"It's a boomerang": director Bondarchuk comments on the scandal surrounding Ruslana's performance at Eurovision 2023, revealing interesting details

Famous Ukrainian film director and producer Oleg Bondarchuk commented on the high-profile scandal surrounding Ruslana's participation in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023. The singer, who was the first Ukrainian to win the contest, was not invited to perform at this year's show in Liverpool. Bondarchuk revealed new details, calling this situation a boomerang that allegedly returned to the artist in 2017.

As you know, after Jamala won the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest, the following year's contest was held in Kyiv. According to Bondarchuk, he and a large team, including colleagues from Sweden, were organising the show, but Ruslana managed to take the reins. The director spoke about this in an interview with Alina Dorotyuk for her YouTube channel of the same name.

"I was chosen as a creative producer, and we worked with a team from Sweden for three months. We had a lot of ideas. And at some beautiful moment, Ruslana's team with her husband Ksenofontov and Mr Hrytsak raided the process of preparing for the Eurovision Song Contest, and we were all swept away in one day. This team from Sweden was shocked. The Ukrainian government was blocking all contracts. They were shouting that they could not sign a contract with any contractor and that this had never happened before or since... And then it became clear that there was another team that was waiting for the critical moment and made a request. This team did not allow these contracts to be signed, and then they filed a claim: "That's it, let Hrytsak, Ruslana and Ksenofontov come in - they have experience." And in April, a month and a half before the Eurovision Song Contest, they raided the preparations," Bondarchuk recalled.

Back then, six years ago, the producer said, the concept of the show did not include Ruslana's performance in the final, but the singer still gave a large-scale performance. Bondarchuk said that Jamala, who brought Eurovision to Ukraine, was supposed to be the main star, but she was not given the opportunity to give a grand performance.

In the same year in Liverpool, Bondarchuk noticed that the concept of the final not only allowed but also required Ruslana to be involved in the performance. All the brightest representatives of our country at the Eurovision Song Contest took to the stage, including Jamala, Verka Serdyuchka and others. Ruslana, according to Bondarchuk, was supposed to appear in the number. However, as the director emphasised, the boomerang effect worked.

"Ruslana's performance was not planned, because it was not the concept of Eurovision 2017, but they shoved it in later... Ruslana had a super performance, a star of all time! Was it fair at all? To Jamala? To the concept of the contest, to human norms? What happened this year, was it fair not to include Ruslana? No, it wasn't fair. She belonged there. Ruslana would have been greeted with applause and remembered as Ukraine's first victory. But when you compare "the first is unfair" and "the second is unfair", it turns out to be very fair. A boomerang. But everything that happened to her made me feel sorry for her," Bondarchuk said.

Recall that a scandal erupted around Ruslana and her performance at the Eurovision Song Contest 2023. The artist did not remain silent, and she was supported by Ukrainian Euro fans.

At the time, the organisers assured that Ruslana would appear in the final of the show with a "special mission". However, in the end, the singer was simply shown on video during the performance of the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest winner Duncan Lawrence from the Netherlands. This recording was without sound and lasted about 5 seconds. Fans were outraged and wrote about it openly on social media. Find out how Ruslana herself reacted in our article.

Earlier, OBOZREVATEL wrote that on May 24, Ruslana Lyzhychko celebrated her birthday. The artist turned 50 years old. It was hard for fans to believe it, because the celebrity looks much younger.

Only verified information is available in our Obozrevatel Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!