The Eurovision drama in Ukraine keeps on escalating, and Alina Pash’s visit to Crimea in 2015 is still making the news. Ukrainian television is now waiting for official confirmation from the authorities on whether the documents are real.
On Tuesday, Suspilne’s CEO Mykola Chernotytskyi shared a story published by newspaper Pravda on Facebook. The article states that Alina Pash’s documents were not issued by the SBGS [State Border Guard Service of Ukraine].
The broadcaster expects to receive an official response from the authorities on Wednesday by 11:00 Ukrainian time.
Chernotytskyi made quite a bold statement at the end of his post.
“In my opinion, scammers cannot represent Ukraine at Eurovision”.
During a press conference held in Ukraine on Monday afternoon, the broadcaster said that they were now investigating whether the documents they received are authentic. They will not sign a contract securing Alina Pash’s Eurovision participation until their investigation is complete.
According to Chernotytskyi’s post, an official response should come tomorrow, and thus an announcement on Alina Pash’s selection could come at any time.
Alina Pash asks fans to stop
Alina Pash has not made any comments on the documents issue, but she did share a message on Instagram Stories, addressed to her fans and those of Kalush Orchestra, who won the public vote at Vidbir 2022. In short, she wants people to calm down.
In the story, Alina also agrees that Kalush have the right to know the full results as they have been demanding.
Why is Alina’s visit to Crimea under investigation?
As we told you over the weekend, Alina has been at the centre of a controversy over whether she entered Crimea illegally.
In the weeks before the selection show, commenters on social media wrote that Alina Pash had previously visited Crimea via a flight from Moscow, thus breaking one of the selection’s rules.
This rumour emerged after a 2019 interview Alina had with Kateryna Osadcha’s programme Svitske zhittya. There, the Vidbir winner mentioned that she visited in Crimea in 2015. Specifically, she used the word “to fly” when she described her trip to the peninsula.
In an interview to Timur Miroshnychenko last week, Alina stated that she did in fact not fly to into Crimea. Instead, she said that she went there by bus. She noted that the fragment with Kateryna Osadcha was taken out of context. She added that she did not go to Crimea for a performance but for a private affair. Suspilne subsequently received physical proof from Alina that she indeed passed the land border.
?? That was the #Vidbir press conference. Highlights:
— wiwibloggs (@wiwibloggs) February 14, 2022
? Organisers defend results
? Alina Pash again under investigation and not yet appointed as official representative
? Voting reveal scene issues were a human error
? No split results yet
What do you make of this story? Will Alina Pash make it to Turin in the end? Sound off in the comment sections below!
You mean, Ukraine throws out a singer because she visited Crimea seven years ago when she was a youngster of 21 years? Great goodness, something wrong with her Aryan blood purity or what? By the way, when do you guys have your next official book burning?
I think Ukraine should go NQ this year for all of this sh*tshow
Update: Alina has just confirmed that her manager rigged the documents to speed things up, she’s super angry at him, and is going to fire him. But she says she’s got the proper official document and it’s been delivered to Suspilne.
Dramadrama.
Well, anyway, she’s been initially promoted by Ivan Dorn whose moral ambiguity with regards to the Ukraine-Russia relations is as famous as his talent. So no surprises about the way she chooses her environment and the people to work with.
And turns out, this official document doesn’t say either “yes” or “no”…
Kalush has similar photos from Red square Moscow, and he travelled to Crimea too. So his participation in Eurovision is also not easy.
Send Jendrik for peace
Ukraine cannot send german, germans are the same as moscowites for us
Why?
Dolly Style
She creeps me out..
Shadows of forged documents 😉
They should stay away from the contest, it’s obvious that they are a country in such a crisis that can’t deliver the simplest things anymore. They have much more serious situations to handle now.
Suspilne is TV network, its not their duty to stop army of moscowites.
army of moscowites singing about a united ukraine and claiming that crimea is ukrainian? You are part of the problem,clown
Actually, she is not singing about united Ukraine, text is rather degrading for Ukrainians + that awful English rap part …
Judging by their 100% qualification rate (although it may get broken this year) it’s pretty obvious they can deliver great entries to Eurovision. No need for them to stay away from the contest.
