Ukraine wins the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest
Jamala gave Ukraine their second Eurovision victory with her song 1944 (Picture: AP)
Ukraine has won the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest with the song 1944 by Jamala.
The controversial song – about the about the mass deportation of Tatars during Josef Stalin’s reign over the Soviet Union – scored 534 points to take the title, beating Australia’s Dami Im into second place.
‘I was sure that if you sing, if you talk about truth, it really can touch people,” she told reporters after the competition.
Despite Jamala’s insistence that there was no political subtext, the focus on Crimea, whose annexation by Russia in 2014 was opposed by its Tatar minority, Russian media still considers it a swipe at Moscow.
This week Russian state media this week called the song anti-Russian while Moscow said it violated Eurovision rules, though officials did not agree.
Joe and Jake representing Great Britain with the song 'You're Not Alone' performs during the final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 Grand Final in Stockholm, on May 14, 2016. / AFP PHOTO / JONATHAN NACKSTRANDJONATHAN NACKSTRAND/AFP/Getty Images
The UK’s Joe and Jake finished in 24th place despite nabbing the largest UK score since 2011 (Picture: AFP/Getty Images)
The top five was completed by Bulgaria’s Poli Genova with 307 points, and host nation Sweden who scored 261.
However the UK’s fortunes were rather more mixed at the contest in Stockholm.
Because while contenders Joe and Jake finished 16th at the end of the first round of voting by the juries – even getting a coveted ‘douze points’ from Malta – they fared badly in the public vote, eventually finished in 24th place.
On the flip side the pair finished with 62 points – the UK’s best score since Blue took part in 2011.

Eurovision Song Contest Full Results

  1. Ukraine – 534 points
  2. Australia – 511
  3. Russia – 491
  4. Bulgaria – 307
  5. Sweden – 261
  6. France – 257
  7. Armenia – 249
  8. Poland – 229
  9. Lithuania – 200
  10. Belgium – 181
  11. The Netherlands – 153
  12. Malta – 153
  13. Austria – 151
  14. Israel – 135
  15. Latvia – 132
  16. Italy – 124
  17. Azerbaijan – 117
  18. Serbia – 115
  19. Hungary – 108
  20. Georgia – 104
  21. Cyprus – 96
  22. Spain – 77
  23. Croatia – 73
  24. United Kingdom – 62
  25. Czech Republic – 41
  26. Germany – 11
The new style of voting saw the votes from the international juries delivered by the country’s representatives first before the results of the public vote were translated into points and added on to each country’s totals.
Dami Im did well for Australia in Eurovision (Picture: BBC/Twitter)
Australia’s Dami Im was streets ahead of the competition – but ended up finishing second following the results of the public vote (Picture: BBC)
Australia’s Dami Im was far ahead of the competition at the end of the jury voting and looked set to be crowned 2016 winner – but she lost out at the final hurdle after only finishing fourth in the televote.
It’s the second time that Ukraine have won Eurovision, having previously triumphed in 2004 with Ruslana’s Wild Dances.
They’re a relatively new arrival to the contest – having only made their debut in 2003 – but have a decent track record, having finished in the top ten on several occasions as well as their two wins.
They returned to the contest this year after sitting out the 2015 event in Vienna.