All songs for the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 have been selected. During the weeks between the national final season and the actual Eurovision Song Contest, we will introduce all 43 entries in random order. Part eight of the series is dedicated to the Ukrainian entry.

Basic information

Performer:	Mika Newton (�iка ����он)
Song:	Angel
Language:	English
Music:	Ruslan Kvinta
Lyrics:	Maryna Skomorohova
Draw:	6th in the second semi final

The song

Angel is a mid-tempo pop ballad. The lyrics are a declaration of love using angels and birds as metaphores for her and her lover:

Love is taking all the space
Baby, I love you… and you?

We are birds
We fly so high and we are falling down
When I dream of you
My dream is so fearless

The performer

Mika Newton, whose real name is Oksana Gritsay, has been singing since her childhood. Over the years, she took part in quite a number of music festivals including the New Wave contest in 2008. Since 2005, four albums were released – three in Ukrainian and one in English. Her first song Anomaliya was a major hit both in Ukraine and Russia. Furthermore, she recorded songs with producer Walter Afanasieff, who is known for his work with acts auch as Celine Dion and Mariah Carey. Mika Newton is also an occassional actress.

She competed in the Ukrainian national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2011. With Angels, she won the national final. Despite a scandal surrounding the results of the national final (read below) she was eventually announced to go to Düsseldorf with a revamped version of the song.

The songwriters

Angels was written by Ruslan Kvinta (music) and Maryna Skomorohova (lyrics). Ruslan Kvinta is known for his work with various Ukrainian artists. Among others, he wrote the song Odna Kalyna for Sofia Rotaru. He also composed the music for the film Zhizn vrasplokh.

The national selection

Ukraine started its televised selection in 2010. Five quarter finals and three semi finals were held. 19 songs competed in the final and the winner was chosen by a jury, SMS voting and internet voting. Mika Newton was announced to be the winner of all three, but shortly after the final the suspicion of miscounted votes came up. A new national final with only the top three competing was announced. However, the other two artists withdrew and therefore Mika Newton qualified for the Eurovision Song Contest in Düsseldorf.

Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest

Ukraine joined the Eurovision Song Contest in 2003. Despite a mediocre debut and a poor result on homeground in 2005, the country won the contest once, finished second twice and another two times in the top ten making it one of the most successful countries in recent years. However, 2009 marked the third year ever that the country finished outside the top ten.

Statistics

This will be Ukraine's ninth participation in the Eurovision Song Contest. Including Verka Serduchka, it will be the seventh time in total and the sixth year in a row that that country is being represented by a female solo performer. Furthermore, it will be the sixth time that the Ukrainian entry is performed entirely in English. Besides, all Ukrainian entries to date were at least partly performed in English.

Angel will be the sixth song to be performed in the second semi final. It is preceeded by the mid-tempo R&B ballad from Slovakia and it is followed by the up-tempo pop rock song from Moldova. A clear disadvantage might be the fact that the Ukrainian entry is performed at the end of a streak of slow or stripped-down songs. Lucky, the Moldovan entry, will be the first more energetic song of the evening. Furthermore, statistically mid-tempo songs have a slightly higher chance of qualifying if they are drawn in a late position.

Ук�а н� �iка ����он бажа мо бага�о �а��� �а га�ни� �ез�л��а� в ����ел�до��!

Videos

Live performance in the national final:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IR16x6zN_14

The preview video:

Debut single Anomyliya:

V plenu:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zc4MfRl2JG4

Tomorrow, we will take a look at the Norwegian entry.

Previous parts of the series:

1. Estonia
2. Italy
3. Croatia
4. Slovakia
5. Lithuania
6. Finland
7. Switzerland