Georgia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009
However, on 11 March, GPB announced its withdrawal from the contest after "We Don't Wanna Put In" was rejected by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) for perceived political references to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.[8][9] The winner, "We Don't Wanna Put In" performed by Stephane and 3G, was determined upon by the combination of the votes of an expert jury (70%) and a public televote (30%).[10] The jury was headed by British producer Stephen Budd and also included Zaza Shengelia (music manager), Nika Memanishvili (composer), Mamuka Megrelishvili (music producer of the GPB First Channel), Nino Katamadze (singer), Kakha Kandelaki (marketing director of Eastern Promotions) and Gia Chanturia (deputy general director of the GPB First Channel).[12][13][14] The 2009 Georgian entry garnered international media exposure due to political connotations in its lyrics of the song "We Don't Wanna Put In".It was also reported that the song was ineligible to compete due to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) rules forbidding "lyrics, speeches, gestures of a political or similar nature".