If Suspilne’s CEO already labelled Alina Pash as a scammer, then it’s safe to say she won’t be representating Ukraine anymore regardless of how the results from authorities turn out to be.
What is Suspilne? The article doesn’t explain what it is.
It’s the alternate name for UA:PBC, similar to how Israel’s IPBC labels itself as simply KAN.
Suspilne is pretty sus, if you ask me.
what means “sus” for you?
“sus” means suspicious. It’s a common expression used in Among Us.
Jeez, just withdraw already.
Just send Go_A again and everybody will be happy…..
They – the organizer and broadcaster – have lost their mind
Gosh, getting tired of this psychopath broadcaster and all the flipping drama. It would be utterly entertaining if the winner is disqualified (again), then other contestants refuse to go (again), and the broadcaster is a laughing stock (again, again, and again). Popcorn!
I think Kalush will go to the contest happily
I love Ukraine, love the Ukrainian people, the culture, and support them 110% in this current Russia situation.
But my god the national broadcaster is a sh . it show. BBC does an excellent job of embarrassing Britain time and time again, but NTU, UAPBC, Suspilne (can’t even stick to 1 name) are on a whole other level.
We’ll organise a national final, pick a winner, and then spend the next few days and weeks tearing strips out of the winner in every way possible.
At least the BBC just ignore their artists.
Laws are laws. Lock her up!
Psychopath
You are a psycho too.
You can join her, gworl.
If you people think that Ukraine has problems now because of the tension with Russia, you should do some research as what they did in 2009 2010 and 2011. Ukraine always had drama and corruption in the national finals regardless of the war. They never learn and the tension with Russia is simply an excuse, they had rigged national finals for years
Yeah in 2010 they changed their selected artist one week before the deadline, organized a new national final in a hurry, only to end with the new winner song to be withdrawn due to plagiarism
LMFAO
Can someone tell me if tomorrow the Ukranian TV will comfirm the participation or non-participation of Alina, please?
And another more thing, will she go to the jail?
I think they will participate but with different artist or they will withdrawn – Alina is out for 80%
Hi Alina. Hi A-Pash. Welcome to Turin. So, I have uncomfortable question to you:
Your travel document… is fake?
Fake of course.
Maruv: Wanna know my Secret?
Alina: Jamala, of cource.
UABroadcaster: Bang!
🙁
I dont care about Vibnir or whatever and dont know what or who is Kamish. I am trying to make sense of this mess and know what is it all about and it seems not even Ukranians know.
Supposedly the problem is whether she crossed the border by the right or wrong place and if this is the case I cannot understand why does the Ukranian broadcaster investigation take so long. Cant they just go to the “right border” and enter ‘Alina whatever’ and see if she is registered there?
No, because they are not the police. They cannot get the private information.
No, a broadcaster can’t access personal data from the police.
So sad for her. Hope she won’t get Maruv-ed and fly to Torino.
Bang!
I am not sad for her. She should not have lied if she knew about breaking selection rules and really faked the documents
ESC fans are so tired from Vidbir, that’s why they post 100-200 comments under news about Vidbir scandals. “Im so tired, so tired. Please, tell me: Does Alina go to prison? or to ESC? or withdrawal?”
Who falsifies documents to sing on a tv show?!?
This is so ridiculous! It is like trying to establish if she is Ukrainian enough!!!
Suspline are clowns! Keep politics out of the contest! Ffs!
Wiwi should pay fees to Suspilne for creating so much drama that they can write like 10 articles in 2 days about it.
lmaoooo
At least what the EBU can say or do is add a clause in the criteria for participation which states no one should put the competitions reputation into disrepute at the expense of their own internal procedures.
National selections are not part of the ESC.
This whole matter should be handled much more carefully and privately. Allowing all of this drama to be made so public only serves to tarnish both Alina and any other entrant who may replace her. Alina has been awarded the privilege of representing Ukraine so I hope she can still do that. Either way, I hope this controversy is resolved as speedily as possible and learnt from for next year.
