1944 (song)

Last updated

"1944"
Jamala - 1944.jpg
Single by Jamala
from the album 1944
Released9 March 2016
Recorded2015
Length3:00
Label Enjoy
Songwriter(s) Jamala
Jamala singles chronology
"Breath"
(201)		"1944"
(2016)		"Zamanyly"
(2016)
Eurovision Song Contest 2016 entry
Country
Artist(s)
Languages
Composer(s)
Lyricist(s)
Art Antonyan, Jamala
Finals performance
Semi-final result
2nd
Semi-final points
287
Final result
1st
Final points
534
Entry chronology
◄ "Tick-Tock" (2014)
"Time" (2017) ►

"1944" is a song written and performed by Ukrainian singer Jamala. It represented Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 and won with a total of 534 points. [1] [2]

Contents

In 2022 The Independent named the song as the twentieth best Eurovision-winning song [3] and in 2023 The Guardian ranked the song as the third best Eurovision winner. [4]

A music video for the song was released on 21 September 2016. [5]

Background and lyrics

The lyrics for "1944" concern the deportation of the Crimean Tatars, in the 1940s, by the Soviet Union at the hands of Joseph Stalin on the pretext of their alleged collaboration with the Nazis. [6] Jamala was particularly inspired by the story of her great-grandmother Nazylkhan, who was in her mid-20s when she and her five children were deported to Central Asia. One of the daughters did not survive the journey. [7] [8] [9] [10] Jamala's great-grandfather was fighting in World War II in the Red Army at this time and thus could not protect his family. [9] The song was also released amid renewed repression of Crimean Tatars following the Russian annexation of Crimea, since most Crimean Tatars refuse to accept the annexation. [11]

The English lyrics were written by the poet Art Antonyan. The song's chorus, in the Crimean Tatar language, is made up of words from a Crimean Tatar folk song called Ey Güzel Qırım that Jamala had heard from her great-grandmother, reflecting on the loss of a youth which could not be spent in her homeland. [12] The song features the duduk played by Aram Kostanyan [13] and the use of the mugham vocal style. [14]

National selection and Eurovision Song Contest

Ukraine withdrew from the Eurovision Song Contest 2015, citing costs. [15] After deciding to return to the contest in 2016, a selection process to determine the representative of Ukraine was opened, combining resources from the state broadcaster NTU and private STB. [16] Jamala was announced as one of the eighteen competing acts in the Ukrainian national selection for the contest. She performed in the first semi-final on 6 February 2016, where she won both the jury and televote, advancing to the Ukrainian final. [17] In the final, on 21 February, she was placed second by the jury and first by the televote, resulting in a tie with The Hardkiss and their song "Helpless". Jamala was announced as the winner, however, as the televoting acted as a tiebreaker. [1] She received 37.77% of more than 382,000 televotes. [18]

Jamala represented Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016, performing in the second half of the second semi-final. [19] "1944" is the first Eurovision song to contain lyrics in the Crimean language. She won the final receiving the second highest televoting score and second highest jury vote.

Accusations of politicisation

In a February 2016 interview with The Guardian , Jamala said that the song also reminded her of her own family living in Crimea nowadays, claiming that since the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea "the Crimean Tatars are on occupied territory". [6] [nb 1] The song lyrics, however, do not address this annexation. [21] Eurovision rules prohibit songs with lyrics that could be interpreted as having "political content". [21]

Immediately after the selection of this song, some Russian politicians, as well as authorities in Crimea, accused the Ukrainian authorities of "capitalising on the tragedy of the Tatars to impose on European viewers a false picture of alleged harassment of the Tatars in the Russian Crimea". [10] [nb 2]

On 9 March 2016, a tweet from the European Broadcasting Union confirmed that neither the title nor the lyrics of the song contained "political speech" and therefore it did not breach any Eurovision rule, thus allowing it to remain in the competition. [23]

Eurovision Song Contest

The song won the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest, receiving a grand total of 534 points, officially surpassing the previous record set by Alexander Rybak with his song "Fairytale" in the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest, which won with 387 points. [2] [nb 3]

The national juries voted “Sound of Silence” by Australia first with 320 points, and the televote voted “You Are the Only One” by Russia first with 361 points. The televoting result for Ukraine, of 323 points, however, was sufficient, when added to their jury score of 211 points, to put them in first place, with a grand total of 534 points, leaving Australia second and Russia third.

