Piers Morgan says Ukraine's Kalush Orchestra won Eurovision on a 'sympathy vote'

The Kalush Orchestra from Ukraine rejoices over winning the Eurovision Song Contest. Photo / Getty Images

Piers Morgan has claimed that Ukraine won the Eurovision Song Contest on a "sympathy vote".

The rap group Kalush Orchestra were crowned winners of the annual contest for their song Stefania on Saturday but Morgan felt that sympathy as a result of Russia's invasion of the country was the deciding factor behind the triumph instead of the musical talent.

In a Twitter post, the 57-year-old broadcaster wrote: "Nobody who voted for Ukraine thought it was the best song because it obviously wasn't anywhere near the best. Even Ukrainians don't think it was the best song.

"They got the sympathy vote, which is fine as long as we drop the word 'contest' from Eurovision."

Morgan also suggested that the contest is a "rigged farce" and suggested Ukraine would have won regardless of their act.

Piers Morgan has said of the latest Eurovision winners: "They got the sympathy vote, which is fine as long as we drop the word 'contest' from Eurovision." Photo / Getty Images

He added in a separate tweet: "The world's most absurd, pointless, politically-motivated 'contest' excels itself. Ukraine could have sent one of its heroic bomb-sniffing dogs to bark the national anthem and still won. Happy for them, but please let's stop calling #Eurovision a contest... it's a rigged farce."

Morgan continued: "The result of an international singing 'contest' shouldn't be determined by which countries are suffering most at the time of the 'contest' or there is no point having a contest."

Kalush Orchestra frontman Oleh Psiuk thinks that the song, which pays tribute to his mother, has been re-purposed as a rallying cry for Ukraine amid the conflict with Russia.

He said: "After it all started with the war and the hostilities, it took on additional meaning, and many people started seeing it as their mother, Ukraine, in the meaning of the country.

"It has become really close to the hearts of so many people in Ukraine."