Eurovision Song Contest: Ukraine's Poroshenko hails win

"It was not the Ukrainian singer Jamala and her song "1944" that won the Eurovision 2016, it was politics that beat art", Frants Klintsevich, deputy chairman of the Russia's Federation Council Committee on Defense and Security, told local reporters.

The 32-year-old's song, 1944, on the deportation of Crimean Tatars under Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, won the Eurovision contest at a time when Crimean Tatars claim to be facing similar repression from Russian Federation.

After collecting the trophy, she told the crowd: "I know that you sing a song about peace and love, but actually, I really want peace and love to everyone".

But the addition of the public vote moved Ukraine to the #1 spot with an overall score of 534 points, with Australia coming second, and Russian Federation coming third.

Jamala is a member of the Muslim Tatar minority of Crimea who saw her great-grandmother deported along with 240,000 others by Stalin in the penultimate year of World War II.

The win by a Ukrainian performer also means next year's contest, the 62nd annual event, will take place in Ukraine.

Jubilant Ukrainian officials erupted in celebration Sunday after Jamala won the Eurovision Song Contest with a powerful tribute to her Tatar people's deportation from Russian-annexed Crimea in 1944, while Russian officials complained of bias.

The focus on Crimea, which was annexed by Russian Federation in 2014, could be considered a swipe at Moscow, but Jamala insisted there was no political subtext, and contest officials agreed.

The country had the same rights as any other competing country, with votes from a professional jury and the voting public contributing to the final scoreboard.

Crimea was seized by Russian Federation troops in February 2014 as protests in Kyiv ousted the pro-Moscow president Viktor Yanukovych.

Jamala, herself a Tatar, stood on the Stockholm stage singing "you think you are gods" against a blood-red backdrop.

Broadcasted in the US for the first time, this year's competition was watched by an estimated 180 million viewers, according to Eurovision's official website.

Several Russian politicians said a pop music contest which is supposed to be free of politics had been skewed by political considerations and anti-Russian stereotypes.

Ukraine were crowned the champions of the Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday night (14May16), with Australia finishing a close second.

Like it or not, anything linked to Crimea in Ukraine today has, at the very least, political overtones because Russia's annexation of the peninsula remains an emotive topic and point of grievance for many Ukrainians.

Justin Timberlake provided half-time entertainment during the competition, opening his special guest performance with his hit Dance With Me before moving on to his new single Can't Stop The Feeling.

Russian online newspaper Lenta.ru branded the Ukrainian-Russian struggle for the victory in the context as musical and political one.

The show was also live-streamed on YouTube, giving Google a piece of a pie once reserved for European public broadcasters.