Critical reception

Prior to the Ukrainian national selection finals, "1944" received 8.33 out of 10 points from a jury of Eurovision blog Wiwibloggs , [24] the highest score among the six finalists in the Ukrainian national selection. [25]

In 2023 The Guardian recognized the song as the third best Eurovision winner, emphasizing on the meaningful lyrics and calling the song "authentically fantastic" and "moodily atmospheric". [26]

Track listing

Digital download [27]
No.TitleLength
1."1944"3:00
Digital download – EP
No.TitleLength
1."1944"3:00
2."Watch Over Me"5:47
3."Hate Love"3:46
4."I'm Like a Bird"3:33
5."Thank You"3:22
Total length:19:28

Charts

Chart (2016)Peak
position
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40) [28] 54
Belgium (Ultratip Bubbling Under Flanders) [29] 13
Finland Airplay (Radiosoittolista) [30] 64
France (SNEP) [31] 49
Hungary (Single Top 40) [32] 40
Russia (TopHit) [33] 129
Spain (PROMUSICAE) [34] 32
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan) [35] 46
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade) [36] 73
Ukraine (Tophit Ukraine Charts) [33] 2
Chart (2022)Peak
position
Lithuania (AGATA) [37] 8

Release history

RegionDateFormatLabel
Worldwide12 February 2016 [27] Digital download Enjoy

Notes

  1. ↑ Crimea is currently de facto controlled by Russia, after a controversial Self-Determination referendum. [20]
  2. ↑ Russian MP Vadim Dengin of the far-right LDPR believed the song's victory was fixed because "Most of the citizens of Ukraine who do not receive any salary or pensions have nothing to pay for electricity, and secondly, they do not care about this Eurovision". [22] He also expressed hope that the song would be banned from participation by Eurovision. [22]
  3. ↑ Because of the new scoring system, however, with separate sets of televotes and jury votes, the results are not directly comparable with each other, as the number of points was limited to 492 in previous contest. With the current system, the score of "Fairytale" would have been 690.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Marino in the Eurovision Song Contest</span>

San Marino has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 13 times, debuting in the 2008 contest, followed by participation from 2011 onward. The nation did not participate in 2009 or 2010, citing financial difficulties. Having failed to qualify in their first four attempts, the nation qualified for the contest's final for the first time in 2014. Valentina Monetta represented San Marino in 2012, 2013 and 2014, making her the first entrant to participate in three consecutive contests since the 1960s. In 2019, Serhat managed to qualify to the final, marking the second appearance of the country in a Eurovision final and achieving their best result to date of 19th place. Following the 2020 contest's cancellation due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe, their 2020 candidate Senhit was again selected to represent San Marino in the following contest. She qualified to the final, making it the first time that San Marino made it to two consecutive finals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eurovision Song Contest 2016</span> International song competition

The Eurovision Song Contest 2016 was the 61st edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Stockholm, Sweden, following the country's victory at the 2015 contest with the song "Heroes" by Måns Zelmerlöw. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Sveriges Television (SVT), the contest was held at the Globe Arena and consisted of two semi-finals on 10 and 12 May, and a final on 14 May 2016. The three live shows were presented by Petra Mede and the previous year's winner Måns Zelmerlöw.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jamala</span> Ukrainian singer (born 1983)

Susana Alimivna Jamaladinova, known professionally as Jamala, is a Ukrainian singer. She represented Ukraine and won the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 with her song "1944". In 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023 and 2024 she served as a judge at Vidbir, the Ukrainian national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest. In November 2023, Russia added Jamala to its wanted list.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zlata Ognevich</span> Ukrainian singer and former politician

Zlata Leonidivna Ognevich is a Ukrainian singer and former politician. She represented Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 in Malmö with the song "Gravity", placing third. Ognevich previously attempted to represent Ukraine at the contest in 2010 and 2011.

