President Zelensky blocked from addressing viewers at Eurovision Final

nme.com:

Eurovision Song Contest.The finale is set to take place tomorrow (May 13), following the closing of the two semi-final rounds which occurred on Tuesday (May 9) and Thursday (May 11).This year’s instalment will take place in the UK city of Liverpool, which is hosting the ceremony on behalf of last year’s winners, Ukraine, due to the country’s ongoing war with Russia.

Despite this, however, it has been revealed that the Ukrainian president will not be granted permission to address the public at tomorrow night’s final.As per reports, this lack of airtime is because the organising committee of the annual song contest wish to retain the programme’s non-political basis, and “strict rules” prohibit such statements from being made using Eurovision as the platform.“The Eurovision Song Contest is an international entertainment show and governed by strict rules and principles which have been established since its creation,” read a statement from the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the organisers behind Eurovision (via the Independent).It continues: “As part of these, one of the cornerstones of the contest is the non-political nature of the event.

This principle prohibits the possibility of making political or similar statements as part of the contest.”Although Zelensky’s request to make a speech was denied “as it would be against the rules of the event”, the grand finale will feature an appearance from last year’s winners Kalush Orchestra, as well as performances from 10 other Ukrainian artists.Following the ongoing conflict between the two countries, Russia has been banned from the song contest since 2022.