UKRAINE: Vote-rigging, uncounted ballots, last-minute government intervention - another election scandal is brewing in Ukraine. But this time it's over the country's entry in the Eurovision Song Contest, and the party under fire is president Viktor Yushchenko's new government.
After three months whittling 100 contestants down to a final 15, government officials intervened at the last minute to allow four bands that energised protesters during last year's Orange Revolution - the demonstrations that preceded Mr Yushchenko's election victory - to enter the contest in the final round.
Hryndzholi, whose song became the protesters' anthem, was declared the winner after a phone-in vote plagued by problems.
The group's victory over the previous favourite, pop singer Ani Lorak, who reportedly backed losing presidential candidate Viktor Yanukovich in last year's election, sparked a controversy that has grabbed headlines. Officials admit the rules might have been bent to allow the four so-called "revolution songs" to enter the contest in tomorrow's finals, but reject allegations of a political subtext.