It is entirely wrong to award someone the privilege of representing their country and then allow them to be humiliated, nationally and internationally. For this to be happening a second time is disastrous.
And what if she lied? I mean if the documents are false, she knew they were false.
I totally agree with you. But it seems to me that this is being made public due to the fact that it was the Ukrainian viewers of the selection who began to doubt the results, as well as the whole situation with Russia and Crimea.
Well after witnessing all this circus I would not call representing Ukraine a ‘privilege’.
The only thing I see with this is that if Alina Pash does not go to Eurovision unlike the Maruv situation where every other artist declined the offer, in support of Maruv kalush will probably take the offer
The situation with Maruv was very different. She was not accused of anything but she was the one who was accusing the broadcaster for making an unfair contract. It was her choice not to sign it. Plus, Maruv was the winner of the televote, she had the back of the public, unlike Alina who came second (but with the mess with the televoting results she might have been even in lower position, well never know).
Ukrainian broadcastwe always make a noise (shum) and mess ( i put – in your comment) WHy THEY INVITED MARUV and ALINA to compete to the National selection?!?!? If they knew it??? Why the did not have internal selection like other countries??? Its only a game to catch “attention a little care” … I used ti like Ukraine tho ..
They knew what? That Maruv will decide not to sign a contract? They don’t see into the future. Also, Maruv could anticipate that in order to represent Ukraine she would have to give up on her Russian gigs for a while, that’s not a new rule or a new thing. I always suspected that she didn’t really want to go to Eurovision but did want to participate in Vidbir to get more exposure. Vidbir is very popular and artists that participate get a very nice exposure there.
Oh please so bc she had concert in Russia she was bad and not deserved to represent Ukraine – we all know having Concert in an abroad – is the way to gain money …. U only believed one source but u can not see others sides …. They knew she have converts there, they knew she might win, same with Alina if she got problems they could pick internally like Russia or Azerbaijan are doing … or do not invite her…. Its really annoying to hear, see all over again same messy fact and information. I love Ukraine, i… Read more »
No one has problems with participants having concerts abroad, most Ukrainian acts in the last decade performed in Russia at one point or another. The issue is illegal entry into Ukraine.
If the public did not doubt Alina and her trips to Russia, she would simply go to Italy and none of this would have happened. I don’t think broadcasters do it on purpose. Most likely, they are simply poorly organized.
Well then if they knew (broadcaster -they should have invited someone else) or did internally selection to save money and time
Maruv was scrutinized with questions about her attitude to Russia during the selection shows multiple times. It seemed like they’ve deliberately drawn up such a contract for her, so that she would rather reject it.
Btw where was jamala during the show with her uncomfortable questiones then ? she probably thought not again
Wasn’t this kinda “the reason” Ukraine didn’t wanted to send maruv well if she sends her then can they send maruv in 2023 then? ?
No, Maruv was (and still is) giving concerts in Russia and refused to sign an agreement to refrain from doing that until the end of the Eurovision Grand Final. Quite different
Maruv’s label is russian and they didnt even know she was participating in vidbir. She was not allowed to give song’s rights to the broadcaster. So, she couldnt participate in the first place, but made up the drama anyway
Dolly Style for Ukraine!
https://open.spotify.com/track/0sDlK1E6m2Qbi0Nn7n7SHL?si=C3HDSC9wQ-Wq3jIcZ1dm8g&context=spotify%3Aartist%3A0D00AEI0IWmoBtdIH75zXs
It looks perfect for all fans of great music. We will see amazing Kalush Orchestra in Turin instead of crazy chaos “song” by Alina.
imo
MAMO MAMO STEFANIA
and generally thatt song is a lot messier
alina’s somg at least has a good purpose and meaning
No thank you, zero points.
Im tired of Ukraine and all these uncomfortable questions , next
dont pretend pls
Not to be that person, but even if the docs turn to be real Alina should not represent them. I cannot imagine myself getting shamed and humiliated then act like nothing happened.