Russia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 with the song "You Are the Only One" written by Philipp Kirkorov, Dimitris Kontopoulos, John Ballard and Ralph Charlie. The song was performed by Sergey Lazarev who was internally selected by the Russian broadcaster All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company (VGTRK) to compete at the 2016 contest in Stockholm, Sweden. Lazarev's appointment as the Russian representative was announced on 10 December 2015, while the song, "You Are the Only One", was presented to the public on 5 March 2016.

Ukraine participated in and won the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 with the song "1944" written and performed by Jamala. Ukraine returned to the Eurovision Song Contest after the nation withdrew from the 2015 due to financial and political reasons related to the Russo-Ukrainian War.

Ukraine participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 with the song "Time" written by Yevhen Halych and Yevhen Kamenchuk. The song was performed by the band O.Torvald. In addition to participating in the contest, the Ukrainian broadcaster National Television Company of Ukraine (NTU) also hosted the Eurovision Song Contest after winning the competition in 2016 with the song "1944" performed by Jamala. NTU organised a national final in collaboration with commercial broadcaster STB in order to select the Ukrainian entry for the 2017 contest in Kyiv. The national selection consisted of three semi-finals, held on 4, 11 and 18 February 2017, and a final, held on 25 February 2017; eight entries competed in each semi-final with the top two from each semi-final advancing to the final. In the final, "Time" performed by O.Torvald was selected as the winner following the combination of votes from a three-member jury panel and a public televote.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Russia–Ukraine relations in the Eurovision Song Contest</span> Bilateral relations

Russia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest, a pan-European music competition, from 1994 to 2021, while Ukraine has participated since 2003. Russia and Ukraine had positive relations for several years, and have exchanged top-3 points with each other several times over the years. Barring a minor dispute over Ukraine's 2007 entry "Dancing Lasha Tumbai", notable conflicts began to emerge between the two countries at Eurovision in the wake of Russia's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.

<i>1944</i> (album) 0000 studio album by Jamala

1944 is the fourth studio album by Ukrainian recording artist Jamala. It was released on 10 June 2016 in Europe through Universal Music Denmark and on 10 July 2016 in United States through Republic Records. The album includes the single "1944".

Ukraine participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 with the song "Under the Ladder" written by Mike Ryals, Kostyantyn Bocharov and Anton Karskyi. The song was performed by Mélovin, which is the artistic name of singer Kostyantyn Bocharov. The Ukrainian broadcaster Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine (UA:PBC) organised a national final in collaboration with commercial broadcaster STB in order to select the Ukrainian entry for the 2018 contest in Lisbon, Portugal. The national selection consisted of two semi-finals, held on 10 and 17 February 2018, and a final, held on 24 February 2018; nine entries competed in each semi-final with the top three from each semi-final advancing to the final. In the final, "Under the Ladder" performed by Mélovin was selected as the winner following the combination of votes from a three-member jury panel and a public televote.

<i>Vidbir</i> Ukrainian musical competition

Natsionalnyi Vidbir, informally known as Vidbir, is a Ukrainian musical competition originally organized by Suspilne and STB, which determines the Ukrainian representative at the Eurovision Song Contest. In late August 2021, it was announced that the two broadcasters had terminated their partnership, and that Suspilne was looking for a new selection format for the Eurovision Song Contest 2022, thus bringing an end to the original concept for Vidbir. In October 2021, Suspilne announced that the 2022 edition of Vidbir would be organized by it alone under a new format.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mélovin</span> Ukrainian singer and songwriter (born 1997)

Kostyantyn Mykolayovych Bocharov, better known by his stage name Mélovin, is a Ukrainian singer and songwriter. He first came to prominence after winning season six of X-Factor Ukraine.

Ukraine originally planned to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 with the song "Siren Song" written by Hanna Korsun and Mikhail Busin. The song was performed by Maruv, which is the artistic name of singer Hanna Korsun. The Ukrainian broadcaster National Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine (UA:PBC) organised a national final in collaboration with commercial broadcaster STB in order to select the Ukrainian entry for the 2019 contest in Tel Aviv, Israel. The national selection consisted of two semi-finals, held on 9 and 16 February 2019, and a final, held on 23 February 2019; eight entries competed in each semi-final with the top three from each semi-final advancing to the final. In the final, "Siren Song" performed by Maruv was selected as the winner following the combination of votes from a three-member jury panel and a public televote.

