With a comedian as a host and a show that allows plenty of time for discussion, jokes are expected to be made. However, after last Saturday’s second semi-final of Ukraine’s Eurovision selection, some fans argued that one of the jokes of Vidbir host Serhiy Prytula went too far.
After Khayat‘s performance, Prytula discussed an incident that happened a few weeks before the broadcast, in which Khayat was attacked in the metro — reportedly for his unique, alternative appearance.
During his performance on Vidbir, Khayat rocked a long-form red coat and a gray-wash hair, prompting the Vidbir host to comment: “If you dress up like this in the metro, don’t be surprised that they attack you!”
This joke at the fan favourite’s expense sparked outrage on social media with many people demanding an apology from the Ukrainian comedian. Journalist Dmytro Furdak took to Facebook and demanded an apology from him too.
Following the outrage, Serhiy Prytula replied in a series of video messages to Dmytro, refusing to retract his joke. However, he added that he does not promote violence in the least.
These video messages were regarded as controversial by other fans after Serhiy spoke of his own attackers as “bunnies, sweeties and blue-eyed”, with the last word having the ambiguous slang meaning of “gay” as well.
Khayat, however, appeared not to care much about the joke. After his elimination from Vidbir last weekend, he took to Instagram to thank his followers and the team behind the show, including Serhiy Prytula who he “respected for his humanity and professionalism”.
Despite the judges ending Khayat’s Eurovision adventure last Saturday, they asked him to return next year to improve and learn from his debut performance. We hope that that Khayat will take this advice seriously — because we cannot wait for his future Vidbir entries!
I just wanna tell Serhiy Prytula that don’t be surprise if you get beaten on the street if you make terrible jokes like that.
i don’t understand a word of Ukranian but i must say: Vidbir is the new Melodifestivalen. this selection has an unbelievable level and variety! Kyiv once more in 2020?
For me, Serhiy Prytula is one of the reasons why the Ukrainian Vidbir is interesting. His jokes are funny and appropriate. As I understood from Instagram posts, Khayat himself responded normally to Serhiy’s humor and asked people to calm down. You know, It seems like Dmytro Furdak just decided to hype. Serhiy is pretty famous in Ukraine and among the diaspora, about Dmytro I heard for the first time. Khayat is a very talented singer, can’t wait to hear his new songs and I hope he will come to Vidbir next year.
Thousands people around the Europe watch Vidbir and most of them dont speak Ukranian or Russian , they cant catch how ‘funny” Prytula’ jokes are, they watch it because of songs quality and nice production, they don’t watch it becouse of host’ jokes… If public in Ukraine find jokes about violence as you said ‘funny and appropriate’ on a national TV it doesn’t make any favor to Ukranians as society….its actually horrible Though its not completely true, cos the outrage about Prytula ‘jokes’ came not only from one local journalist, thousands Ukranian viewers on youtube, Twitter and Facebook were angry… Read more »
What examples of his homophobic or sexist jokes or remarks can you give?
It always seemed to me that people should apologize in cases when the second party acknowledges the offense.
Well almost every single joke of him … What he said about Khayat’ dress and his attakers was a pure homophobic remark, his joke about Kazka lead Sasha (hinting she is fat) was misogynistic BS, his creepy remarks to Freedom Jazz girls…and etc., In one of his interview he said how he got banned on facebook in ‘sexism and misogyny” group cos ladies didn’t get his jokes and called him sexist, he then said its impossible to joking about women without sexism involving. Every episode of his ”Varyaty show’ its full of sexist and homophobic remarks, every single show he… Read more »
I have never heard from Prytula insulting jokes towards the LGBT community or women. It is HUMOR and its purpose to exaggerate certain things. Jokes should be accepted as jokes, not offensive remarks. Serhiy is one of the most involved in the process host, who behind the scenes and on the stage supports and protects the participants. Apparently, we are watching various selections, if you have such an opinion about him. “Varyaty show” is a unique show for Ukraine, which promotes patriotism, unlike others. In addition, the guys are volunteers who help Ukrainian fighters at the front. If their shows… Read more »
he makes laugh and mock participants most of the time on live shows, and he being a ‘patriot’ as you said , doesn’t give him right being a rude jerk and jokes about violence, your blind worshiping him is silly….and of course he has many fans, it says a lot about local public… his humor is cringeworthy
Now people in the comments spread so much hate, that’s what’s really sad…
People in the comments insult Prytula for his work, insult those who disagree with their opinion, using words “dumb”, “silly”, “jerk”…
It offends me. People, be kinder!
