Ukraine's ‘politicized’ entry for Eurovision 2016 is a song about the deportation of Crimean Tatars
Europe's annual celebration of musical manure takes place this May in Stockholm. This year, Ukraine's entry to the Eurovision Song Contest is pop artist Jamala's tune “1944,” which tells the story of the Soviet-era deportation of the Crimean Tatars. The song was selected by a vote of television viewers and judges. Performed in English, with a refrain sung in Crimean Tatar, the song was inspired, Jamala says, by stories her great grandmother used to tell her about the deportation.