Eurovision 2019: Ukraine withdraws from song contest

Ukraine's public broadcaster UA:PBC and Vidbir winner MARUV have not reached an agreement on her participation in the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest.

MARUV (Anna Korsun) won the Ukrainian national selection with the highest number of points from the viewing audience last Saturday night for her performance of Siren Song.

However, UA:PBC stated that her win did not automatically guarantee her becoming the Ukrainian representative for 2019, Eurovision.tv reports. "UA:PBC provides MARUV as the winner of the national selection with an agreement for consideration, specifying the terms of participation in the Eurovision Song Contest. The official announcement of the representative of Ukraine at the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest will take place after signing the participation agreement.”

 According to broadcaster UA:PBC: "[...] the performer representing Ukraine at the international stage, upon signing an agreement with UA:PBC, also has commitments of becoming a cultural ambassador of Ukraine and delivering not only their music but also expressing the opinion of the Ukrainian society in the world. After the negotiations, UA:PBC and the singer MARUV have not found common ground in the mission of the representative of Ukraine at the international song contest."