Since winning the national vote in Mid-March Ukraine’s sensational drag act Verka Serdyuchka has attracted the attention of Eurovision fans across the continent with her outrageous ‘Dancing’ song, sparking a lively internet debate and prompting many to install the performer as the hot favourite to win the May contest. The catchy tune, which features German, English and Russian in a parody of Euro pop techno, includes the controversial lyrics ‘Russia Goodbye’, although the singer has since claimed rather unconvincingly that the actual words are Mongolian and any similarity to the phrase ‘Russia Goodbye’ is purely coincidental. As well as appearing to dismiss Ukraine’s northern neighbours the song also rubs salt into the wound by referring to dancing on Maidan in a direct reference to the pro-democracy Orange Revolution of 2004 which was regarded in Moscow as being overtly anti-Russian and part of a dastardly plan to further humiliate the former superpower. Opinion is divided over the track, with many internet posters proclaiming it the most quintessentially Eurovision tune ever, while other have dismissed it as a national disaster. Russians seem to be particularly offended, not least because for years the Verka Serdyuchka character has enjoyed enormous popularity in Russia, where he/she is viewed as the ideal Russian-speaking, comically provincial Ukrainian stereotype. Verka’s performance looks set to be one of the highlights of Eurovision 2007, and in the month leading up to the big final of the Eurovision Song Contest on 12 May in Helsinki we can expect plenty of hype and lots more attention for emerging Ukraine as a result. Should Verka triumph the country would not be the first to record multiple Eurovision victories but nevertheless it would be one more step towards a higher international profile for Ukraine. However, there is bound to be plenty of scandal in the run-up to the competition, adding to the climate of political tension between pro-Russian and pro-European camps that currently dominates Ukrainian politics.

Russians seem to be particularly offended, not least because for years the Verka Serdyuchka character has enjoyed enormous popularity in Russia, where he/she is viewed as the ideal Russian-speaking, comically provincial Ukrainian stereotype