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Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest
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Ukraine has been represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 20 times since making its debut in 2003. The current Ukrainian participating broadcaster in the contest is the Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine (UA:PBC/Suspilne), which has selected its entrant with the national competition Vidbir in recent years. Ukraine has won the contest three times: in 2004 with "Wild Dances" by Ruslana, in 2016 with "1944" by Jamala, and in 2022 with "Stefania" by Kalush Orchestra, thus becoming the first country in the 21st century and the first Eastern European country to win the contest three times. The 2005 and 2017 contests were held in Kyiv, while the 2023 contest was held in Liverpool, United Kingdom, due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
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Since the introduction of the semi-final round in 2004, Ukraine is one of the only two countries outside of the "Big Five" to have qualified for the final of every contest they have competed,[a] and has been placed outside the top-ten only six times.[1] Ukraine has a total of nine top-five placements, with "Dancing Lasha Tumbai" by Verka Serduchka (2007) and "Shady Lady" by Ani Lorak (2008) both finishing second, "Gravity" by Zlata Ognevich (2013) as well as "Teresa & Maria" by Alyona Alyona and Jerry Heil (2024) third, "Angel" by Mika Newton fourth (2011), and "Shum" by Go_A fifth (2021), in addition to its wins. The only countries with more top-five results in the 21st century are Sweden (13) and Russia (10).
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History
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The National Television Company of Ukraine (NTU) was a full member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) since 1 January 1993, thus eligible to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest since then. It participated in the contest representing Ukraine since its 48th edition in 2003. Since 2017, its successor, the Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine (UA:PBC/Suspilne), is the participating broadcaster representing Ukraine.
NTU made its debut in the contest in 2003, when it finished in 14th place with the song "Hasta la vista" performed by Oleksandr Ponomariov.
Ukraine won the contest at the second attempt in 2004, with the song "Wild Dances" by Ruslana, defeating second-placed Serbia and Montenegro by 17 points, 280 to 263. In 2016, Ukraine became the first Eastern European country to win the contest twice, when "1944" by Jamala won. The televote was won by Russia and the jury vote by Australia; Ukraine was second in both, but won with an overall total of 534 points, with Australia second with 511 points and Russia third with 491 points. In 2017, Ukraine was pre-qualified for the final as hosts, however it achieved its worst result to date – 24th place with 36 points.
Ukraine was absent twice from the contest, in 2015 and 2019, for reasons related to the ongoing war with Russia:
- NTU sat out the 2015 contest because of financial difficulties in relation to the war in Donbas.[2] However, Ukraine broadcast the contest despite not taking part.[citation needed] NTU pledged to bring Ukraine back to the contest for 2016, which was finalized and announced on 16 September 2015.[3]
- Vidbir, the Ukrainian national selection for the 2019 contest, was won by Maruv with "Siren Song". However, UA:PBC required any potential representative in the contest to sign a contract which contained a clause to forbid them from performing in Russia.[citation needed] The winner Maruv, as well as runners-up Freedom Jazz and Kazka, all refused to sign the contract, leading to Ukraine's withdrawal from the contest on 27 February.[4]
In 2020, Go_A won the national selection Vidbir and was set to represent Ukraine with the song "Solovey", before the contest was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They were instead internally selected to represent the country the following year with the song "Shum", with which they finished in fifth place. After the contest, "Shum" entered the Billboard Global 200 at position 158, becoming the first ever Ukrainian-language song to chart there.[5] Ukraine won the contest for a third time in 2022, with the song "Stefania" performed by Kalush Orchestra. "Stefania" later went on to surpass the peak of "Shum" on the Billboard Global 200, charting at position 85.[6]
Since the introduction of the semi-final round in 2004, Ukraine is the only country to have qualified for the final of every edition it has competed in (they were absent from the 2015 and 2019 contests).[note 1] Ukraine has a total of 13 top-ten placements (among those are nine top-five placements). Ukraine's participation and success in the contest has been acknowledged as a factor in the country's growing soft power and international image.[7] This view is shared by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who has supported the country's continued participation following the Russian invasion as a way to promote the Ukrainian national cause internationally.[8]
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Participation overview
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The following lists Ukraine's entries in the Eurovision Song Contest along with their result.[9]
| 1 | First place |
| 2 | Second place |
| 3 | Third place |
| X | Entry selected but did not compete |
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Selection process
Hostings
Following its victory in 2022, Ukraine was initially given the opportunity to host the 2023 contest, however, the EBU later decided that the country would not be able to host due to security concerns caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, making Ukraine the first country since Israel in 1979 to win the contest but not host it the following year.[10] The 2022 runner-up, the United Kingdom, hosted the 2023 contest on Ukraine's behalf, and Ukraine was granted automatic qualification for the final.[11]
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Awards
Marcel Bezençon Awards
Barbara Dex Award
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Related involvement
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Heads of delegation
Each participating broadcaster in the Eurovision Song Contest assigns a head of delegation as the EBU's contact person and the leader of their delegation at the event. The delegation, whose size can greatly vary, includes a head of press, the performers, songwriters, composers, and backing vocalists, among others.[16]
Jury members
Each participating broadcaster assembles a five-member jury panel consisting of music industry professionals for the semi-finals and final of the Eurovision Song Contest, ranking all entries except for their own. The juries' votes constitute 50% of the overall result alongside televoting.[20]
Commentators and spokespersons
 | This section needs additional citations for verification. (February 2020) |
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Photo gallery
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See also
Notes and references
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