Ukraine to bar some Russian singers after Kiev chosen to host Eurovision

Ukraine's Minister of Culture Yevhen Nyshchuk (C) and the head of Ukraine's national television Zurab Alasania attend a news conference in Kiev, Ukraine, September 9, 2016. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko

KIEV (Reuters) - The Ukrainian government said on Friday it would deny entry to certain Russian singers if they were chosen to perform at next year's Eurovision Song Contest, after picking the capital Kiev to host the event.

Ukraine won the right to stage the 62nd Eurovision contest in 2017 after its entry, a Crimean Tatar singer called Jamala, won this year's competition with a song about the war-time deportations of Tatars under Joseph Stalin.