Ukraine: Jamala withdraws from national final

by Victor Hondal 288 views

Jamala, one of the artists in the line-up for the new Ukrainian national final set for March 3rd, has withdrawn from the competition. According to an official statement published on her official website, the artist claims she is happy to have received three times the votes Mika -the winner last weekend- got, but she is not ready to participate once again because she “does not want to have nothing in common with manipulations, corruption and ambitions of certain personalities, regardless the interest of those who are covering them”.

Jamala claims that "the truth is obvious", referring to the allegedly rigged voting taking place in the Ukrainian selection show aired last weekend. "I'm happy that 3 times more people voted for me than for the artist who won the first place. My gratitude for those who believed in me and supported me is endless", reads Jamala's statement. The artist goes on to say that she doesn't want to be involved with corruption: "I do not want to have nothing in common with manipulations, corruption and ambitions of certain personalities, regardless the interest of those who are covering them".

The withdrawing singer also cast doubts on the new national final set for March 3rd: "Another so called 'voting' is announced. I’m more than sure that people who are organizing this will do anything to prove that they are right and once again will use the opportunity to humiliate me and other artists. Also, I do understand that they don’t have a choice. Even if they’ll have to admit that people voted for me, they’ll do anything to pour flows of dirt on me and convince everyone that re-voting was done specially for Jamala".

After Jamala's withdrawal, only two artists -Zlata Ognevych and Mika Newton- remain in the race to represent Ukraine in Eurovision 2011. The national broadcaster of the country, NTU, have not yet released an official statement on this issue.

You can read the full statement of Jamalahere.