The situation with Eurovision in 2021, about the participant from Russia and criticism of the authorities

Kremlin today

Compared to 2020, this year the Eurovision Song Contest isn’t canceled, but it’s held as in
all previous years, but with the rule of distancing.
In 2020, the band “Little Big” with the song “UNO” was chosen from Russia, but this year the
members of the line-up refused to participate, saying that there are many other talented
artists in Russia, and they would like to give way to them. Also, the soloist of the group Ilya
Prusikin added that he thanks all the listeners for the huge number of views of the video:
“Thank you to all our compatriots and foreign listeners for the incredible support. Thanks to
you, the video for the song “UNO” became the most popular on the YT channel Eurovision
Song Contest in the entire history of the contest”

https://russian.rt.com/nopolitics/article/728038-uno-little-big-evrovidenie

Who will go this time?
This year, by voting by the viewers of the First Channel, the singer Manizha Sangin was
chosen — an activist in the field of combating domestic violence, a producer and director of
music videos.
Manizha’s song “Russian Woman”, according to the singer, isn’t only about the beauty of the
Russian woman, but also about her rights and freedoms, independence from men and public
opinion.

https://aif.ru/culture/person/kto_takaya_manizha_sangin_manizha

Criticism from the authorities.
Despite the fact that the fans and fans of the singer don’t doubt her victory and uniqueness,
there wasn’t without criticism from Russian politicians.
The head of the State Duma Committee on Culture, Elena Yampolskaya, put it quite clearly
about the song:
“Now, everyone is fighting in a circle, but they don’t pray” — a fairly accurate reflection of
the current global situation. Otherwise, what are you complaining about? What a contest —
such a song.”
Also, Yampolskaya said, that the level of mass culture has become “lower and thinner” and
not only in Russia.

https://ria.ru/20200228/1565326217.html

What is the Eurovision Song Contest song in Russian, and not traditionally in English?
Over the past decade, all representatives of the contest from Russia have chosen a song to
perform in English, since in this case it’s easier for the audience to assess the meaning of
the composition. The question was answered by the manager of Manizha Maya Serikova:
“We would like the song in the language of the country that the artist will represent to be
heard on the international stage. It’s beautiful!”
How will events in Russia affect the distribution of places in the competition in 2021?
There have been rumors about the Eurovision Song Contest for a long time that it’s “a very
politicized and dubious competition”. But is it true?
If you look at the statistics, the winners and prize-winners of previous years occupied high
positions and received high scores due to the combination of vocal data, choreography and
costumes, but not due to the internal events of a particular country, respectively, the victory
of Manizha depends on the audience and the singer herself.

https://ria.ru/20200318/1568795352.html