Bob CollinsHaving been away for a few weeks, I’m catching up on some older “news” now, including the winner of the Ukraine’s Got Talent contest.
It’s a sand artist depiction of Ukraine’s history.
(Kseniya) Simonova’s sand story portrays the human loss after the German invasion in 1941. The opening scene shows a couple sitting on a bench under a starry sky. Warplanes appear and the happy scene is obliterated to be replaced by crying faces. Then a baby arrives and the woman smiles again, but war and chaos return and a young woman becomes an old widow, before the image turns into an obelisk – the Ukrainian monument to its Unknown Soldier.
Simonova has returned to ordinary life in the Crimean seaside town of Evpatoria, where she has used her £80,000 prize to buy a modest house and set up a children’s charity.
Simonova has told interviewers she is happy to stay in Evpatoria and will not be travelling abroad to cash in on her growing global fan base. Her success has taken the young woman by surprise. “I only entered because there was a child I know who needed an operation and I wanted to help,” she said. “I did not mean to make the whole country cry.”
Meanwhile, on the American version of the show, some over-emoting singer is harpooning some bad song.
(h/t: Patrick Collins)
