Ukrainian party slammed for racism in Eurovision pop scandalFebruary 22, 2012 - 21:23 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - A small Ukrainian nationalist party came under fire Wednesday, February 22 after a high-profile member suggested a singer of African descent was a bad choice to represent the country in the Eurovision song contest, AP reported. Pop star Gaitana, 32, who was born in Kiev to a Congolese father and Ukrainian mother, was chosen last week to represent Ukraine at this year's Eurovision contest in May in Baku, Azerbaijan. Gaitana, known for a strong voice and seductive outfits, will represent Ukraine with the English-language hit "Be My Guest." Yuri Sirotyuk, of the political party Svoboda, told the New Region agency on Monday that Gaitana was a bad choice because she was not authentically Ukrainian. "Yes, Gaitana sings well, but she does not represent our culture," Sirotyuk was quoted as saying. "Eurovision must be a show of national talents." "It looks like we don't want to show our face and Ukraine will be associated with a different continent, somewhere in Africa." Svoboda is not represented in parliament, but has been gaining popularity recently. Gaitana strongly condemned Sirotyuk's statement, saying it tarnishes Ukraine. Hanna Herman, an adviser to President Viktor Yanukovych, also spoke out against the statement, saying that Ukrainians should not be divided according to the color of their skin, their faith or their language. Ukraine's National Television, which held the contest where Gaitana was selected by a combined vote of viewers and jurors, demanded that Sirotyuk apologize to Gaitana. Top stories The creative crew of the Public TV had chosen 13-year-old Malena as a participant of this year's contest. She called on others to also suspend their accounts over the companies’ failure to tackle hate speech. Penderecki was known for his film scores, including for William Friedkin’s “The Exorcist”, Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining”. The festival made the news public on March 19, saying that “several options are considered in order to preserve its running” Partner news | India wants Armenia’s proposals on use of Chabahar port India is expecting proposals from Armenia regarding the use of Chabahar port in Iran, Indian ambassador says. EU welcomes Armenia-Azerbaijan “progress” The EU has welcomed “progress” made in the framework of the Armenia-Azerbaijan border delimitation process. Belarus opposition leader slams Lukashenko for Karabakh trip Belarusian opposition politician Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya has harshly criticized the visit of Lukashenko to Karabakh. Mkhitaryan raises arrest of former Karabakh leaders in Azerbaijan Inter Milan star Henrikh Mkhitaryan has shared a news story about the extension of the arrest of former Karabakh leaders. |