Ey, güzel Qırım is a famous Crimean Tatar folk song. Its melody is universally recognized among Crimean Tatars, and is frequently played in Crimean Tatar concerts. The sorrowful lyrics mourn a life of exile and grieve over the loss of a beloved homeland. The origin of the song is unclear, but it is believed that it was composed anonymously sometime after the deportation of the Crimean Tatars. However, there are unconfirmed allegations that it was written during a visit to Alushta in 1968 by Fatma Halilova and Shurki Osmanov - Crimean Tatars who were exiled to Andijan. A small portion of the song that did not contain the word "Crimea" was incorporated into Jamala's song "1944" when she represented Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 and won.

Ukraine originally planned to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 with the song "Solovey" written by Taras Shevchenko and Kateryna Pavlenko. The song was performed by the band Go_A. Ukraine returned to the Eurovision Song Contest, after the nation withdrew in 2019 due to contractual disagreements with their chosen representative Maruv on conditions of taking part in the Ukrainian delegation. The Ukrainian broadcaster Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine (UA:PBC) organised a national final in collaboration with commercial broadcaster STB in order to select the Ukrainian entry for the 2020 contest in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The national selection consisted of two semi-finals, held on 8 and 15 February 2020, and a final, held on 22 February 2020; eight entries competed in each semi-final with the top three from each semi-final advancing to the final. In the final, "Solovey" performed by Go_A was selected as the winner following the combination of votes from a three-member jury panel and a public televote.

Ukraine participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 with the song "Shum" written by Kateryna Pavlenko, Taras Shevchenko and Ihor Didenchuk. The song was performed by the band Go_A, which were announced by the Ukrainian broadcaster Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine (UA:PBC) as the Ukrainian representative for the 2021 contest on 18 March 2020 after they were due to compete in the 2020 contest with "Solovey" before the event's cancellation. The song "Shum" was selected as the Ukrainian entry on 1 February 2021 and announced on 4 February 2021.

The Eurovision Song Contest is an international song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) which features participants representing primarily European countries. One of the stated aims of the contest is that the event is of a non-political nature, and participating broadcasters and performers are precluded from promoting or referring to anything of a political, commercial or similar nature during the contest. However, several controversial moments have occurred since the event's creation in 1956, which have included political tensions between competing countries being reflected in the contest's performances and voting, disqualification of entries due to political references in song lyrics, and demonstrations against certain countries competing due to said country's politics and policies.

Ukraine participated in and won the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin, Italy, with the song "Stefania" performed by the group Kalush Orchestra. The Ukrainian broadcaster Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine (UA:PBC) organised a national final in order to select the Ukrainian entry for the 2022 contest. Eight entries competed in the national selection held on 12 February 2022 and "Tini zabutykh predkiv" performed by Alina Pash was selected as the winner following the combination of votes from a three-member jury panel and a public televote. UA:PBC confirmed on 16 February 2022 that Pash would not represent Ukraine following controversy regarding her travel history to the territory of Crimea, and announced the national final runner-up, "Stefania" performed by Kalush Orchestra, as the Ukrainian entry on 22 February 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stefania (song)</span> 2022 song by Kalush Orchestra

"Stefania" is a 2022 song by Ukrainian folk-rap group Kalush Orchestra, co-written by all group members alongside Ivan Klymenko and was released through Sony Music Entertainment. The song represented Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin, Italy, which it won.

Ukraine participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 in Liverpool, United Kingdom, with "Heart of Steel" performed by Tvorchi. The Ukrainian national broadcaster, Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine (UA:PBC), organised a national final in order to select the Ukrainian entry for the 2023 contest. As the winning country of the 2022 contest, Ukraine automatically qualified for the final. Tvorchi performed in position 19 and finished in sixth place overall with 243 points.

