Once again, despite awful conditions on the ground, Ukraine’s broadcaster Suspline has managed to get a National final to the screens of Ukraine and Europe. I still don’t know how on earth they manage it! Unlike last year, the final does not seem to be in a bomb shelter but in an actual venue, and, as you would expect from Ukraine, high technical and production values came across on the screen. Anyone who still has doubts they can do a HDTV broadcast can get in the bin after the last two years!
Eleven songs were performed on the stage in Kyiv this year, and a three-person jury consisting of Verka, Jamala, and Sergii Tanchynets had 50% of the voting power. They were selected through an earlier public vote with over 700,000 votes cast, along with 50% televote.
As well as the acts, Ruslana, Tvorchi, Kalush Orchestra, Jamala, Verka, Tina Karol, and last year’s Junior Eurovision representatives Anastasia and Svitlana gave some guest performances.
Then something weird happened, the live show wasn’t live but was recorded previously, for security reasons, then we cut to an air raid shelter where everyone was situated. From what I can get, they had lost power and the voting app went down so they talked and talked and talked for a long time before sacking off the results until 1805 CET on Sunday 4th with the televoting and app window extended until then.
All back tomorrow then?