.
On the finish of the video, there’s a display message that notes that the video was filmed in Bucha, Irpin, Borodyanka, and Hostomel—all cities close to Kyiv “that suffered the horrors of Russian occupation.
“Devoted to the courageous Ukrainian individuals, to the moms defending their kids, to all those that gave their lives for our freedom. Each man, each girl, each harmless little one. The struggle in Ukraine has a number of faces, however it’s our mom’s face that preserve our hearts alive within the darkest occasions.”
Now examine that with the video of the tune that was submitted as Ukraine’s official entry for the Eurovision Tune Contest 2022 greater than two months in the past. It was apparently recorded earlier than the struggle started.
Within the Eurovision vote tally, British singer Sam Ryder led after the depend of jury votes from music trade professionals. However the Kalush Orchestra overwhelmingly gained the country-by-country phone public vote, receiving a report 439 factors. The Ukrainian band ended up with 631 votes to 466 for Britain’s entry. Right here’s the second when the ultimate outcomes have been introduced:
At a information convention after the live performance, Psiuk, talking by an interpreter, thanked everybody who had voted for the group and mentioned:
“The victory is essential for Ukraine particularly this 12 months, These days, the Ukrainian tradition was attacked, and we’re right here to show that Ukrainian tradition and music are alive they usually have their very own stunning signature.”
The band members didn’t have a lot time to have fun their Eurovision victory earlier than a worldwide viewers of tens of tens of millions. On Sunday, Psiuk and different Kalush members bid farewell to their family members and headed again to Ukraine to do their half to assist the struggle effort.
Psiuk, an Eminem-obsessed rapper, initially wrote the profitable tune earlier than the Russian invasion as a tribute to his mom, Stefania, nevertheless it took on new that means after the struggle started. The music combines shut vocal harmonies rooted in folks music, upbeat rap verses by Psiuk, and flute-like melodies performed on conventional Ukrainian woodwind devices, the sopilka and the telenka. Kalush is the city in western Ukraine within the foothills of the Carpathian mountains the place Psiuk was born.
The tune incorporates such lyrics as: “You may’t take my will energy from me, as I acquired it from her,” and “I’ll at all times discover my means residence, even when the roads are destroyed.”
The Kalush Orchestra needed to overcome many obstacles simply to succeed in the Eurovision finals in Turin. The band didn’t even know it could be Ukraine’s official Eurovision till just some days earlier than the Russian invasion. Kalush had positioned second to singer Alina Pash within the televised competitors to find out Ukraine’s entry. However Pash withdrew after it was decided that she had visited Russian-annexed Crimea in 2015, violating the eligibility guidelines for the competitors.
After the struggle broke out, the band members have been scattered across the nation and couldn’t rehearse collectively for the stay finals in Turin, Psiuk instructed Germany’s Der Spiegel information journal, including they might meet for on-line observe each time they might.
They usually have been concerned in efforts to assist the struggle effort. Dancer Slavik Hnatenko, who additionally runs the band’s social media, selected to stay in Ukraine as a result of he was combating with Kyiv’s territorial protection pressure. In a video interview earlier than the finals, Hnatenko instructed The New York Instances that he felt the band’s look at Eurovision was “equally necessary.” “It’s an opportunity to indicate the world that our spirit is tough to interrupt,” he mentioned.
Psiuk himself began a volunteer group referred to as “De ty” (“The place are you?”) to offer homeless Ukrainians with medication, transportation, and housing, and mentioned he was ready to combat if requested.
Ukraine’s authorities has required males aged 18 to 60 to remain within the nation in case they’re wanted within the struggle. However President Volodymyr Zelenskyy granted the Kalush members particular permission to depart the nation to participate within the Eurovision live performance. The band traveled by land to Poland after which flew to Italy. They have been capable of rehearse collectively and play a number of profit concert events within the weeks earlier than the finals. And on Saturday evening, the Kalush Orchestra got here by within the Eurovision finals.
After performing the tune, Psiuk put his hand to his coronary heart and shouted: “I ask for all of you, please assist Ukraine, Mariupol. Assist Azovstal proper now.”
The defenders within the besieged Azovstal responded to Kalush’s victory by releasing a video of one in every of their very own troopers singing “Stefania.”
However Russian forces had their very own evil response to Kalush’s enchantment. On Sunday, Russian forces attacked the Azovstal plant with incendiary or phosphorus bombs, in line with Petro Andryushchenko, an adviser to the mayor of Mariupol.
And even worse, Ukrainian officers reported that Russian troops wrote these inscriptions on bombs Sunday that have been meant to be dropped on the metal plant: “Assist Mariupol, Assist Azovstal proper now” and “Kalusha, for Azovstal, similar to you requested.”
A day after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, the European Broadcasting Union, which produces the occasion, banned Russia from collaborating in Eurovision 2022, saying its inclusion may deliver the competitors into disrepute “in mild of the unprecedented disaster in Ukraine.”
The Eurovision Tune Contest, a popular culture extravaganza, is the most-watched non-sports occasion on tv worldwide. And the outcomes mirrored the worldwide solidarity behind Ukraine in its combat towards Russian aggression, and simply how a lot of a global pariah Russia has develop into underneath Vladimir Putin.
Zelenskyy, who was a well-liked entertainer and profitable tv producer earlier than working for president, hailed Kalush’s Eurovision victory as an enormous morale enhance for the Ukrainian individuals after almost three months of struggle.
The Eurovision winner will get to host the competitors the next 12 months. Zelenskyy’s dream is that sometime the occasion may very well be held in Mariupol, which earlier than the struggle hosted the StartUP GogolFest modern arts competition each spring. In a Telegram publish, he mentioned: “Our braveness impresses the world, our music conquers Europe! Subsequent 12 months Ukraine will host Eurovision!.
“We’ll do our greatest to in the future host the contributors and visitors of Eurovision in Ukrainian Mariupol. Free, peaceable, rebuilt! I’m certain our victorious chord within the battle with the enemy isn’t far off.”
