Russia from among the participants of Eurovision-2017, since the Russian participant Yulia Samoilova was banned from entering the territory of Ukraine ..

How it all started

Solution options

The EBU proposed a peaceful settlement of the conflict, in particular, two scenarios were proposed for the development of events in which Russia could remain a participant in musical competitions.

Firstly, Russia was offered to choose another participant among the musicians who have no problems entering Kiev. This statement was broadcast by Ukrainian Radio, Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Vyacheslav Kirilenko. At the same time, he noted that Ukraine is ready to accept participants from all 43 countries, including from Russia, - the main thing is that they are not among the persons who have problems with Ukrainian legislation.

As a second option for maintaining Russia's participation in the competition without changing the EBU participant, broadcast Yulia Samoilova's speech by teleconference. This would be an unprecedented case - before Samoilova, this option was not offered to any participant in the entire history of the competition.

This year, Channel One will not show the Eurovision Song Contest due to the refusal of the host country, Ukraine, to let the Russian singer into its territory. I figured out why the negotiations with the Ukrainian side failed, how the loss of the Russian audience is fraught for the competition, and why they are in no hurry to sound the alarm on Channel One.

What happened?

On Thursday, April 13, Channel One received a letter from the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) stating that EBU was unable to resolve the issue of Samoilova's participation in Eurovision. the singer closed the entry to the country on March 22 due to the fact that in 2015, after the annexation of Crimea to Russia, she visited the peninsula, which the Ukrainian authorities consider occupied.

The President of Ukraine called the decision to send Samoilova to the competition a provocation. In his opinion, Moscow needed not participation in Eurovision, but a scandal. On Channel One, which was engaged in the selection of performers for the competition, they retorted: Samoilova was chosen solely because she is a talented singer and sings a good song.

How the organizers of Eurovision tried to convince Ukraine

The situation was immediately intervened by the European Broadcasting Union, which owns the rights to host the event. They said that they were disappointed with the gesture of Ukraine and would try to do everything possible to admit the Russian participant to the competition. The SBU insisted that it was impossible to allow Samoilova to enter Ukraine, and therefore Channel One was offered two options: to replace Samoilova with another performer or broadcast her number remotely, by means of a satellite broadcasting a performance from a studio in Moscow.

The pre-lobbied ERU option with remote participation was immediately rejected by Channel One. And later, the Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine announced that showing Samoilova on local television, even remotely, is the same violation of the law as her entry into the country.

Photo: Alexey Filippov / RIA Novosti

Why didn't they come to an agreement with Ukraine?

The Broadcasting Union did not abandon attempts to resolve the conflict to the last. However, the SBU did not change its position, and Channel One insisted on the unacceptability of both proposed compromise options. Finally, on April 13, the channel accused Kiev of "trying to politicize the competition, the goal of which, throughout its 62-year history, was to unite people."

Photo: Ekaterina Chesnokova / RIA Novosti

A source close to the leadership of Channel One told Lenta.ru that the TV company was surprised by the zeal with which the organizers of Eurovision were defending the interests of the Russian side.

At the end of March, the EMU even addressed a separate letter to the Prime Minister of Ukraine. The message spoke about the extreme dissatisfaction of the organizers of the competition with the current situation and the threats of some European broadcasters to arrange a boycott of Kiev. However, this did not help either.

Losses of the parties

Who and what will lose if Russia does not show Eurovision on television? Ukraine - more than five million viewers (this is how many Russians, according to Mediascope, watched the final of the show in 2016). The organizers are the former reach that they have been striving so desperately for in recent years.

Eurovision has sought in various ways to win the attention of the audience through increasingly grandiose shows and viral effects on social networks, as well as expanding the geography of its participants and broadcasters. So, in 2016, even Australia, far from Europe, took part in the competition, which, by the way, expressed a serious intention to organize its own version of the show - "Eurovision-Asia". Australian television broadcasters estimate that the Asian Eurovision Song Contest is capable of attracting more than a billion people. There is indeed interest in the competition in Asia. For example, Eurovision has been broadcast in China for four years now.

Against the background of such transcendental indicators, the five-million audience from Russia seems to be a drop in the ocean. However, Mediascope measures the audience for only five thousand households, so some experts believe that Eurovision in Russia is watched by many more people. But even if more than 20 million Russians are watching the competition, this is only 10 percent of the total audience. Indeed, according to the EBU, Eurovision-2016 was watched by 204 million viewers.

What is the risk of Channel One? To miss the income from the sale of advertising, which, as you know, is much more expensive when it comes to rating projects, which is considered to be Eurovision. However, in 2016 the rating of the program was not outstanding and barely exceeded eight percent.

According to some experts, the proceeds from advertising cover only 80-90 percent of the fee that the broadcasting channel pays to the European Broadcasting Union annually for the opportunity to show the show. What damage to the company's economy will be caused by the refusal to broadcast Eurovision-2017, Channel One does not comment. However, a source of "Lenta.ru" in the TV company says that the channel prefers not to dramatize the situation and expects to "recapture" the loss of Eurovision with the help of other, more popular shows.