References

  1. 1 2 Omelyanchuk, Olena (21 February 2016). "Jamala will represent Ukraine in Stockholm!". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
  2. 1 2 "Ukraine wins 2016 Eurovision Song Contest". Eurovision Song Contest. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
  3. ↑ Kelly, Ben (10 May 2022). "All 68 winning Eurovision songs ranked from worst to best". The Independent. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
  4. ↑ Petridis, Alexis (11 May 2023). "All 69 Eurovision song contest winners – ranked!". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  5. ↑ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine : "Jamala - 1944 (Official Music Video)". YouTube .
  6. 1 2 Veselova, Viktoria; Melnykova, Oleksandra (11 February 2016). "Crimean singer in line to represent Ukraine at Eurovision". The Guardian . Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  7. ↑ Savage, Mark (22 February 2016). "Eurovision: Ukraine's entry aimed at Russia". BBC News. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  8. ↑ "Jamala entered Eurovision-2016 national selection". QHA.com.ua. 26 January 2016. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  9. 1 2 "Jamala leads after the first semifinal of the National Selection to the Eurovision 2016". The Day. 9 February 2016. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  10. 1 2 Russia MPs slam Ukraine's choice of Crimean Tatar for Eurovision Archived 2 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine , Yahoo News (23 February 2016)
  11. ↑ "A Eurovision win provides symbolic victory over Russian repression". The Economist . 28 May 2016. Retrieved 28 May 2016.
  12. ↑ Halpin, Chris (8 February 2016). "1994 Lyrics – Jamala (Ukraine, Eurovision 2016)". Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  13. ↑ ""Հենց ինքնաթիռը վայրէջք կատարեց Հայաստանում՝ միանգամից զգացի, որ ես տանն եմ". Ջամալայի բացառիկ հարցազրույցը 168.am-ին". 168 Ժամ (in Armenian). Archived from the original on 18 May 2016. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
  14. ↑ "Jamala - 1944 (Ukraine 2016) | Eurovision Song Contest". Archived from the original on 20 March 2016. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
  15. ↑ Jiandani, Sanjay (Sergio) (19 September 2014). "Ukraine: NTU will not participate in Eurovision 2015". esctoday. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  16. ↑ Gallagher, Robyn (19 November 2015). "UKRAINE: STATE BROADCASTER TO COLLABORATE WITH STB FOR NATIONAL SELECTION 2016". Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  17. ↑ Omelyanchuk, Olena (6 February 2016). "Ukraine: Results of the first semi-final". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union . Retrieved 6 February 2016.
  18. ↑ "Детальні результати глядацького голосування "Євробачення-2016" (фiнал)" (in Ukrainian). STB. 21 February 2016. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  19. ↑ Jordan, Paul (25 January 2016). "Allocation Draw: The results!". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union . Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  20. ↑ Gutterman, Steve (18 March 2014). "Putin signs Crimea treaty, will not seize other Ukraine regions". Reuters.com. Retrieved 26 March 2014.
  21. 1 2 Ukraine picks Crimean Tatar for Eurovision Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine , Times Union (21 February 2014)
    Eurovision: Ukraine's entry aimed at Russia, BBC News (22 February 2016)
  22. 1 2 (in Ukrainian) In State Duma they want Jamal not to be allowed in Eurovision, Ukrayinska Pravda (22 February 2016)
  23. ↑ "The Ref. Group concluded that the title & lyrics of the song don't contain political speech and don't breach @Eurovision Rules". European Broadcasting Union. 9 March 2016. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
  24. ↑ "Wiwi Jury: Ukraine's Jamala with "1944"". Wiwibloggs . 14 February 2016. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  25. ↑ "Wiwi Jury Results: Jamala is our favorite to win in Ukraine". Wiwibloggs . 21 February 2016. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
  26. ↑ Petridis, Alexis (11 May 2023). "All 69 Eurovision song contest winners – ranked!". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  27. 1 2 "1944 – Single". itunes.com. Apple.
  28. ↑ "Jamala – 1944" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
  29. ↑ "Jamala – 1944" (in Dutch). Ultratip. Retrieved 4 June 2016.
  30. ↑ "Jamala: 1944" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat. Retrieved 20 May 2016.
  31. ↑ "Jamala – 1944" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved 21 May 2016.
  32. ↑ "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Single (track) Top 40 lista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
  33. 1 2 TopHit Track Info – Jamala, "1944"
  34. ↑ "Jamala – 1944" Canciones Top 50. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
  35. ↑ "Jamala – 1944". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 20 May 2016.
  36. ↑ "Jamala – 1944". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
  37. ↑ "2022 9-os savaitės klausomiausi (Top 100)" (in Lithuanian). AGATA. 4 March 2022. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.