http://www.themoscowtimes.com/article/600/42/375137.htm
Ukrainian Will Sing for Russia at Eurovision 10 March 2009By Anna Malpas / Staff Writer Russia will be represented in the Eurovision Song Contest by a young Ukrainian woman who will sing part of her song in Ukrainian. Just days after being rejected as a contestant by her native country, Anastasia Prikhodko, 21, was selected by a jury on Saturday to represent Russia when the popular song contest is held in Moscow in May. Six out of 11 members of the jury voted for her "Mamo," which means "Mama" in Ukrainian, during a live broadcast on Channel One. In a preliminary round, Prikhodko won 25 percent of the public's votes, more than any of the other 15 contestants, Channel One announced. Music producer Iosif Prigozhin immediately denounced the decision as "a disgrace." His wife and client, pop singer Valeriya, placed second in the public vote. "We need to have a new competition and send someone else to Eurovision because a song performed in Ukrainian has nothing in common with Russia," Prigozhin said, RIA-Novosti reported. Valeriya sang in English, as did all but four of the other contestants. Pri-khodko's song is in Russian, and the chorus is in Ukrainian. "I absolutely disagree with the results as a citizen of Russia and as a producer," Prigozhin said. Yana Rudkovskaya, the producer of last year's winner, Dima Bilan, said the choice was "very strange. It's a shock," Komsomolskaya Pravda reported. Comments on Eurovision's official web site included calls for outraged viewers to complain to President Dmitry Medvedev. "I call on everyone to go to the web site Kremlin.ru and send a letter to the presidential administration," a user calling herself Olga KiberGirl wrote. "We've been silent and tolerated this injustice for too long." However, opinions varied. "It won't hurt to get 12 points from Ukraine," Komsomolskaya Pravda pointed out in an editorial. "I think it will be very symbolic if the song remains in this version with Russian and Ukrainian lyrics," Yury Aksyuta, head of music broadcasting at Channel One, said in televised remarks after Prikhodko's victory was announced. The winning song was written by Konstantin Meladze, a singer and composer of Georgian origin who is also Prikhodko's producer. Meladze described the victory as a "great joy," adding that he supports "the friendship of Russians, Ukrainians, Georgians and others," RIA-Novosti reported. Prikhodko became well-known in Russia when she won the "Star Factory" talent contest on Channel One in 2007. She has released songs in Russian, including a cover of "Blood Group" by iconic rock band Kino. "I'll prove that I'm worthy of Eurovision," Prikhodko said Saturday, Channel One's web site reported. Prikhodko entered the Russian heat at the last moment Thursday after she unsuccessfully applied to represent Ukraine. Ironically, the song she sent to the Ukrainian jury was in Russian, which violated local rules. According to Eurovision rules, each country's broadcaster is able to set rules on the language of songs. Prikhodko's song was also longer than three minutes and had been performed before October last year, violating rules set by the European Broadcasting Union, Ukrainian media reported. The song "violated every rule that could be violated," Vasil Ilashchuk, Ukraine's Eurovision organizer and the president of the country's First National Channel, said last week. Prikhodko appealed against her disqualification in an open letter to President Viktor Yushchenko and also initiated legal action. It was unclear what would happen if she wins her appeal. A spokeswoman for Meladze said Prikhodko would not comment Monday, a public holiday. On Sunday, Ukraine picked its Eurovision representative, Svetlana Loboda, who used to be a member of girl group VIA Gra. Her English-language song is called "Be My Valentine." The latest controversy follows a media storm in 2007, when Ukraine was represented at Eurovision by drag queen Verka Serdyuchka. Her song "Lasha Tumbai" was alleged to contain a hidden message: "Russia Goodbye." The song came in second, beating Russia's entry to third place. This year, Latvia's entry will be sung in Russian. Intars Busulis told The Baltic Times that the song "Sastregums" would be translated as "Probka," or traffic jam. Georgia caused a stir in February when it selected a song titled "We Don't Wanna Put In" as its entry, performed by Stefane & 3G. Youth group Young Russia rallied at the Georgian Embassy on March 2 against what it called President Mikheil Saakashvili's use of Eurovision for anti-Russian propaganda.