Stop issuing your personal opinion for the majority opinion. Many of those with whom he works in the selection and in other shows in interviews said that they adore him, including Sasha from Kazka. There is no mass rage on Pritula, except that among some fangirls without a sense of humor. A video with his jokes on Vidbir is gaining more views than videos of most participants. “”Varyaty show’ its full of sexist and homophobic remarks” – it’s a lie. Look at the audience of the show in the studio, most of them are women. There cannot be homophobia either,… Read more »
That’s not a joke, that’s homophobia. Can’t say I’m surprised tho.
Unbelievable. and this guy is still working as a host and he was not fired. Obviously the poor guy could not express his feelings and say that it was offensive and the host should be ashamed for making fun of an attack. It’s Ukraine, not UK.
I still wonder how these nations still compete in ESC
a lot of local people want him to got fired as Vidbir’ host because of his inappropriate jokes and unethical behavior, but its up to STB channel who hired him, i wish they would get rid of Pritula and hire more professional and intelligent host like Timur or Vova
Ukraine and Russia and Serbia and Azerbaijan for example should not joke about this because it happens in the daily life to the people there if your different.
Well it happens everywhere and these kinda jokes not OK for any conuntry not only for post communistic,
im glad public and media in Ukraine calling out on this BS jokes on tv
I hear stereotypical thinking
Yeah!! I got blue eyes too! And Elton John sung about Blue Eyes, everything falls into place now!
Is this mean “gay eyes”?
It has to be in context… but yeah it has kinda double meaning and hinting that someone is ‘gay’ , though its very old fashion slang and not much people use it
When you try to be funny, but you are just an a**hole. Hope this is the last edition he is hosting. The “joke” won’t have much more buzz or impact in his career, because most people in Ukraine is like that, right? Especially the elite.
Vidbir owes half of its popularity to the host. His jokes can sometimes seem rude, but they always fall very precisely into the context of the conversation and never intended to offend his opponents. Everyone knows about it and does not take jokes as an insult (everyone except for some journalists trying to hype around hot theme).
And Khayat, i think, is a strong person, who doesn’t need your pity as well as someone other to demand instead of him that host apologize to him.
“Vidbir owes half of its popularity to the host”
Really?! Lmao! Prytula is it you?
Thanks everyone for your comments and supprt! And yeah, Khayat has a unique and marvellous voice. I do hope he creates a somewhat brighter song and comes back to Vidbir next year! Peace and love to everyone! :-*
This is the first time in my life when I hear about “metro culture”. I travel with the subway train too, but I’ve never felt like is another world. I’ve always felt secure because summer is cold and winter is warm, but probably this is the attraction for lowlife. This is scary.
There is a famous French film called “Subway” (1985). It is a fictional arty story, not a documentary, but it does demonstrate effectively what such a Metro culture can look like. London of course is famous for its underground; that’s less of a culture and more of a pastime nowadays. 😛
Thank you! I guess this metro culture is for people who LITERALLY try to live under a rock. Just stay as far away as you can from the railway, I never had the courage to come close until the train stops in station.
Melovin and Khayat knows each other since X Factor 2015 ,pics of them together on audition,
they both were 17 year old back then and look so cute and adorable 🙂
hope these links will work, copy and paste on url line
ibb.co/qdfxYs0
ibb.co/yQKSfCb
They both looked so different 4 years ago,two baby boys lol
So adorable, especially Melovin <3
AHHHHH! I’m having trouble believing that KHAYAT looked like that!! (I seriously had to pull up one of his old instagram pics to see the resemblance) Thanks for the pics BTW.
I agree, ”joke” is awful, but is this only news from Vidbir which you find interesting, no reaction videos for songs, no reviews, no polls..
