Eurovision: Red Army Choir announces it is willing to represent Russia in 2017

The artistic director of the Red Army choir said that the group is willing to represent Russia in the Eurovision song contest in 2017. The announcement follows the controversial victory of Ukrainian singer Jamala in Saturday's final over favourites Russia.

Her song, 1944, about the expulsion of the Tatars by the Soviet Union from the Crimean peninsula sparked fury in Moscow, where MPs have accused it of breaking rules banning politicised content and have threatened a boycott of the competition.

In an interview with radio station Govorit Moskva Red Army Choir's Artistic Director Gennady Sachenyuk said that the group would be willing to fight to represent the country in next year's competition.

"When Moscow hosted Eurovision several years ago, we presented a short solo program there, and if we have one more opportunity to appear in another Eurovision Song Contest then we're prepared to do it," he told the station.

He said that the group would be willing to adapt to formats to take part in the competition between 42 European nations. "We're prepared to consider and discuss any format of participation in the contest," Sachenyuk said.

The group could prove a controversial choice with next year's hosts Ukraine, where a precarious ceasefire exists between pro-Moscow rebels and government forces. Some Ukrainian MPs have called for Russian artists who have spoken in favour of Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea to be banned.

Formed in 1939, the Red Army choir was founded to raise the morale of Soviet troops and glorify the revolutionary ideal. Officially known as the MVD Ensemble and Chorus, it continues to perform a range of popular songs, classical standards, and Russian folk songs.

In 2014 the ensemble opened the Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, performing a cover of Daft Punk's Get Lucky.