[LMBTO] How Does Eurovision Solve A "Problem" Like Yuliya?

Apologies for the title of this post - it is a nod to one of the classic songs out of "The Sound Of Music", adapting the title of which seemed to fit the current major Eurovision news story so perfectly...

First, a brief word about what happened in London yesterday (22nd March).  Being 50 and having lived through 'The Troubles', where the IRA and UVF/UDA committed atrocities on a regular basis in Northern Ireland and on the British mainland, the events in London yesterday are as shocking and abhorrent now as it was then.  There is not  any difference between then and now - we just have another group of criminals, thugs and bullies using religion and their bigotry as a platform for hate, trying to cause distress and anger amongst right thinking members of humanity.  My sympathies are with all those innocents affected by this horrific act - in the spirit of unity and using an emblem so dear to us fans in Eurovision, Monty Moncrieff flagged up this logo for solidarity, much in the same was as others were used in Paris and Brussels:

In the UK, what happened around the Houses of Parliament on March 22nd overshadowed anything to do with Eurovision - what was to be my next article was my thoughts on my entries 38-34.  That I will do in the next day of so - as it was, the second major piece of news generated yesterday came out of Kyiv:

Now this is unprecedented - an artist being banned from travelling to the host nation?  We have had the EBU banning countries for their broadcaster not paying their debts (Romania 2016), having an political song (Georgia 2009) and for not showing an entry on tv due to their country's legislation (Lebanon 2005, Jordan 1978) but never where one of the singers is not allowed to travel to the host city due to a travel ban by the host nation.  The move by the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) has thrown a huge spanner in the Eurovision 2017 works and this video shows 'big boss' Jon Ola Sand giving the official EBU line, but I have not heard him speak in such an annoyed way:

He is the consummate politician and has to be in his role - from that political standpoint, "deeply disappointed" actually means very, VERY pissed off with the whole situation and fuming on the inside, being able to only use these words publically to not create a worse situation.  His carefully chosen words suggested that the EBU want to sort this out to allow Eurovision 2017 to still have 43 entries - whether that can happen is another matter.

The ban on Yuliya is not from the host city organisers or the host broadcaster NTU - it is, as it appears at this moment, a ban by the nation's security forces due to Yuliya having visited Crimea, the disputed territory between Ukraine and Russia, without first getting permission from Ukrainian officials first and not using an approved route.  She did this to perform there in 2015, being invited to perform at a festival for people with disabilities, according to Andrey Danilko (Verka Serduchka) in an interview with a Russian newspaper:
Because of that visit, she has contravened Ukrainian law and therefore gets a ban lasting three years.  She now joins 140 other Russian artists on the Ukrainian blacklist, in place since tensions have risen between the two countries and in particular since Crimea was annexed by Russia in 2014.  The host broadcaster's hands are tied - they have to conform to the edicts of the Ukrainian government and as Yuliya is banned, she can't, at the moment, participate at this year's Eurovision and we won't hear this song (even though it is my number 39):



So what next?  It was obvious that tensions were going to rise between Ukraine and Russia throughout this Eurovision season, even if that wasn't apparent immediately to some after Jamala, singing about her Crimean grandmother being deported to Central Asia by Stalin, won in Stockholm last year.  A lot of fans and observers would point out that '1944' was a political statement in its own right and the singer herself has alluded to that as well.  The fact that the EBU allowed Ukraine's song to participate in 2016 could be viewed as opening up a huge can of worms but that is in the past, gone, nothing can be done about it.  What needs to be looked at now is the current situation - Russia's artist, Yuliya Samoylova, is at this moment banned from travelling to Kyiv to sing her song in May.  What are the solutions, if any?

