Thread by @veruka2

Ok, let's talk about this woman. Her name is Susana Jamaladinova, but most know her by her stage name, Jamala. She is an extraordinary singer. She is Ukrainian, born in Kyrgyz SSR to an Armenian mother and a Crimean Tatar father. Let me tell you why she is important 🧵 1/

Jamala has been a hit artist in Ukraine since 2010, rising in fame quickly enough to represent Ukraine at EuroVision in 2011. If you don't know what EuroVision is, Google it. Annually, it's the most watched live non-sporting TV event on the globe. It's why you know who ABBA is 2/

in 2016, she released a song titled "1944," a reference to Stalin's forced deportation of the racialized minority Tatar population from their native Crimea to Kyrgyz SSR in the 1940s. Jamala's grandmother and her 5 children were among the deported. Only 4 children survived. 3/

The song 1944 is incredible for a few reasons. It's an enormous departure from Jamala's previous Lily Allen adjacent pop-centric catalogue, featuring Armenian and Azerbaijani instruments and vocal styles and is partially sung in the Tatar language. 4/

Also, the song is good. Like, really, really good. 5/

Beyond that, Jamala again represented 🇺🇦 in the 2016 EuroVision contest with "1944." This is big for a few reasons. FIRST, EV is a largely anglophone event. Rarely do participants sing in their native tongues. It's becoming more common these days, but it's still the exception. 6/

The Crimean Tatars are a minority Muslim population that has been violently and profoundly oppressed. Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania, and Canada all recognize the Soviet deportation of Tatars as genocide. So, a song IN TATAR at EV is unheard of & of huge political importance 7/

Jamala won the EuroVision contest that year, with this Tatar language song. That would be like someone winning American Idol (if AI could garner 180mil viewers instead of a measly 6mil) by singing a song in Navaho. Which honestly sounds amazing & we should def make that happen.8/

SECOND, "1944" was released in 2016, 2yrs after 🇷🇺 fomented a war in Ukraine's easternmost regions, and 🇷🇺's army invaded Crimea, forcefully expelled 🇺🇦 leadership, and took control of the region. They did not treat Crimean Tatars well in 2014 either. 9/
hrw.org/news/2017/11/1…

EV is supposed to be kitschy vanilla pop culture and is meant to be a-political. 🇷🇺 objected to 🇺🇦's 2016 EV entry ("1944") on the grounds that this song about Stalin was a political criticism of 🇷🇺 today. Really saying the quiet part out loud huh. 10/
independent.co.uk/news/world/eur…

But also, yea, it was political, because Jamala's audiences made it political. While the artist insisted the song was about her family history, she spent very little effort trying to correct perceptions that it was about suffering caused by Putin NOW. 11/
bbc.com/news/entertain…

The preliminary events for Germany's EuroVision 2022 contender are happening right now. Jamala was invited to perform her winning song 1944 at the event--the invitation came after Putin sent Russian troops to violently invade Ukraine.12/
wiwibloggs.com/2022/03/03/jam…

So, Jamala sang 1944 in Germany today today. And the prelim contest was aired in conjunction with a national fundraiser "Wir helfen – Gemeinsam für die Ukraine," which has raised 67million Euros for the Ukrainian army since it began in Feb 25. 13/
presseportal.de/pm/29876/51631…

So, whether she likes it or not, Jamala has come to represent Ukraine's resistance against Russia aggression. She doesn't seem to mind too much though. Here's the video from yesterday's event in Germany. 14/

15/ Follow up: My brevity got the best of me. 🤗 Tatar language and Crimean Tatar language are not the same. Jamala sings here in Crimean Tatar.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimean_T…

16/ follow up 2: Ukrainian ethnomusicologist @Marusiasays has written about this and other politically key musical representations of Ukraine's independence. soundstudiesblog.com/2019/05/13/voc…

17/ FU3: @Marusiasays has also written an incredible book about Ukrainian music, pop music, and political culture called Wild Music. It's fantastic!! You will laugh and cry and learn so much.
weslpress.org/9780819579164/…

18/ fu4: my mistake, Jamala competed to represent Ukraine in EV 2011, but did not win the national competition. That year Mika Newton represented Ukraine in the main ESC..

As several have correctly noted, Jamala competed to represent Ukraine in ESC in 2011, but that honor actually went to Mika Newton. Mea culpa!