Eurovision 2025 controversy: Ukraine gives high scores to Tommy Cash, sparking outrage online

During the live broadcast, singer Jerry Heil, who announced the Ukrainian jury’s scores this year, appeared on screen in a vibrant outfit and traditionally awarded 12 points to one of the countries.

While the top 12 points went to Germany, many were outraged that the Ukrainian jury gave a surprisingly high score, 5 points, to Estonia’s representative, Tommy Cash.

This moment also revealed the official lineup of Ukraine’s national jury.

The jury was selected through public voting in the Diia app and included:

• MELÓVIN – singer who represented Ukraine at Eurovision 2018

• Dmytro Shurov (Pianoboy) – composer and musician

• Olena Shoptenko – renowned choreographer and TV show star

• Tayanna – singer-songwriter and finalist of Ukraine’s national selections in 2017 and 2018

• Natella Chkhartishvili-Zatsarynna – music producer for TV channels M1 and M2

Ukraine’s national jury for Eurovision 2025 (photo: x.com/MELOVIN)

These five individuals were responsible for half of Ukraine’s vote - according to the rules, the final score is split 50/50 between the public vote and the national jury.

Just minutes after the Ukrainian scores were announced, MELÓVIN shared a photo of his ballot online.

"Today, as a member of this year’s national Eurovision jury, I cast my votes for all participating countries. I’ve decided not to hide my ranking - in the spirit of transparency. The voting order is: 1 being the highest, followed by descending scores," MELÓVIN wrote.

MELOVIN reveals his jury votes (photo: x.com/MELOVIN)

MELOVIN gave his top score - 12 points - to German duo Abor & Tynna. But it was his second-place pick that sparked immediate backlash: Estonian artist Tommy Cash.

Online, reactions were sharp:

• "What vocals earned Estonia 5 points? There were none at all."

• "Sure, it’s your opinion, but you were representing Ukraine. A conscious Ukrainian audience definitely didn’t see Estonia in their top picks. Somewhere in the swamps, pro-Russian scum applauded you."

• "What kind of bubble do you live in to vote for Estonia and Israel as a Ukrainian jury member?"

• "How do you sleep at night knowing you gave points to a guy making out with Russia while they just killed civilians with a drone strike?"

• "Everyone knew the Estonian act was pro-Russian garbage - and you still ranked it second? That’s laughable."

Notably, Tommy Cash’s stage director was Alina Pyazok, who holds a Russian passport and has long worked with him - filming his videos and overseeing the visual concept of his Eurovision performance.

Moreover, the artist has repeatedly collaborated with Russians, and his projects often contain references to the Soviet past - something many in Ukraine find at least strange given the current reality.

Ahead of the semifinals and finals, many Ukrainians urged not to support Estonia, accusing the artist of soft propaganda for peace, using rhetoric that closely echoes Russian narratives.

Adding to the tension is Tommy Cash’s background: his mother has Ukrainian roots, his grandmother is from Russia, and he has spoken both Estonian and Russian fluently since childhood.

Tommy Cash (photo: x.com/MELOVIN)

In the context of the full-scale war, this combination of facts has become a heated topic of discussion in the Ukrainian information space.

Previously, we published that Ukrainians are outraged by Austria’s win in Eurovision 2025 final.

Sources: the social network X (MELOVIN) and Instagram (Tommy Cash).