Georgia has withdrawn from the Eurovision song contest after their proposed entry was banned for being too political. The track We Don't Wanna Put In was rejected by event organisers for containing obvious references to Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin – particularly in the song's title. Now Georgia's state broadcaster has issued a statement saying they are not prepared to change the lyrics.
It reads: "Our song ... does not contain political statements and the public broadcaster is not going to change the text of the song and refuses to go to competition in Moscow."
Georgia's relationship with Russia is still tense following the brief conflict involving the two countries last August.
Eurovision entries have been accused of being too overtly political since the 1960s. And as recently as 2005, Ukraine was forced to rewrite its song, which focused on the country's "orange revolution".
Earlier this week it was reported that Russia shocked some of its pop fans by choosing a former Ukrainian contender as their own Eurovision representative.
The chorus of the Georgian song is:
We don't wanna put in,
Cuz negative move,
It's killin' the groove,
I'm gonna try to shoot in,
Some disco tonight,
Boogie with you.
