The request of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky to show a video of his speech at the Eurovision 2023 final in Liverpool (England) was rejected by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), as it would violate the rules of the event.
As the EBU said in a statement, “one of the pillars of the competition is the non-political nature of the event”, and apparently showing a speech by a political leader contradicts this.
“Zelensky’s request to address the audience of the Eurovision Song Contest during the final, unfortunately, cannot be accepted, as this would violate the rules of the event. One of the pillars of the contest is the non-political nature of the event. This principle prohibits political or similar statements during the contest,” told the EBU about the President of Ukraine, which won the final last year and was unable to host the event because of the war.
“Although Zelensky’s request to address the audience at the Eurovision Song Contest is caused by laudable intentions, it, unfortunately, cannot be satisfied by the leadership of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), as it contradicts the rules of the competition,” the EBU press service said.
Meanwhile, in recent years this principle is not particularly observed.
For example, in 2016, the Ukrainian singer Jamala won with the song “1944”, dedicated to the deportation of the Crimean Tatars.
And this year, the Croatian group Let 3 brought to Eurovision a song about a “mean little psychopath”, which is accompanied by an action with fake rockets. Spectators and journalists perceive the number as a reference to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The leaders of the group at least do not deny this.
“We believe that this is the best way to demonstrate and celebrate Ukraine’s victory at Eurovision and show that music unites us in these difficult times,” the European Broadcasting Union said.
It is worth noting that literally immediately after the EBU response was published with a refusal, followed by a statement by the press secretary of Vladimir Zelensky, Sergei Nikiforov, in Facebook. According to him, the president’s office did not approach the organizers of Eurovision with a proposal regarding the online performance of Vladimir Zelensky.
Direct speech by Nikiforov: “The Times information is not true. The Office of the President of Ukraine did not approach the organizers of the Eurovision Song Contest with an offer to perform an online performance by Volodymyr Zelensky during the final or at any other stage of the competition.”
Previously, Zelenskiy’s request to perform at the Oscars and the Toronto International Film Festival in September was denied twice, with similar allegations on both occasions.
At least 11 Ukrainian artists, including last year’s winners Kalush Orchestra, will perform or feature in the semi-finals and final. The design of the event was developed jointly with a Ukrainian design agency. The compositions that sound on the show were written in collaboration with Ukrainian musicians. In addition, footage from 37 locations in Ukraine is presented in short videos that precede the artists on stage.
It is noted that the final line-up of 26 participants of the Saturday final has already been formed, in which there will be no Greece, since Victor Vernikos did not qualify for the final.
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