Alina Pash, the winner of Vidbir 2022, has withdrawn from Eurovision 2022 following the backlash and controversy regarding her travel to Crimea in 2015.

Alina Pash was set to represent Ukraine at the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest after winning the Ukrainian national final last Saturday.

Her travel to Crimea in 2015 sparked a massive backlash and saw the singer involved in a controversial situation in the aftermath of her victory.

Alina Pash has decided to withdraw from competing at the upcoming 2022 Eurovision Song Contest in the wake of the controversy and the ongoing baklash. She made the announcement via her official Instagram account:

 

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A post shared by Alina Pash (@alinapash)

Hence Alina Pash and the Ukrainian national broadcaster, UA:PBC, have decided with mutual accord that she will not represent Ukraine at the upcoming 2022 Eurovision Song Contest.

UA:PBC released the following statement:

Alina Pash will not represent Ukraine at Eurovision-2022 Organizing Committee of National Selection.

The decision to terminate Alina Pash’s participation in the national selection was made by the Organizing Committee of the competition at an out-of-court meeting on February 16. The singer will not represent Ukraine at Eurovision-2022.

Item 3.4. The Rules of the National Selection for Participation in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 stipulate that if the Public establishes the fact of submission of inaccurate information or concealment of information or other significant circumstances about the participant, the Public has the right to terminate participation in the Selection at any time.

The reason for such a decision by the Organizing Committee was the official response of the State Border Guard Service dated 16.02.2022 regarding the inaccuracy of the information provided to the Public Broadcaster.

The actress agreed with this decision.

It should be noted that the Public Broadcaster is guided exclusively by the legislation of Ukraine and the Rules of National Selection.

According to paragraph 3.4 of the Rules “in case of termination of Public participation in the Selection of the participant who is determined / declared the winner of the Selection, the Public has the right to decide on the appointment of a representative from Ukraine in the Competition from among other finalists.

Following Alina’s withdrawal and UA:PBC ‘s announcement regarding this issue, the EBU has released the following statement:

On Saturday 12 February, Ukraine held its annual Vidbir song contest. The TV show has, since 2016, served as the country’s pre-selection process for choosing its entry to the Eurovision Song Contest.

Amongst a field of 8 competitors on Saturday night, Alina Pash won Vidbir 2022 with the song Тіні забутих предків’ (‘Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors).

Ukrainian broadcaster UA:PBC has since confirmed that Alina Pash will not represent Ukraine at the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest. On Wednesday afternoon, in a mutual agreement between the broadcaster, the organising committee of Vidbir and the artist, it was decided that Alina’s participation in the Contest would not go ahead.

According to the Vidbir rules, UA:PBC can decide on the representative of Ukraine at the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest, from the field of other finalists that participated in the national selection process on Saturday night.

The Ukrainian national broadcaster will now have to select another act for Eurovsision 2022 from Vidbir 2022 competing acts.

Source: UA:PBC/ EBU/ eurovision.tv