Nobody will broadcast Eurovision from Kiev in 2017 on the territory of Russia. This decision was made after the Security Service of Ukraine on March 22 banned Russian contestant Yulia Samoilova from entering the country for three years.

All Russian TV channels, in protest against the decision of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) to ban Russian singer Yulia Samoilova from performing at the international pop song contest in Kiev, refused to broadcast Eurovision in 2017. This was announced on the air by the VGTRK correspondent.

He assured that after the refusal of the SBU Russia will boycott Eurovision in Ukraine and is not going to replace the participant, and now no one will go from our country to the competition, therefore, in order not to upset Russian TV viewers, the Ukrainian show will not be shown by any Russian TV channel. ...

At the same time, in 2018 it is customary not to change its position - Russia will again put up Yulia Samoilova at Eurovision - regardless of the country where the competition is held.

On Wednesday, the SBU made a cynical decision, banning the disabled Yulia Samoilova from entering Ukraine for three years, since, according to Kiev, she was illegally visiting Crimea. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) expressed "deep disappointment" with this decision. The organizing committee of Eurovision promised to defend European interests and seek the participation of contestants from all countries.

The Russian Foreign Ministry has already called the decision of the Ukrainian authorities political. In addition, Moscow is expecting a reaction from the West.

In Russia, the SBU's decision drew a flurry of criticism. In the musical environment, they called for a boycott of Eurovision in Kiev. And in Crimea they called Ukraine "a weak and flawed country", which only knows how to mock people with disabilities. The head of Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov, called the ban of the SBU "outrageous swinishness" and demanded that Ukraine be deprived of the right to host Eurovision.

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Russian federal TV channels will not broadcast the Eurovision Song Contest, which will be hosted by the capital of Ukraine this year. The journalists of the "News of Russia" section of the "Market Leader" publication learned about this situation in more detail.

The leadership of the Russian Channel One put an end to the debate regarding the participation of the singer Yulia Samoilova in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017. As a result, Moscow made the most anticipated decision - to boycott the competition, which this year is being hosted by Kiev. The decision was expected, since earlier the Ukrainian authorities had banned Samoilova from entering the country.

In the summer of 2015, the singer came to Crimea with performances, and she came to the peninsula, violating the norms of Ukrainian legislation, from the territory of the Russian Federation. Russia, of course, began to accuse everyone except itself, but the main accusations fell in the direction of Ukraine. Moscow accused the Ukrainian authorities of politicizing the song contest, and the European Broadcasting Union, which is the owner of Eurovision, was accused of failing to agree with Kiev on an exception for Yulia Samoilova.

Samoilova really violated Ukrainian legislation, however, Ukraine, in fact, violated the Eurovision rules, since it did not ensure participation in the competition for representatives of other countries. After all, the contestants may well have immunity - just like diplomats. Therefore, it cannot be ruled out that the European Broadcasting Union will impose sanctions against Ukraine. However, earlier the Eurovision right holder was rather inconsistent in the issue of the application of penalties.

In particular, the EBU in 2009 banned performers from Georgia to take part in the competition, because in their song "We don" t wanna put in "there were clearly parallels with the name of the current Russian President Vladimir Putin, who was then the head of the Russian government. the broadcast union allowed last year the Ukrainian singer Jamala, who eventually became the winner, to perform the song “1944.” Recall that it was in 1944, by order of Joseph Stalin, that the Crimean Tatars were deported from Crimea.

Also, the EBU did not take any measures after the Armenian singer Iveta Mukuchyan unfurled the flag of Nagorno-Karabakh during the broadcast of the competition last year. Meanwhile, the rules of the competition prohibit the display of flags of unrecognized states. Returning to the non-admission of Samoilova, we can state that in this situation Ukraine may well turn out to be extreme and be punished.

Did Russia want to take part in Eurovision 2017?

In this regard, a completely logical question arises - did Russia really want to take part in Eurovision 2017 and send its representative to the Ukrainian capital? It is worth recalling that Channel One announced who will represent the country at the song contest this year literally a minute before the deadline expires. Earlier, the delegation of the Russian Federation refused to take part in a number of important meetings held in preparation for the competition, and Kiev reported that Moscow did not book rooms for its participants in any of the Kiev hotels.

It is quite possible that Russia acted in this case, guided by cold calculation. A wheelchair-bound performer was selected to participate in the competition. If the Ukrainian authorities had given Samoilova the opportunity to come to Kiev, the local public would hardly have begun to boo her - there have already been such cases at Eurovision with Russian participants. This is how European viewers reacted to the homophobic law adopted by the Russian authorities.

