"1944" is a song composed and recorded by the Ukrainian musician Jamala, with it including lyrics by both her and performer Art Antonyan.

[5] In terms of its lyrics and general production, the song describes the discriminatory persecution of the Crimean Tatars in the context of Joseph Stalin's rule over the Soviet Union.

These violent military actions, which resulted in numerous deaths, had personally endangered Jamala's grandparents, which influenced the piece's emotional tone and its other attributes.

[9] The lyrics for "1944" concern the deportation of the Crimean Tatars, in the 1940s, by the Soviet Union at the hands of Joseph Stalin on the pretext of their alleged collaboration with the Nazis.

[14] The National Television Company of Ukraine (NTU) withdrew from the 2015 edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, citing costs.

[13][nb 2] On 9 March 2016, a tweet from the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) confirmed that neither the title nor the lyrics of the song contained "political speech" and therefore it did not breach any Eurovision rule, thus allowing it to remain in the competition.

[23] On 12 May 2016, the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest was held in the Globe Arena in Stockholm hosted by Sveriges Television (SVT) and broadcast live throughout the continent.

As the winning broadcaster, the EBU gave UA:PBC the responsibility to host the following edition of the Eurovision Song Contest.