Completely agree with you. That kind of behaviour is really toxic and dangerous for the artists and theur art. I love Ukraine in the contest but at this moment I just went them out of Eurovision. And sadly I feel like this for 2 or 3 other countries.
No one is shamed or humiliated. If documents turn out to be real, there won’t be any issue.
This picture of Aline is phaqing hilarious. Thank you for putting it in every Ukraine article and lightening up the atmosphere.
Should Ukraine have dealt with these document issues before the competition to reduce the amount of controversy? Absolutely. But if it does turn out that Alina did forge the document, should she be disqualified? Yes. It isn’t fair to the other contestants (and those who didn’t make the shortlist in the NF) that she is able to win by breaking the laws.
I mean, would you automatically assume every document you receive is fake? They asked for them, they got them and they looked legit so they thought it’s fine. They only got the hint that they are fake after the show.
And you have to remember: We are talking about a broadcaster here not a private investigation firm or something. Their job is to make good TV, not investigate crimes.
No, she wouldn’t even if she forged it. She didn’t want backlash by prrimitive officials who put stupid law that doesn’t make sense.
She won by getting the most points, not by going to Crimea. Ukraine should stop behaving like this.
the more i listen to alinas song the more i fall in love with it. i really want her to go to eurovision but have a weird feeling we will be getting bad news tomorrow. really hope everything works out for her
She is singing about ancestors and unity while her own country sabotages her. Clearly Ukraine has issues but they also create the problems themselves.
You can look at this from a different angle: she is singing about her country ancestors and at same time not abiding to the laws of the same country those ancestors are from. If the documents are false, she knew if she knew she is going against the interest of the same country where those ancestors she seems to care so much about are from.
It’s a shame if Alina doesn’t end up going because I really love her song, kalush I really didn’t like at all, he sounded really flat in the vidbir performance and I’m afraid if they were to go Ukraine would drop from my current 3rd place to near the bottom (that’s reserved for Moldova, Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania and soon to be Norway if a certain banana song is chosen)
After the 2019 Maruv fiasco, you would think the broadcaster would do a better job vetting their national final performers first to make sure they don’t have any problematic Crimea traveling history, but I wonder if they wanted Alina so much They didn’t do due diligence on her history until it blew up in their face. And I thought the Crimea travel laws applied more to foreigners, not Ukrainian citizens. God what a mess.
They surely didnt have any problems with Go_A in 2020 and were one of the first countries, to confirm them for 2021. it‘s just a shame, I thought they were going in the right direction just to blow it all up with this sh*t.
Can anyone explain what’s stopping the broadcaster from signing a contract with her? If the police has questions to her, it’s the police’ business. It’s as if you had a debt to the bank and the broadcaster wouldn’t allow you to take part in a contest (but would allow you to take part in the selection). She can take part in the competition, return and go under investigation. At least that would’ve been logical.
Because it’s in the selection rules that any artist wishing to represent Ukraine should have followed Ukraine’s rules on visits to Russia and Crimea – specifically to avoid another Maruv situation. And suspilne being the idiots they are asked the artists to provide proof instead of doing the work themselves. They were 8 contestants for fack’s sake!
If your country is almost at war, you don’t want a representative who has broken a law connected to this very painful situation. It would feel dishonest towards the Ukranian people.
Agree politics should stay out of Eurovision, but I also understand why people would feel hurt about this.
They do not sign the contract, because if she traveled across Russian borders and performed in Crimea, then this is a direct violation of the rules for taking part in the selection. However, if it turns out that the documents she provided are fake, then she will also have problems with the police.
that’s surreal
Yeah, we can say goodbye to Alina.
I think it’ll all work out for Alina in the end. At least I hope.
Screw it. If this is what I get for trying to be positive in this comments section, I’m getting outta here. Later, gang.
?
I really hope so, why do you think she will go anyway? I am really nervous about her future parricipation, life and career
I really hope so too. It is entirely wrong to award someone the privilege of representing their country and then allow them to be humiliated, nationally and internationally. For this to be happening a second time is disastrous.
