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| Eurovision’s Ukraine singer Jamala pushes boundaries on Crimea | Eurovision’s Ukraine singer Jamala pushes boundaries on Crimea |
| (4 days later) | |
| Jazz artist Jamala was already a household name in Ukraine, before winning the nomination to represent her country at Eurovision. | Jazz artist Jamala was already a household name in Ukraine, before winning the nomination to represent her country at Eurovision. |
| The first ever Crimean Tatar to perform at the contest, she will appear in Thursday's second semi-final in Stockholm. | The first ever Crimean Tatar to perform at the contest, she will appear in Thursday's second semi-final in Stockholm. |
| And her song, about Stalin, Crimea and claims of ethnic cleansing, is a far cry from the typical Eurovision song. | And her song, about Stalin, Crimea and claims of ethnic cleansing, is a far cry from the typical Eurovision song. |
| I watched Jamala, 32, perform to a sell-out crowd of trendy twenty- and thirty-somethings at Kiev's Atlas Club, a side of Ukraine normally drowned-out by headlines about corruption and war. | I watched Jamala, 32, perform to a sell-out crowd of trendy twenty- and thirty-somethings at Kiev's Atlas Club, a side of Ukraine normally drowned-out by headlines about corruption and war. |
| She was recently included in a series of UK government videos profiling Ukraine's Next Generation, a group of vibrant, talented people who apparently want to shed the country's bureaucracy-ridden, nepotistic tradition of governance. | She was recently included in a series of UK government videos profiling Ukraine's Next Generation, a group of vibrant, talented people who apparently want to shed the country's bureaucracy-ridden, nepotistic tradition of governance. |
| Her Eurovision entry, 1944, is about the mass deportation during World War Two of the entire ethnic Tatar population from Crimea by Soviet troops under the orders of Stalin. | Her Eurovision entry, 1944, is about the mass deportation during World War Two of the entire ethnic Tatar population from Crimea by Soviet troops under the orders of Stalin. |
| It is also "very personal". Jamala's great-grandmother and her five children were among a quarter of a million Tatars who were packed on trains "like animals". | It is also "very personal". Jamala's great-grandmother and her five children were among a quarter of a million Tatars who were packed on trains "like animals". |
| Many, including her great-grandmother's young daughter, died on the journey or in the inhospitable outer reaches of the Soviet Union, where they were relocated. | Many, including her great-grandmother's young daughter, died on the journey or in the inhospitable outer reaches of the Soviet Union, where they were relocated. |
| For Jamala, singing about the deportations is a duty to highlight what, she says, was akin to ethnic cleansing. | For Jamala, singing about the deportations is a duty to highlight what, she says, was akin to ethnic cleansing. |
| "I had to release their souls. Because they never came back to Ukraine," she says. | "I had to release their souls. Because they never came back to Ukraine," she says. |
| No politics rule | No politics rule |
| However historical and personal the song purports to be, anything linked to Crimea is an emotive topic in Ukraine today. | However historical and personal the song purports to be, anything linked to Crimea is an emotive topic in Ukraine today. |
| The eastern peninsula is now firmly under Russian control, since the territory was annexed by President Vladimir Putin in March 2014. | The eastern peninsula is now firmly under Russian control, since the territory was annexed by President Vladimir Putin in March 2014. |
| Read more here: Crimean Tatars uneasy under Russian rule | Read more here: Crimean Tatars uneasy under Russian rule |
| The West condemns the annexation as illegal. Ukraine still considers Crimea to be part of its territory. | The West condemns the annexation as illegal. Ukraine still considers Crimea to be part of its territory. |
| At a Crimean Tatar restaurant in Kiev, Jamala laughed off claims that her song was political. | At a Crimean Tatar restaurant in Kiev, Jamala laughed off claims that her song was political. |
| "You can see it in the lyrics," she told me. | "You can see it in the lyrics," she told me. |
