Let’s have a look at them! As February is around the corner, Ukraine is getting ready to hold its annual national selection Vidbir and determine their next Eurovision hopeful. Earlier today, the national brodcaster UA:PBC revealed the artists that have been chosen to compete at the event’s two semi-finals!
16 candidates this year; final on 23 February
This year’s event will be consisting of two semi-finals, taking place on 9 and 16 February respectively, while a Grand Final that will crown the winner will be held on 23 February in Kiev. The jury’s composition is not going to change this year, since its members will be:
- Jamala, Eurovision 2016 winner for Ukraine
- Andriy Danylko (aka Verka Serduchka), comedian, Ukraine’s 2007 hopeful
- Yevhen Filatov – singer and music producer, creator of group Onuka
Announcement came through a Twitter post, with which the names of 16 acts were revealed. It’s worth mentioning that 2019 sees three of last year’s participants returning to the competition, in the hope of the Ukrainian representation at Eurovision. Trying again their luck will be Tayanna, Kazka and Laud. Moreover, further past Vidbir entrants are Letay (2017) and Brunettes Shoot Blondes (2016).
The 16 competing acts of Vidbir 2019 are:
- Kazka
- Brunettes Shoot Blondes
- Ivan Navi
- Letay
- The Hypnotunez
- Freedom Jazz
- Braii
- Vera Kekelia
- Tayanna
- Bahroma
- Laud
- Yuko
- Anna Maria
- Kira Mazur
- Khayat
- TseSho
https://twitter.com/uapbc/status/1083081101403394049
Ukraine at Eurovision
The country of Ukraine entered the Eurovision house in 2003 and was meant to meet the victory the following year, when Ruslana came 1st in Istanbul with her Wild dances. Ukraine’s fortunes in our beloved contest have been quite successful in general and since last year, it has been the only country to have never been eliminated in the semi-final.
Ukraine’s 2nd victory became reality in 2016, with Jamala singing 1994 in Stockholm, a song with historical content which refered to World War II. Last year, the former Soviet country was represented by the young singer Melovin, who finished 17th in the Grand Final with the eccentric performance of his ballad Under the ladder.
