Ukrainian ex-winner believes that her home country cannot boycott the Eurovision Song Contest: “Remind the world of our struggle”

Ex-winner Jamala (40) believes that Ukraine cannot boycott the Eurovision Song Contest. However, the voices to put a stop to the festival are becoming increasingly louder. This has everything to do with Israel’s participation, while the war in Gaza is raging. “Ukraine cannot afford that,” says Jamala. “We must seize this opportunity to remind Europe of our struggle.”

The countdown is still on until the Eurovision Song Contest starts again. The first artists will start on Tuesday in Mälmo, Sweden. Israel’s chances of victory are not highly rated, but the country’s participation is perhaps the most discussed. Despite the war in Gaza, Israel is allowed to participate in the festival, and many people do not like that. The voices to boycott the festival are becoming louder.

The artists “feel the pain” and “are not blind to the situation”, but for now no one plans to boycott. Ukrainian artist Jamala, who won the festival in 2016, even specifically calls on her compatriots not to protest. “We cannot afford to boycott,” she says. “This is a huge opportunity to remind Europe of Russia’s invasion.”

Pay attention

Jamala feels the attention shifting about the invasion of her homeland. “There are many wars going on around the world,” she says. “It is not easy to keep the necessary attention on Ukraine. It is the job of our artists to find new ways to showcase our country. They will have to be loud and creative.”

Ukraine is represented this year by the rapper and singing duo Alyona Alyona and Jerry Heil.