Until it was abandoned, the 2020 contest was shaping up to be a classic contest. A number of countries were being touted for a win, including some of those that 'get' Eurovision, and one or two others. Of course, we'll never know. But many of the Class of 2020 got the 2021 gig too.
Ukraine's Go_A won their national selection in 2020, and got an automatic gig in 2021. They were fronted by today's birthday girl Катерина Павленко/Kateryna Pavlenko. She's...
The joy of being your country's first ever entrant in our favourite TV show. You've gone where no-one from your country has ever been before, and no-one can take away the fact you were the first.
Your status as your country's first might get slightly forgotten if someone from your country wins the following year. This fate might have befallen today's birthday boy Олександр Пономарьов/Olexandr Ponomariov. He was Ukraine's first in 2003, and set up Ruslana's win a year later....
Eurovision can be a serious business. As you see every year, some countries take the contest seriously, and seem to know how to do well. Others, well, try hard at least.
One of those countries that seem to 'get' Eurovision is Ukraine. Three wins in the 21st Century, and a whole host of high placings. In 2024, Ukraine sent today's birthday girl альона альона/alyona alyona (née Альо́на Олегівна Савране́нко/Aliona Olehivna Savranenko along with her pal Дже́ррі Гейл/Jerry Heil. It was...
We love all songs here. For all their musical ability, or kickass prop, every song - and that's EVERY song - will have at least one fan.
Having said that, you must know there is that sort of song that few give a hope to. It lacks a bit of musical merit. The singer isn’t that good at her craft, even though she looks OK. You fear that the song will do well because of where it comes from. You...
UKRAINE – Ziferblat – Bird of Pray
Until Luxembourg’s return last year, Ukraine held the proud record as the only country to have taken part in semifinals and never failed to qualify from one. I suspect that that record needs an asterisk though – a couple of entries that went straight to the final might well have found themselves up against it in a qualifying round.
Bird of Pray (and after weeks of consideration, I remain uncertain whether that’s a piece...
Ukraine
Ziferblat – Bird of pray
Ukraine rarely sends a bad entry to Eurovision—though some years, it’s felt like they’ve sent merely decent songs and disguised them with dazzling staging, gravity-defying outfits, and a whiff of tactical voting. There’s often been a generous helping of wartime sympathy too, though that effect seemed to dip slightly last year. This time? Who knows. With days still to go, the political winds could shift again.
Bird of Pray is… fine. It’s not reinventing anything, but it’s...
Ukraine - Ziferblat - Bird of Pray
Despite having one of their number on our little radio show during NF season, that isn't going to cloud my judgement of this song - though what *is* going to cloud it is the ridiculous on-stage concept (that I had explained to me, but still don't fully understand).
The national final performance looks like it's straight out of the 1970s, and has very little to do with the song, which is clearly the script...
Bird of Prey by Ziferblat
With three wins and an unblemished qualification record since their debut in 2003 Ukraine is Eurovision’s most successful late starter. You could argue that since the Russian invasion in 2022 they’ve had something of a boosted sympathy vote, but earlier results demonstrate that the quality has long been there.
Enter Ziferblat, last year’s Vidbir runners-up, with this. It’s a bit of a mishmash of styles with some jazz elements alongside indie guitars and a garden...
If you want to get ahead, you need a showstopper of a song. It's obvious, isn't it. But how to stop that show? With a song that you can't help falling in love with? Or with a bonkers stage show? Both have their merits.
Today's birthday boy Меловін/Mélovin (né Костянти́н Микола́йович Бочаро́в/Kostyantyn Mykolayovych Bocharov) had a song that you could possibly have fallen in love with, but it probably falls into the bonkers stage show category. If you've seen what...
We often pick up on the gimmicks used to give your song that extra push. Those things that make your average viewer sit up enough to pick up their telephone and wote for you. Occasionally, there are times when you might forget a singer is there, and concentrate on the sideshow.
This happened in 2011 with the song by today's birthday girl Міка Ньютон/Mika Newton (née Оксана Грицай/Oksana Hrytsay). She took a song with a familiar title - Angel -...