The Wiwi Jury will come up later this week. We will hold a flash poll as well soon. Please be patient. ?
Comedy is hard to do. Jerry Seinfeld would not have said that. This is why the Vidbir host is just a troll, and others are true comedians.
Ukraine metro crowd is pretty chav-tastic, so the joke had some ring of truth to it.
Yea hmmm I don’t think he was serious
My friends and I are always joking aroung about quiet horrible stuff we don’t really believe in, just for the fun
Perhaps he wasn’t serious and simply joked with him
of course he was joking, but is sounded like a mockery not like a friendly joke , otherwise local journalists, media celebs and public wound’t be so outraged on social media and wouldn’t demand an apology from Prytula , the host also was mocking the fact that Khayat posted the pic of his face with bloody bruises after attack with a title ‘i love u haters’, it was very disturbing to watch…. and maybe people wound’t be so angry if they wouldn’t see Khayat sad puppy eyes while Prytula was blabbing his silly nonsense anyway joking about horrible things among… Read more »
Roy, one thing is to joke about death, handicaped or even sexism with your friends, everyone does that, another thing is to make jokes on live television about something that actually happened in the face of the victim, that is appaling.
I guess you’re right but I think people are a bit overreacting
No, you are just ignorant. Not to mention reeking with privilege for responding that way. You won’t be saying it’s only a joke if you get knocked out by strangers, would you?
I was actually laughing at a lot of bad things in my life
As I said, J think people are a bit overreacting
But if the host hadn’t laughed with him, then yes, he should apologise
Don’t blame the victim, that shows how immature and small you are!
Just an intreting facts , Andriy Khayat is Ukranian/half Arabian ( his father is Lebanese) young artist who performs in folktronic style (with Arabic motives) and has an unique deep voice,
He spent some time in States, studying ,speaks in Ukranian, Russian, English and Arabic languages, currently involved in The Voice show.
The host just a dumd troll, after everything recently happened with the guy he gained so many loyal fans who wants him win The Voice this year and then come back to Vidbir 2020 with an amazing song and win the whole damn thing 😛
Khayat responded to this joke with laughter, he said he had no complaints with Prytula cause Serhiy later had a word with the jury (esp. Jamala) for giving Khayat only 2 points.
it doesn’t make Prytula’s jokes appropriate anyway
Victim blaming for the way he/she dresses. This has happened to women since the beginning of time. This is why we see what we see today about women clothes (I can’t say more).
Preach!
“If you dress up like this in the metro, don’t be surprised that they attack you!” is he serious?!! an classy example of victim blaming…and he finds it funny? gross! Khayat has a very kind heart if he saying he has no problem with Prytula’ joke , which was a clear mockery of Khayat’ unusual dress style , and right after that ‘friendly’ talk with Serhiy the juries slashed him with no mercy … their critics were so harsh to him like with no one of contestants , it was terrible to watch.. the guy looked like a lost sad… Read more »
He said that? I’ve only read the attack but not the joke of the host. He should be ashamed for belittling domestic attacks even for a man like Khayat. That’s not good in tv.
I wish he’ll be replaced next year like that Lithuanian spokesperson who mocked Conchita in 2014 by saying “time to shave”.
Khayat was alright with the joke, it had some ring of truth though, cause Kyiv metro crowd is tough and homophobe.
The truth is understandable but making light of it with jokes is inappropriate. Can’t justify domestic violence like that.
“If you dress up like this in the metro, don’t be surprised that they attack you!” is he serious?!! an classy example of victim blaming…gross! Khayat has a very kind heart if he saying he has no problem with Prytula’ joke , which was a clear mockery of Khayat’ unusual dress style , and right after that ‘friendly’ talk with Serhiy the jury slashed him with no mercy … their critics were so harsh to him like with no one of contestants , it was terrible to watch.. the guy looked like a lost sad puppy and still was so… Read more »
Well done Ukrainian journalists and people in general for asking for an apology – I love you.
