Ukraine Wins Eurovision With Song About Crimean Tatar Deportation
By RFE/RL
Ukraine's Jamala has won the 61st edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, Europe's largest television event.
Jamala, a 32-year-old Crimean Tatar, was declared the winner early on May 15 after she received 534 points at the grand finale held in the Swedish capital, Stockholm, in a vote from juries and television viewers.
Her heart-rending song, titled 1944, recalls how Soviet dictator Josef Stalin ordered the mass deportation of her entire nation to Central Asia in 1944.
Australia's Dami Im finished second with 511 points, and Sergei Lazarev of Russia -- who was the favorite going into the competition -- was third with 491 points.
The vote followed performances by the 26 finalists at Stockholm's Globe Arena.
The show was broadcast to an estimated 200 million viewers across Europe, China, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States.
Collecting her award, an emotional Jamala thanked Europe for their votes and declared she wanted "peace and love to everyone."
"If you sing about truth, it really can touch people," she later told reporters.
WATCH: Russian TV Doesn't Get Ukraine's Eurovision Entry
Jamala, whose real name is Susana Jamaladinova, was born in Osh, Kyrgyzstan.
She had dedicated her song to her great-grandmother, who was forced to leave along with more than a quarter of a million Tatars.
"I had to release their souls,” she has said. “Because they never came back to Ukraine."
Her song used English lyrics with a chorus sung in Crimean Tatar.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko hailed Jamala's "unbelievable performance and victory."
"All of Ukraine gives you its heartfelt thanks, Jamala," he tweeted.
"Glory to Ukraine!" Prime Minister Volodymyr Hroysman said.
Jamala's victory was a second for Ukraine, which first won in 2004.
As winner, Ukraine is set to host the contest next year.
More than 250,000 Crimean Tatars were stuffed into train cars and sent to Central Asia in May 1944.
Tens of thousands died during the trip and thousands more perished from hunger and disease shortly after their arrival.
Crimean Tatars were not allowed to return to Crimea until the 1980s, but most came in the 1990s after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
Russia illegally annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine in 2014.
With reporting by AP, AFP, and dpa
That concludes our live-blogging of the Ukraine crisis for Saturday, May 14, 2016. Check back here tomorrow for more of our continuing coverage.