Smh
If they disqualify her I’m not so sure if they will participate at all, but something tells me the second place holder will accept to go because this is not exactly the same situation as with Maruv. I don’t know, she shouldn’t have forged the documents.
Alina and Kalush hate each other, so Kalush will accept the proposition.
Why do they hate each other?
Sometime before the national selection Alina accused Kalush of plagiarism of her song on Instag ram. I remember that she was furious. Kalush, on the other hand, confirmed that the melodies were similar and promised to investigate the case.
I don’t think they hate each other, they’re just competitors in the selection. And most likely they will agree, as they have already argued with the organizers for the results.
They dont hate each other. Kalush said in his Instagram hes completely fine with Alina, he thinks she has great song. Alina also thinks Kalushs performance was good
Then who caresand? Goodbye Ukraine. Come back when you ve grown up. They only want sympathy and play theoff vicim card. Boohoo, we dont want to play with them. They are stupid. Childidh behaviour.
The EBU needs to get involved in this situation and prevent broadcasters or other individuals from trying to politicize the contest. Given that the Ukrainian broadcaster is part of the EBU, the EBU should perhaps place some sort of sanction/penalty on the Ukrainian broadcaster in order to send a message that such scenarios like what is happening now are unacceptable. Also this is not the first time something like this has happened in Ukraine and the fact that the EBU isn’t doing anything is both frustrating and baffling.
The EBU isn’t a governing or ruling body, its a UNION, which Ukraine is part of and an equal member of. Ukraine’s broadcaster is a member of this organisation so that there is a standardisation and consistency in broadcasting formalities.The EBU already set out rules for the contest , in which Ukraine is supposed to abide by. They have no power to punish Ukraine for passive or hidden acts of politicisation. To you and me its political , but officially interpreting it on paper its not. The EBU just cant do anything which can be interpreted as something different. No… Read more »
In 2010, Ukraine was allowed to select a new song way after deadline, as the selected song had been released before. Why? When they were hosts the first time they sang about their revolution. None of that had anything to do with Russia at all. Still they were allowed to participate. For 12 years they have not abided to the rules. About rimes they get kicked out until they abide to the rules
Agreed with everything MartyMcCu just said. If the EBU were to get involved in national song selection, you would see comments like “Who the hell do they think they are to tell us which song my country should pick?”
National selections aren’t part of ESC, nor are they related to the EBU in any way. They are domestic shows and broadcaster can do anything they want in the process, as far as EBU is concerned.
Can the sequel to Eurovision Fire Saga be about a Ukranian national final winner forging documents and a juror who asks uncomfortable questions?
ROFL
Okay….right, Ukrainian broadcaster obviously like to play these kind of games and apparently there is nothing that the EBU can do about it. Right. But…… Maybe the broadcaster should actually screen each artist before they participate in Vidbir? Seeing as this issue has happened more than once over the very same thing. Or maybe, just maybe, hold an internal selection so that the artist is the broadcasters number one choice rather than being shady about the overall NF winner and then scrutinise the winner regarding how they entered Crimea? I dunno, just a suggestion. I will say, and I may… Read more »
Well…if Alina lies in her interview…ok, lets say “tells many different versions of the same event” and falsifies documents, why “isn’t really fair on Alina”? It was her choice and her actions
broadcaster is not a police, so they cannot detect fake documents
But they can make sure with the police beforehand. As they are doing now in full scandal mode anyway. I’m so mad at them
It seems to me that the organizers always rely on the honesty of the participants. They check the documents now because the public has drawn attention to Alina’s old posts.
How can they “make sure with police”? Ukraine isn’t Azerbaijan or Russia, the broadcaster can’t simply request information from the police.
Im not saying that they are the police however, if this is such a big issue for them, maybe compliance needs to be done before the acts even make it to their first heat of Vidbir.
If nothing else, it would make the whole issue appear to Atleast look Democratic and sure isn’t that what counts?