It must be a very conservative Metro culture over there then. Geez. 🙁
As for the singer Khayat himself, I hope he has a successful career.
metro culture? what do you mean? here is, in Kyiv’s subway you can meet people wearing crazy clothes and styling crazy hair in any variations like in any big city, but the bigots are everywhere , these jerks recognized Khayat , they approached him and asked ‘ you are that guy from tv? ” and when Andriy extended his hand to say ‘hello’ one of the jerks punched him in the face, Khayat was with the guy, they beaten him up too , while he was lying on the floor they kicked him in the stomach, and Khayat was mostly… Read more »
Very sad indeed. 🙁
By “metro culture”, I was referring to the “underground culture” associated with underground transport networks that exists in some countries. I know absolutely nothing about Ukraine’s culture whatsoever, so when seeing that a comedian would joke about such a Metro incident, I thought it might have been a cultural joke at first. But it is sad that the violence is real. Were the perpetrators caught?
oh i get what you been referring to, we don’t have any specific metro culture here,
our subway is pretty much safe place i would say, on every station we have police department and web cameras are everywhere, the accident happened inside metro car during the road, thugs just escaped
i forgot to add that Khayat and his friend were on the way to his acoustic concert , though he didn’t cancel it, he covered up his bruises with make up and performed for the public…
I though Metro-culture was synonymous for Metrosexual culture 😛 Me like MeLov’im
oh god this is horrible, you CAN’T joke about violence, and in this case it looks more like a hate crime, poor boy 🙁
Im looking forward to his come back on Vidbir next year, his voice is a real treasure !
The only attack Khayat deserves is an assault of 12 points from every country in Eurovision 2020!
he also has made a joke about Sasha’ appearance (the lead of Kazka) hinting she is fat, almost all his jokes are dumb and unetichal in so many ways
The reason Serhiy is perfect for this hosting gig is because he encapsulates precisely the typical Ukrainian male in his attitudes. Personally, I think his comedy 2nd rate on the cringeworthy side. I particularly enjoyed last year’s Vidbir when Mikolas Josef nailed him on mistranslating his English into Ukrainian during the interview post-song.
he didn’t expect Mikolas would understand his Ukrainian translation, probably forgot that Mikolas is Slavic too haha
I remember that! That was one of my favourite Vidbir moments of all time. ?
Maybe a review on the 6 ukrainian final contestants and/or a vote on who should win Vidbir 2019 before these gossips? ^^
btw Melovin and Khayat knows each other since X Factor 2015 , here is pics of them together on audition,
they both were 17 year old back then and look so cute and adorable 🙂
https://photos.google.com/search/_tra_/photo/AF1QipM3T2pMjWVCKB2Sp6WP9nCVY8S5DEmFUQJLHEuk
https://photos.google.com/search/_tra_/photo/AF1QipOzv6DaJGRQ_3m_WYCCBeqdFBcMzGX-QNbrgo1b
Omg!!! These pics are super awesome? 😀
two sweet cutie pies…..aww ….i ship them lol
Unfortunately I can not open these links… 🙁 Like to see these, I like them both.
the host Serhiy Pritula knowing for his silly and often pretty offensive jokes to contestants, he did it many times before ( i remember his stupid ‘jokes’ about Melovin’ look too ) , people been complaining about his sexist jokes about women and homophobic remarks for years , though he always saying he is not a homophobe or sexist that he didn’t mean any harm, yeah right dude , ugh! Pritula’ joking about Khayat’ violence attack was such a horrible thing, poor Andrew looked so sad and said he was shocked that no one helped him and his friend while… Read more »
I’m so piss off, people are so cruel, it’s disgusting.
Sirhey seems like a bit of a moron.
oh cmon, you’re not making any reaction video for Vidbir or even posting a polls. And then make this “yellow” attempt to link Serhiy’s joke with a gay-controversy.
Serhiy knowing as sexist and homophobe here, even if he always trying to acts like he is not and saying he was just joking …ugh
I heard he eats gays, of course after he humiliated them
you’re so ‘witty’ as Pritula’s jokes about violence…
Thanks for your article, Renske — I’m glad to read that Khayat’s been supported locally. The comment from the host is ridiculous.
I thought Khayat’s outfit was rather dashing!