March 22, 20178 yr Yep, she's promised to represent Russia next year according to First Channel and VGTRK who switch every year to arrange it all. ...she won't because Ukrainian autorities banned her for 3 years. Ok, let's forget about it like it was scary dream or so. Don't wanna see any news related to my country and ESC anymore.
March 23, 20178 yr It's not over for Julia! Taking into consideration that this ban might be upheld by the Ukrainian authorities, and in order to maintain the non-political nature of the Eurovision Song Contest, the EBU has been working hard to find a solution to this situation and has taken the unprecedented move to offer Channel One Russia the opportunity for Julia to still participate in this year’s Contest by performing live in the 2nd Semi Final via satellite. Should the Russian entry qualify for the Grand Final the same solution would apply. This is something that has never been done before in the Contest’s 60 year history but, in the spirit of Eurovision’s values of inclusivity, and this year’s theme of Celebrate Diversity, the decision has been taken to ensure that all 43 entrants are given the opportunity to participate. Eurovision Song Contest Executive Supervisor, Jon Ola Sand said: "We are continuing our dialogue with the Ukrainian authorities with the ambition to have all artists present to perform in host city, Kyiv, which is, of course, our preferred option. It is imperative that the Eurovision Song Contest remains free from politics and as such, due to the circumstances surrounding Julia’s travel ban, we have felt it important to propose a solution that transcends such issues. We have offered Channel One Russia the opportunity for Julia to perform live via satellite as it is the EBU’s intention that every broadcaster that has chosen to take part in the Eurovision Song Contest does so, as has been the case for all previous events in the contest’s history." Frank-Dieter Freiling, Chairman of the Reference Group, the governing body of the Eurovision Song Contest, expressed his hope though, that the political leadership of Ukraine will not implement the travel ban and find a solution in line with the contest's slogan, Celebrate Diversity.
March 23, 20178 yr Oh COME ON. They're just enabling Russia by doing that. And drawing more attention to the conflict in the actual show.
March 23, 20178 yr So that blatant posturing means that they then get to compete at virtually zero expense? lol piss off
March 23, 20178 yr Author Ukraine's vice Prime Minster is now telling the EBU to consider that them even broadcasting Julia's performance would be illegal according to Ukrainian law. I'm torn about the whole situation, for me it comes down to why did the EBU not ensure that all member countries would be able to send any artist prior to handing over hosting rights. Azerbaijan had agreed to lift their Armenian ban prior to their withdrawal so the EBU obviously did so that time, why not this time - unless they did get an agreement from all parties that Russia wouldn't send a blacklisted artist. But even then Julia wasn't on the so-called blacklist until these last few days.
March 23, 20178 yr just tell russia to get fucked :rolleyes: so basically everything goes to plan for them + the mass sympathy vote they'll proabably get from it
March 23, 20178 yr Author Am I right in thinking Russia pay more to enter this contest than some of the "big 5", if so that will be why the EBU are team Russia.
March 23, 20178 yr Author I think Turkey were the same when they participated too, after all one of their stated reasons for withdrawal after 2012 was because of the "big 5" rule. I'm not quite sure the reasoning behind it, perhaps the EBU membership prices and Eurovision participation fees are two different things and the "big 5" are chosen from the former rather than the latter.
March 23, 20178 yr Ukraine's vice Prime Minster is now telling the EBU to consider that them even broadcasting Julia's performance would be illegal according to Ukrainian law. I'm torn about the whole situation, for me it comes down to why did the EBU not ensure that all member countries would be able to send any artist prior to handing over hosting rights. Azerbaijan had agreed to lift their Armenian ban prior to their withdrawal so the EBU obviously did so that time, why not this time - unless they did get an agreement from all parties that Russia wouldn't send a blacklisted artist. But even then Julia wasn't on the so-called blacklist until these last few days. I don't think these situations are the same tho. Isn't Armenia completely banned in Azerbaijan? Not all Russian are banned in Ukraine as far as I know
March 23, 20178 yr In which case why aren't Russia in the big five? Backlash from giving a country such as Russia that privilege? But I hadn't thought of it that way, even if they're the sixth biggest contributor behind the big 5, Ryan's theory sounds plausible
March 23, 20178 yr Am I right in thinking Russia pay more to enter this contest than some of the "big 5", if so that will be why the EBU are team Russia. I don't know if it's ever been confirmed but...potentially? (depends how much the Spanish economy might have bounced back over the last few years/if the Russian economy's taken a hit from the Obama administration's sanctions). The main thing that I have an objection to though is that it means Russia then get to compete and spend virtually no money on flights/accomodation costs and that's grossly unfair on countries like Bulgaria who have to scrape enough money together just to be able to compete in the first place let alone spend while they're there.
March 23, 20178 yr Author I don't think these situations are the same tho. Isn't Armenia completely banned in Azerbaijan? Not all Russian are banned in Ukraine as far as I know Yeah you are right in both cases, it's just the EBU had obviously talked with Azerbaijan early in that Eurovision season to ensure any Armenians would be able to enter the country to perform and Azerbaijan agreed they would be able to hence Armenia staying on the participation list until March where they pulled out following petitions in Armenia, citing safety worries as their reason (but they weren't banned). The EBU haven't sorted out a similar agreement early in this Eurovision season to either ensure that a) any Russians would be able to enter the country to perform or b) to ensure that the Russian broadcaster wouldn't choose anyone that would break Ukrainian laws. It seems the EBU didn't sort out either of these possible two agreements and now this is the result!
March 23, 20178 yr Russia have rejected the EBU's proposal of a satellite link. "Channel One has acted in full accordance with the rules of the "Eurovision" and chose the participant of the contest, who is registered by the EBU and remains the contestant. According to the rules of the "Eurovision", the host broadcasting country should provide all participants "the ability to acquire an entrance visa for the entire duration of the event". Thus, Yulia Samoylova's ban to enter the territory of Ukraine violates the rules of the contest. We consider the proposal of remote participation strange and reject it, since it, of course, contradicts the very meaning of the event, the strict rule of which is the live performance on the stage of the "Eurovision". We believe that the European Broadcasting Union should not invent new rules for the Russian participant in 2017 and is able to hold a competition in accordance with its own rules, "the statement said.
March 23, 20178 yr Author That will surely be it now, Russia will withdraw and throw a big strop but will return in 2018 - they value Eurovision too much unlike Turkey.
March 23, 20178 yr I am living for that rejection and them ripping into the EBU Will they still have a place on the CD do we reckon? It's a different type of situation to both Romania last year and Georgia in 2009
March 23, 20178 yr It's for the best really. Means one of Denmark/Austria/Croatia/The Netherlands gets to have a slot in the final that they might not have got otherwise.
March 23, 20178 yr I'm glad they rejected it, somebody performing via satellite would have opened up such a can of worms for future contests and hardly promotes the unity that the contest is supposed to represent. Yulia would have had a completely different experience to the other contestants and a number of unfair advantages and disadvantages - hardly would have made for a level playing field.
March 23, 20178 yr Author I am living for that rejection and them ripping into the EBU Will they still have a place on the CD do we reckon? It's a different type of situation to both Romania last year and Georgia in 2009 It all depends on whether they've started making the CDs or not, same with the programme. I presume as the running order isn't out yet, they won't have started printing the programme so they won't be in that. I'm not sure if they'll have started making the CDs yet. The artwork was released saying "43 entries..." but as long as they haven't start being produced yet they will edit and leave them out.
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