However, Samoilova, as you know, was banned from entering the territory of Ukraine. This gave Moscow the opportunity to use a new argument to actively promote the myth of the "inhumanity" of the current Ukrainian government. The argument is simple, but at the same time intelligible - they say, look, Kiev discriminates even a disabled person who is confined to a wheelchair.

In the current situation, one can hardly expect that Moscow will still compromise and agree to broadcast Samoilova's speech from Russian territory. You can also exclude the option of replacing the winner of the Russian selection with some other participant. Neither Kiev nor the European Broadcasting Union should hope for this.

The losers in this whole situation will be primarily Russian TV viewers. Channel One representatives have already announced that they will not broadcast Eurovision 2017. Representatives of the TV channel also stressed that the leadership of the All-Russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company also refused to broadcast the competition as a sign of solidarity. In fact, the federal TV channels controlled by the Kremlin have again made a choice over Russian citizens. They themselves decided that the Russians can watch, and without which ordinary people can do without. By the way, some explain this decision by the fact that this year the Russians may again vote “incorrectly”, as it was earlier, when they supported the “bearded woman” Conchita Wurst, who won in 2014, or the Ukrainian woman Jamala.

Of course, today is the 21st century and the ubiquity of the Internet. That is, if there is a corresponding desire, the Russians will be able to watch the competition on the Web. However, in this situation, the Kremlin deprived Russian citizens of another freedom - the opportunity to watch the world's largest music competition on national television, where a joyful, liberated and free Europe celebrates itself. Such a TV picture, and even broadcast from Kiev, clearly does not fit with the image stubbornly imposed by Russian propagandists on ordinary people in the street.

Russia was represented at Eurovision-2017 by the 27-year-old singer Yulia Samoilova, who has been moving in a wheelchair since the age of 13. However, the Security Service of Ukraine added Samoilov to the list of persons who are prohibited from entering Ukraine.

In the summer of 2015, Samoilova performed in the Crimea, having entered the peninsula from the territory of Russia. The SBU considers Crimea to be an occupied territory, and everyone who visited it without going through Ukrainian customs and without special permission is considered lawbreakers.

The European Broadcasting Union, which is the organizer of the song contest, expressed disappointment with the decision of the Ukrainian authorities, but noted that the laws of the host country must be respected. At the same time, the organizers will try to persuade Kiev to change its decision. The Kremlin also hopes for such an outcome of the conflict situation.

“We also consider this decision extremely unfortunate, and in fact, we would certainly expect that this decision will be revised before the competition and the Russian participant will be able to take part in this competition,” said the press secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov. In his opinion, “the decision of the Ukrainian side will seriously devalue the upcoming competition, and this is a blow to the prestige of Eurovision.

Context

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What Samoilova was taking to Eurovision

New time of the country 03/23/2017 The decision of the SBU to ban Yulia Samoilova from entering Ukraine does not mean a ban on Russia's participation in Eurovision. The Russian Channel One, which is authorized to select participants for this competition, has the right to name another artist who will represent the country. For example, the other day British singer Robbie Williams expressed a desire to represent Russia at Eurovision

Now the Russian media are widely discussing options for the development of events, and many are inclined to believe that Russia should go on the principle of refusing to participate in the competition this year, if the decision on Samoilova is not revised, and not to broadcast the competition on Russian channels.

For example, Philip Kirkorov believes that "Russia should not take part in the competition until all those responsible for such a decision leave their posts, and the competition will again return to what it was intended for."

Producer Iosif Prigogine suggested not to risk the members of the Russian delegation on the territory "where we are not welcome."

“I believe that now we should send letters to the entire workshop to Western artists, Western media and tell the whole world that they should have a tolerant attitude not only towards bearded women, but also towards people with disabilities. I know that Europe is especially sensitive to this, which means that they should rise up and present all kinds of claims, and we - if the European Broadcasting Union allows Eurovision to be held in this form, we should refuse to participate, completely for the near future, " said Prigozhin in a comment for RIA Novosti.

Music critic Dmitry Shavyrin believes that Russia needs to refuse to participate in Eurovision "once and for all."

“All the same there will be provocations against Julia, all the same Europe will vote against. In general, we need to forget about this competition once and for all, it has outlived its usefulness, the time of ABBA has passed, "Shavyrin said in a comment for RIA Novosti.

On March 22, the Rossiya TV channel announced that the Russian Federation would not be represented at Eurovision in 2017, as it was decided not to look for a replacement for Yulia Samoilova. The girl will represent her country at Eurovision in 2018. It was also stated that all Russian TV channels refused to broadcast Eurovision from Kiev in protest.

However, the administration of Channel One, which is supposed to broadcast Eurovision-2017, did not confirm to the Gazeta.Ru correspondent their intention to refuse to air the competition.

Russia is due to play in the second semi-final on May 11. In the same semi-final, the representative of Belarus, the Navi group, will also perform. The final will take place on May 13th.

InoSMI materials contain assessments exclusively of foreign mass media and do not reflect the position of the InoSMI editorial board.