Ukraine: Maruv is not going to Eurovision 2019
The Ukrainian broadcaster UA:PBC and Maruv, who won Vidbir 2019 last Saturday, didn't come to an agreement about Eurovision 2019 participation
Update 27 February 2019
Ukraine withdraws from Eurovision 2019
The Ukrainian representative for Eurovision Song Contest 2019 in Tel Aviv has not been decided or confirmed yet. Maruv just won Vidbir 2019 in Ukraine two days ago with Siren Song.
The Ukrainian broadcaster UA:PBC and Maruv didn't come to an agreement about Eurovision 2019 participation, and now UA:PBC has announced that Maruv will not represent Ukraine at Eurovision 2019. This happens after a more than 5 hour long negotiation between UA:PBC and Maruv's team, ending up with the two parts not signing the contract for Eurovision participation.
Many fans suspected that concerts in Russia could have cost Maruv her Eurovision ticket, however Maruv assures that this is not the cause:
– The cancellation of concerts in Russia was not fundamental to us. The main differences were caused by other clauses in the contract, which, if I sign, would become enslaving for me.
The contract
Following Maruv's win in Vidbir 2019, the broadcaster sent Maruv's management a contract, requiring her to cancel all appearances and performances in Russia in order to become the Ukrainian representative.
Maruv was given 48 hours to sign the contract, or be replaced by another participant.
Maruv revealed that the contract included a clause, that banned her from improvising on stage and communicating with any journalist without the permission of the broadcaster, and required her to fully comply with any requests from the broadcaster.
If she broke the contract, she would be fined 2 million UAH (65,000 EUR), and the contract also stated that the Ukrainian broadcaster would not pay Maruv's trip to Tel Aviv, according to Maruv.
Ukraine and Russia
Russia and Ukraine is in an armed conflict where Russia supports rebel groups in Ukraine. The Ukrainian peninsula Crimea was forcefully and illegally occupied and annexed by Russia in 2014.
Maruv has performed multiple times in Russia, and has scheduled a number of performances in Russia in the next couple of months. Maruv was ready to cancel these performances.
According to CEO of UA:PBC, Zurab Alasania, the broadcaster has written in the conditions for all the participants that they need to refuse to perform in Russia three months after the competition.
CEO of UA:PBC, Zurab Alasania, also states that the performer should have "attentive attitude towards the public statements regarding the territorial integrity of Ukraine, or any statements that may harm Ukraine at the international level", and that "not all good Ukrainian performers are ready to be good cultural diplomats".
Shortly after Maruv was crowned winner of Vidbir, the Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine, Vyacheslav Kyrylenko, wrote on twitter:
– The representative of Ukraine cannot be an artist who tours in the agressor state, has plans to do so again and doesn’t realise it’s unacceptable. Therefore, the story of the Ukrainian entrant [for Eurovision] is far from complete.
Ukraine voted for Maruv
Maruv won the Ukrainian national selection for Eurovision, Vidbir 2019, just two days ago. Here she received maximum points (6 points) from the public televoting, and finished 2nd in the three person jury (5 points), and crowned the overall winner of the night.
The band Freedom Jazz finished 2nd with 4 points from Televoting and 6 points from the jury.
Yesterday, Maruv stated that she is ready to cancel her performances in Russia, and that she hasn't violated any Ukrainian laws or visited Crimea since 2014.
– I am Ukrainian, love my country and proud to represent Ukraine in Tel Aviv at Eurovision Song Contest 2019 despite the fact that I have received proposals from three different countries to represent them. But my answer is categorical: I will perform for Ukraine and no one else!
Who will then represent Ukraine?
CEO of UA:PBC, Zurab Alasania, says, that now the decision on the artist and song which will represent Ukraine at Eurovision Song Contest 2019 remains open, and the negotiations with the next act will start tomorrow morning.
It is currently unknown if the runner-up of Vidbir 2019, Freedom Jazz with the song "Cupidon", will now be negotiating with the broadcaster UA:PBC. Sources claims that if Freedom Jazz are approached by UA:PBC, they will also reject the offer to go to Eurovision.
Update 26 February 2019:
Ukraine in Eurovision Song Contest
Ukraine is one of the most successful countries in Eurovision Song Contest.
Out of 15 participations Ukraine has:
