Ukrainian media officials say Russian singer Dima Bilan's win in the Eurovision Song Contest in Belgrade was rigged. The statement was published by a Ukrainian newspaper.

Ukraine's Ani Lorak came second in the competition while the Ukrainian delegation say Russia's first place was a shock for everyone.

Falsification of results is a frequent issue often raised after the automated voting.

There's been only one confirmed case of rigging in 1968 when it was won by Spain by just one point. Then the organising committee didn’t recognise the fact and refused to cancel the results.

In the meantime Russians close to this latest contest say falsification is out of the question.

“When people say, ‘We went outside and asked people, and they all say they didn’t vote for Dima Bilan,’ this is ridiculous. I saw the way the audience reacted in Belgrade, and they had 20,000 of all kinds of people gathered there. It was hardly possible to falsify the vote. The song impressed everybody tremendously. Just consider what the odds were for Bilan. Consider the response in Belgrade and all over Europe. The song was good. The presentation was good. We deserved to win,” Eurovision commentator Dmitry Guberniev said.

And in another twist, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has honoured the artists responsible for Ukraine’s entry.  Both the singer Ani Lorak and the song’s composer were awarded ‘People’s Artists of Ukraine’ titles.

The funny part is that the songwriter is none other than the Russian pop star Filipp Kirkorov. He holds a similar title in Russia and jokes that Lorak’s success is ‘half-Russian’.