Eurovision has long held a place in Australian hearts. So much so, that we somehow forced the EU to allow us to take part in their once continent-exclusive competition.
Former X-Factor winner, Dami Im, represented Australia in our second bid for Eurovision gold with her song ‘Sound of Silence’, but came just behind Ukraine in second place.
Now, a week later, a video has surfaced of Ukraine's winner, Jamala singing her winning song '1944' in public years before the competition.
A statement released on the official Eurovision Facebook page said, "Eurovision rules (1.2.1a) state entries must not have been commercially released before September 1 of the previous year - a rule designed to ensure new compositions are competing on a level playing field."
The surfaced video was reportedly taken in 2013, which means the song is at least three years old, making Ukraine's entry in Eurovision 'illegal'.
Even though the authenticity of the video was confirmed by Ukraine's Eurovision reps, Eurovision organisers have decided to overlook the mishap.
“The video of a small concert had only been viewed by a few hundred people before it was discovered in the past few days,” Eurovision organisers said.
“The EBU, based on previous decisions in the Reference Group, therefore has concluded that the published video did not give Jamala’s song any unfair advantage in the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest and the song was eligible to compete.”
Fans weren't happy with Eurovision's reply, with some Facebook users sharing their outrage on the official Eurovision Facebook page.
"Big shame for the Eurovision!!! [sic] There are rules which have to be observed by all participants! It turns out that the Eurovision doesn't respect opinion of the audience! Big shame! This Eurovision became for me the last...," one user, Nikita Jangus said.
Top Comments
yes we weretotally robbed of this win for Dami I'm. EBU are a disgrace allowing this and Ukraine are are liars and cheats.
Australia are never going to win Eurovision and nor should we since we are not actually part of Europe. You do know that if by chance we ever do that we will not host the competition don't you? That's right the agreement for allowing Australia to enter includes a clause that if Australia wins the contest needs to be hosted by another country in Europe. The Russians should be the ones complaining about what happened. They were the favourite, the song and performance were definitely superior to the Ukrainian song. Eurovision has, for a long time now, been politicised some years a lot more obvious than others, this year was ridiculous.
Eurovision is a show run by the European Broadcasting Union and the entries are from it's member countries of which Australia is one. Members can apply to be in Eurovision but it is not guaranteed.
No, Australia isn't a member of the EBU.
http://www.ebu.ch/about/mem...