Ukraine at Eurovision: How Jamala won Eurovision
Jamala in 2016 (photo: instagram.com/jamalajaaa)
On May 14, 2016, the final of the 61st Eurovision Song Contest took place in the capital of Sweden, where Ukrainian singer Jamala won with the song "1944". Let's recall what Jamala’s winning song was about and how she performed in the final.
National selection
On January 26, 2016, Jamala announced that she would participate in the National Selection for the Eurovision contest. As a result of the draw, she performed in the first semi-final on February 6, singing her original song "1944".
Based on the audience vote and the jury's decision, Jamala advanced to the National Selection final, where she won.
What Jamala’s song "1944" is about
Jamala wrote the first lines of the song back in 2014, and the full English-language lyrics were created specifically for the 2016 National Selection.
The song "1944" is dedicated to the tragedy of the deportation of the Crimean Tatars. The inspiration came from personal memories of the singer’s grandmother, who experienced those events. The composition combines English lyrics with a chorus in the Crimean Tatar language, featuring lines from the folk song "Ey, Güzel Qırım". It was the first song in Eurovision history to include lyrics in Crimean Tatar.
The song was included in an EP of the same name and received the Eurostory Awards prize for the best line in a contest song, as well as the Marcel Bezençon Award in the Artistic Award category.
Jamala in 2016 (photo: instagram.com/jamalajaaaaa)
Jamala’s victory
Jamala performed in the second semi-final, which took place on May 12, and advanced to the final. On May 14, the Ukrainian singer appeared on stage at number 21 and won with a total of 534 points.
Until the last moment, bookmakers predicted victory for Russia’s representative Sergey Lazarev, and according to their forecasts, Jamala was in third place.
It is worth noting that after the European audience vote, the Russian representative indeed ended up in first place. The top three in the public vote were:
- 1st place – Russia (361 points)
- 2nd place – Ukraine (323 points)
- 3rd place – Poland (222 points)
But after the final results were announced, taking all stages of voting into account, the standings were:
- 1st place – Jamala (Ukraine) – 534 points
- 2nd place – Dami Im (Australia) – 511 points
- 3rd place – Sergey Lazarev (Russia) – 491 points
In 2021, Jamala proudly recalled her victory.
"Eurovision became an incredible boost for me. Could I have imagined that the author of Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling, would support me on her social media pages, that Justin Timberlake would congratulate me on my win, that Adele would mention my "1944" during her concert, that I would personally hear words of admiration from Shirley Bassey?! And that in the morning, after the wild night of the final, you would greet me at the airport. Of course, I never thought of such things. I was just singing about what I love, for those without whom I cannot live," the singer said.
Eurovision 2025 will occur from May 13 to 17 in Basel, Switzerland. Ukraine’s representative, the band Ziferblat, will perform in the first semi-final at position 5 on May 13. The second semi-final will be held on May 15, and the grand final will be on the 17th.