1).  Russia withdraw from Eurovision 2017 in protest
This is already something that many Russian politicians and even the guy above have suggested - this would be the ultimate final step if Russia have been playing us all with a masterpiece of PR wizardry, as a lot of Eurovision fans have been suggesting.  Sending Yuliya as their artist has been seen as a way of preventing booing of the Russian entry in Kyiv due to her physical state (apart from the fact that sending a very handsome top pop star to Stockholm had the same desired effect, if the Russian PR machine were considered THAT cynical).  The fact that she is disabled means that Russia could milk this new situation for all it is worth - they would say Yuliya is being stopped from performing on the basis that she sung at a concert for other disabled people and is being penalised for not travelling there in the desired way, a way that would entail an eight hour drive from Kyiv, rather than a simpler direct flight from Russia.  If this is the option that Russia desires, expect Ukraine to be made out to be the 'villain' in all of this and Russia to be the 'poor aggrieved victims' - quite the role reversal and it is understandable why a lot of fans and pro-Ukrainian commentators will have seen this as the plot all along.  No-one appears to be accusing Yuliya of being complicit in any of this and I can imagine that she took the gig in good faith.  Russia are backing her to the hilt (as they would do) - she has already been offered the opportunity to be Russia's 2018 artist, "regardless of the venue of the competition"...apart from another Ukraine win, obviously?


2)  The EBU and NTU allow Russia to replace Yuliya with a new singer and song
We are in potentially new territory here, no artist ever having been banned from the Contest before - one way this could be resolved is by allowing Russia to send another artist and song to compete in Kyiv, an artist that isn't on the travel blacklist.  Not much time to allow that to happen but given this bizarre set of circumstances, it could be a useful compromise - problem is, I already get the feeling that no-one will want to do so.  The Ukraine government will want to hold fast about their laws on unpermitted entry into Crimea and Russia will not want to lose face by finding a new artist and song.  As for the EBU, changing an act at this late stage will cause huge problems as far as PR activities and merchandising are concerned - the EBU's prefered option, as hinted at majorly in Jon Ola's video above, is...


3)  Yuliya is allowed to perform at Eurovision 2017
Now this is obviously the default position that we were at before yesterday's announcement (22nd March).  There were lots of comments about the cynicism of sending Yuliya to Eurovision 2017 but no-one realistically thought that Ukraine would actually pull the plug on her being able to attend in May.  There is little that the host nation has done well PR-wise so far in this campaign and this decision has really put the 'cherry on the top of the cake'.  Given that this year's logo is what it is (above), sending Yuliya matched that portfolio (no matter how cynical you may view this move by Russia to be).  Banning her from attending will not look that good to the neutral observer, no matter how correct that is legally in Ukrainian law.

A possible option would be for Ukraine not to enforce this ban for the duration of the rehearsals and the live shows that Yuliya has to attend, only allowing her to fly into Kyiv and have minimal PR opportunities there and reinstating the ban once she leaves the country at the end of the Contest.  If Ukraine did something like this then they might regain the higher ground as far as how each country is perceived on this matter.
One thing we must bear in mind and that has already been raised by pundits, fans and even Ukrainian lawmakers is that this ban might not only apply to Yuliya - there had already been some rumblings about whether Artsvik from Armenia has been in a similar situation, although the press secretary of the SBU has announced that there is 'no documented evidence' of her being in Crimea after its annexation in an interview with on Ukrainian tv.  If the SBU are attempting to be fair in their dealings with Yuliya, ALL artists would have to be checked in the same way - this has been confirmed as happening, although that is tempered by the statement that it is unlikely that all delegations will be investigated fully unless there is some evidence of an illegal visit...


My thoughts on all of this?

I am now inclined to believe that Yuliya is an innocent pawn in a political stand-off between Russia and Ukraine.  I cannot believe that the Russian delegation were unaware of her performing in a concert in Crimea and therefore knew the implications of this happening.  Whether they thought that it wouldn't get found out or that it was known about and somebody there is as Machiavellian as some fans believe, it really doesn't matter - it is obvious that given the tensions between the two countries that Ukraine was looking for ANY reason to create issues with the Russian entry and that is what they have found.

I said 'stand-off' above - who will twitch first?  I have to admit that as of 22nd March, the most likely scenario was Russia pulling out of Eurovision 2017 completely and claiming that they are the victims here.  I would love this to be sorted out amicably and for Russia to still compete somehow - my second scenario of Russia replacing their artist and song is the least likely as that would result in a major propaganda coup for Ukraine, with their neighbour being the ones to climb down.  As for Yuliya singing in Kyiv?  That would at the moment require a turnaround by the SBU or at least a Government intervention to dilute the row somehow, maybe lifting the travel ban temporarily as I suggest above...