| And Eurovision has backed her, by allowing her entry to stand. | And Eurovision has backed her, by allowing her entry to stand. |
| The contest's rules state that no "lyrics, speeches, gestures of a political or similar nature shall be permitted". | The contest's rules state that no "lyrics, speeches, gestures of a political or similar nature shall be permitted". |
| More on Eurovision 2016 | More on Eurovision 2016 |
| However, one young woman at the Jamala concert in Kiev said the song's popularity was partly down to Russia's "occupation" of Crimea. | However, one young woman at the Jamala concert in Kiev said the song's popularity was partly down to Russia's "occupation" of Crimea. |
| Another concert-goer believed that the "sad situation facing Crimean Tatars" added meaning to Ukraine's Eurovision entry. | Another concert-goer believed that the "sad situation facing Crimean Tatars" added meaning to Ukraine's Eurovision entry. |
| Kiev-based Tatar group Crimea SOS has made allegations of "systematic" prosecutions against Tatar people in Crimea since the Russian annexation. | Kiev-based Tatar group Crimea SOS has made allegations of "systematic" prosecutions against Tatar people in Crimea since the Russian annexation. |
| Spokeswoman Tamila Tasheva says 13 Tatar people have gone missing and seven have been killed without anyone being brought to justice. | Spokeswoman Tamila Tasheva says 13 Tatar people have gone missing and seven have been killed without anyone being brought to justice. |
| Ms Tasheva sees a connection between the situation for Crimean Tatars today and Jamala's Eurovision song about Stalin's forced deportations. | Ms Tasheva sees a connection between the situation for Crimean Tatars today and Jamala's Eurovision song about Stalin's forced deportations. |
| "What's happening is not a violent deportation, but Crimean Tatars are being forced to leave the territory of Crimea." | "What's happening is not a violent deportation, but Crimean Tatars are being forced to leave the territory of Crimea." |
| Russia's ombudsman for human rights, Tatiana Moskalkova, has said she will look into complaints of brutality and insensitivity against Tatar people on the part of law enforcement agencies in Crimea. | Russia's ombudsman for human rights, Tatiana Moskalkova, has said she will look into complaints of brutality and insensitivity against Tatar people on the part of law enforcement agencies in Crimea. |
| But she said a "majority" of Crimean Tatars had been positively integrated into the Russian system. | |
| And Crimea prosecutor Natalya Poklonskaya has dismissed talk of discrimination as "speculation, deception and misrepresentation". | And Crimea prosecutor Natalya Poklonskaya has dismissed talk of discrimination as "speculation, deception and misrepresentation". |
| Eurovision appeared to try to limit the political overtones of Jamala's song, by banning her supporters from waving the Crimean Tatar flag during her performance. | Eurovision appeared to try to limit the political overtones of Jamala's song, by banning her supporters from waving the Crimean Tatar flag during her performance. |
| The contest organisers then relaxed its guidelines on the waving of flags. | The contest organisers then relaxed its guidelines on the waving of flags. |
| However, in the first semi-final on Tuesday night, Armenian singer Iveta Mukuchyan was criticised for waving the flag of Nagorno-Karabakh, a separatist enclave that is officially part of Azerbaijan but currently under the control of local ethnic Armenian forces. | However, in the first semi-final on Tuesday night, Armenian singer Iveta Mukuchyan was criticised for waving the flag of Nagorno-Karabakh, a separatist enclave that is officially part of Azerbaijan but currently under the control of local ethnic Armenian forces. |
| In reality, any event involving Ukraine and Russia these days has an added dimension. | In reality, any event involving Ukraine and Russia these days has an added dimension. |
| Russia's entry sailed through to Saturday's final. If Ukraine also makes it through, expect a poignant affair. | Russia's entry sailed through to Saturday's final. If Ukraine also makes it through, expect a poignant affair. |
| The second Eurovision semi-final is broadcast live in the UK on 12 May on BBC Four at 20:00 BST | The second Eurovision semi-final is broadcast live in the UK on 12 May on BBC Four at 20:00 BST |