Eurovision 2016: Ukraine Wins With Jamala's '1944'

In a shock ending, Ukraine won the Eurovision Song Contest in Stockholm on Saturday (May 14) with Jamala's "1944," a political song about the deportation of Crimean Tartars in 1944, meant to be critical of Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014. There was great irony to the win, as Russia was expected to place first this year, according to fan polls and the oddsmakers.

The dramatic conclusion to the competition was provided by a new method of reporting the votes. First, the points of the national juries, which count for 50 percent of the total scores, were announced -- and Australia was the leader, with 320 points, followed by Ukraine and France.

Then, the points from the televoting public were reported, starting with the 16 lowest countries. The final 10 were announced one by one. The four countries with the highest public votes were left for last: Poland, Australia, Russia and Ukraine. Australia was awarded 191 points from the audience televoting, pushing their total to 511. 

That was good enough to win -- unless Ukraine or Russia surpassed them. Until this moment, Poland was in last place, with a score of seven points awarded from the juries. The public vote gave them an additional 222 points, good enough for eighth place.

Next, Ukraine received 323 points from the televoting, giving them a new total of 534, pushing Australia into second place.

The trophy still could have gone to Russia, the public’s favorite. But the televoting only gave Russia 361 points, for a total of 491. In that moment, Ukraine claimed victory.

The winning song, “1944,” was composed and performed by Jamala. Talking about her song, she said it "concerns all people that had their own terrible tragedies in the past. We should always remember and never forget them to avoid the same things in the future."

Ukraine had threatened to not participate in Eurovision next year if Russia won.