An interesting scenario was proposed by OGAE Russia (reported by ESCUnited) - having an 'empty scene' on the Kyiv stage when Russia's turn comes about, with backing vocals on record and Yuliya's image on LED screens.  An alternative to this was proposed by the news site Eurovisionary. They asked the EBU if she could perform her entry live on stage somewhere else but the EBU said that her performance had to be live on stage at the venue itself.  That was on 22nd March - the day after, the EBU appear to have changed their minds in an attempt to keep Russia in the competition:
Well, it was obvious from Jon Ola's video that he really, REALLY wanted 43 countries to participate at Eurovision 2017, wasn't it?  An unprecedented situation has occurred already so nobody can really complain that the EBU have had to go to extraordinary lengths to try to accommodate Yuliya in the above way.

Will Russia accept this? There is no reason not to - Yuliya would be able to perform her song for Russia this year, her nation will be able to compete at Eurovision 2017 and she infringes no travel ban.  It means that some EBU staff will have to go to Russia to ensure fair play for that nation and the other 42 competitors but I am sure that this is a preferable alternative to the impasse that has developed during the last 24 hours.

Can Ukraine complain about this?  On the face of it, no travel ban will be infringed and there is no need for any climbdown on their position on this law.  Hopefully there will be no other law infringed by this proposal, although the Deputy PM of Ukraine has responded on Twitter by suggesting that as broadcasts by banned individuals are not legal in Ukraine, the above suggestion would violate Ukrainian law anyway:
This is such a fluid situation that I hope that some sort of compromise is found.  If the EBU's proposal was successful, then it might mean some technical adjustments as to how NTU show "Flame Is Burning" but as far as televising the show is concerned, all that viewers around the world will see is Yuliya singing her song on stage - the only difference to the other acts is that there will not be the same crowd in front of her.  Ironically the issue of her being booed and that being televised will be eliminated at a stroke - there may be bedlam in the Kyiv hall but none of that will be shown or heard by viewers at home.

There will be fans who are appalled that the purity of the Contest might be changed again - an act not in the venue but still able to perform and potentially win the Contest?  There is really not much that the EBU could do about it at this late stage and I suspect that provisions for such an event (a satellite link for an act not able to get to the venue) may have been in place before.  This possible solution puts control back in the hands of the EBU - Russia's participation is placed back into the entertainment world and out of the legal.  As stated above, I assume that EBU will still be working with Ukraine to convince them to let Yuliya attend in Kyiv in person but Russia's Channel One accepting the EBU's proposal would solve a lot of problems in the short term, avoiding a potential derailment of the Contest seven weeks before SF2.

In my opinion, this whole issue might have been self-limiting once we got to May anyway.  I personally don't believe that "Flame Is Burning" is actually good enough to get to Saturday's Final and if SF2 pans out the way I see it, Russia would be losing their 100% qualification record on Thursday night.  Surely that would be a more satisfying way for Ukraine to see their bitter rivals leave the Contest, knocked out at the SF stage "with their tails between their legs"?

It is now difficult for Ukraine to get anything positive from this story - their only plus will be politically, in that they are applying their laws to the letter and showing how tough they are over Russian citizens visiting Crimea.  It appeared that Russia were going to use their PR machine to make themselves appear as the wronged party here but now:


Utilising a satellite link for Yuliya to perform has potentially wrong footed both sides who were realistically trying to score political points off each other.  Kyiv 2017 seems to still be a continuing nightmare for the EBU but this suggestion might have put all of the May shows back on track, which is what matters at this stage for them and for us fans.  As for next year, I predict there will be some fall-out as far as Ukraine and Russia are concerned - at the very least, expect some tough new 2018 Rules and Regs to prevent this situation ever happening again...
This is the state of play at 5pm on March 23rd 2017 - I am sure that there will be more twists and turns before we reach SF2 when Yuliya is due to perform, whether that be in Kyiv, somewhere in Russia or still maybe even not at all.  24 hours have barely passed since the announcement of the travel ban on Miss Samoylova but as American journalist and CBS anchorman Dan Rather once said:


I suspect that the past day has felt like a lifetime for Jon Ola Sand and the EBU...and it may not yet be over!