Russia Rejects Eurovision Compromise

"One of the [event’s] rules...reads that the song should be performed live on the stage," the Russian broadcaster said in a statement this morning, adding that blocking the 27-year-old Samoilova from performing on stage was "odd” because it went “absolutely against the very essence of the event".
The Russian broadcaster Channel One said that European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the organisers behind the event, should not have to “invent new rules” to allow their artist to perform at the Eurovision Song Contest.
Ukraine's security service said it barred the wheelchair user Yulia Samoilova from Ukraine for three years because they claim she bizarrely violated Ukrainian law by her visit to Crimea in 2015, which was the year after Russia seized control of the Black Sea peninsula from Ukraine, without entering through the border with the Ukrainian mainland.
"We are continuing our dialogue with the Ukrainian authorities with the ambition to have all artists present to perform in host city, Kiev, which is, of course, our preferred option," said Jon Ola Sand, who is the executive supervisor for Eurovision Song Contest.
"It is imperative that the Eurovision Song Contest remains free from politics and as such, due to the circumstances surrounding Julia's travel ban, we have felt it important to propose a solution that transcends such issues.
"We have offered Channel One Russia the opportunity for Julia to perform live via satellite as it is the European Broadcasting Union's intention that every broadcaster that has chosen to take part in the Eurovision Song Contest does so, as has been the case for all previous events in the contest's history."
The EBU said last night that they are "deeply disappointed " by Ukraine's decision to ban the singer from entering to sing. "We feel it goes against both the spirit of the contest, and the notion of inclusivity that lies at the heart of its values," they stated last night.
We've no doubt not heard the last about this controversy...