Ukraine is a country that takes Eurovision seriously. This year's national final, which took place on February 21st, showed that a one year absence from the contest hasn't changed the quality of the song and performer they send.
Unlike the rest of the national finals I've watched so far, this is the first one that I haven't found disappointing. Out of the six songs that were in the national final, only one song was not strong enough to represent the country in Stockholm.
Brunettes Shoot Blondes "Every Monday"
Sorry Brunettes Shoot Blondes. You had no chance. But I love your band name.
Any of the other five songs would have been a strong entry, but only two songs really had a chance to win.
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Jamala "1944"
The Hardkiss "Helpless"
Both songs are musically interesting and well performed and after the votes of the juries and viewers at home were combined, they both received an equal number of points. However, "1944" received more televotes, superseding the judges preference, and Jamala will be heading to Stockholm.
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I was personally happy about the choice because Jamala is an artist whose career I've been following for a number of years, having discovered her after hearing her cover of the song "History Repeating".
Jamala "History Repeating"
I also loved her song from the last time she tried to represent her country in Eurovision.
Jamala "Smile" 2011 Ukraine National Final
So even if this song was weak, I would have hoped she would win the competition.
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Jamala's win has been controversial. "1944" is about the forced deportation of Crimean Tatars from Ukraine to Central Asia, based on the stories of the artist's great-grandmother's experience, and many consider it to be too political to be performed on the Eurovision stage.
The EBU has given the go-ahead for the song to be performed determining the song does not contain political speech. It is the right decision. There is no denying the song is political, but it is not a song that names a group in a way that would peg it as political speech. It is a category of songs like Russia's 2005 entry about American school shootings, Monaco's 1967 entry about the the fear of dying in a nuclear bombing, or Greece's 1976 entry about the Turkish occupation/invasion of Northern Cyprus.
Ukraine made a good choice when sending Jamala, and I'm looking forward to her performance in May.
Usually, I'm all aboard on the Ukraine's entry. Ruslana's winning song back in 2004 is one of my guilty pleasure winners of the song contest and the campy delights of Verka Seduchka really should not be missed. Even Ukrainian entrants that aren't as successful are still pretty decent in my book, like the protest song by GreenJolly.
With that said, let's take a listen to Ukraine's entrant from last year.
Mika Newton "Angel"
Yep, it's the one with the awesome sand animation. I have to hand it to the Ukrainian Eurovision producers. They took a pretty singer with middling talent and no stage presence singing an uninspired ballad about angels while wearing a dress with chicken feathers glued to the shoulders and turned it into something memorable enough to place fourth.
But honestly, would you have paid attention to the song had it not been for Kseniya Simonova's artistry? Doubtful.
But imagine my chagrin when I discovered one of my favorite Eurovision songs of 2011 was passed over for BrzezinskiOlivia.
Jamala "Smile"
I admit I'm a fan of quirk, so Jamala's "Smile" is definitely up my alley. But just based on stage presence and vocal ability, Jamala should have won the contest.
But the final was marred by voter irregularities, so I shouldn't really be surprised that a less worthy song happened to be sent to Düsseldorf. And it's a shame, because Jamala would have gone down very well among my group of Eurovision fans...
