to present Ukraine’s case to the world. Either in a political, ethical or musical sense. “Transfer rights to the intellectual property for the contest song and the rights for the materials used in conjunction with the Eurovision song contest.” I am impressed that the other performers also chose to refuse the contract terms, but sad that their talents and opportunities have been overshadowed by government dealing. Of course, it is not the first time that… Read more »
Simon, I think it’s quite standard conditions for a contract with a Eurovision contestant. It’s well known that the song for a performance at Eurovision should have never been released commercially prior to the contest. In this case, the rights to Maruv’s song were owned by a Russian recording company, which would have been a problem for the broadcaster and organizer, the European Broadcasting Corporation and it’s subsidiary in Ukraine. I think it was a very poor preparation on the part of the Ukrainian organizers. Contracts with the prospective winners (which means, all contestants) should have been signed well in… Read more »
I think both of you right.
When I am in a TV series, or film they make a very detailed contract prior the whole thing where need to sign: there will be no future requests, demands, all right of distribution, income, whatever stay with the company.
In the other hand if performers not happy with it can say no.
Seems they was not able to find anybody who happy with the conditions. So there is a problem with the conditions, or performer expectations, or both.
Robert, other performers refused in solidarity. Anyway, it’s unintelligent: Run a competition, televise it, and only then start negotiating a contract with the winner.
It’s really sad that Ukraine decided not to participate and I feel very sorry for Maruv because she’s a talanted singer with wonderful energy. However, I believe it’s not the last competition in her life. I’m sure she will record more hit songs and find new audience.
When Korsun stated that she wasn’t going to become a political tool but wanted to remain a musician who expresses herself without borders, I think it’s a right position. Because anyway the eurovision is a song contest, not political.