Eurovision 2025 National Selection - Ukrainian participant revealed
Who won the National Selection for Euroviision 2025 (photo: screenshot from the broadcast of Suspilne Kultura)
The national selection for Eurovision 2025 was won by Ziferblat with the song "Bird of Pray". They will represent Ukraine at the international song contest to be held in May in Switzerland, which was revealed on the broadcast of the National Selection.
Performance of the winners in the National Selection for Eurovision 2025: how it was
Thus, the members of Ziferblat presented their performance and performed the song "Bird of Pray" live.
Ziferblat won the National Selection (photo: instagram.com/suspilne.eurovision)
"The song "Bird of Pray" is primarily about freedom. It's about the cycle of life and hope for a happy future. This is a reflection song. It's a kind of confession journey. I tried to put into it all the chaos, anxiety, experiences, and hopes that have been living in my heart since 2022," said guitarist Valentyn Leshchynsky.
Voting results: how many points were given by the judges and the audience
The results were announced in a shelter, as all the participants had to take care of their safety due to the air raid.
This year, the jury consisted of the winner of Eurovision 2016, Jamala, the leader and vocalist of the Ukrainian rock band Bez Obmezhen, Serhiy Tanchynets, and the lead singer of the Ukrainian rock band Go_A, which represented Ukraine at Eurovision 2021, Kateryna Pavlenko. They distributed their points as follows:
- 1 point - Vlad Sheryf
- 2 points - Abiye
- 3 points - DK Enerhetyk
- 4 points - KRYLATA
- 5 points - Future Culture
- 6 points - FIЇNKA
- 7 points - MOLODI
- 8 points - Masha Kondratenko
- 9 points - Ziferblat
- 10 points - KHAYAT.
KHAYAT received the highest score from the jury (screenshot from the broadcast by Suspilne Kultura)
- 1 point - Vlad Sheryf
- 2 points - Future Culture
- 3 points - Abiye
- 4 points - KRYLATA
- 5 points - DK Enerhetyk
- 6 points - KHAYAT
- 7 points - FIЇNKA
- 8 points - Masha Kondratenko
- 9 points - MOLODI
- 10 points - Ziferblat
And Ziferblat won the overall result.
What was the National Selection for Eurovision 2025 like?
A total of 232 solo artists and 72 bands applied for the National Selection this year. This year, applications were also received from abroad - from Sweden, Germany, Poland, the United States, France, Spain, and the United Kingdom.
After that, a list of finalists was formed to compete for the opportunity to represent Ukraine at the song contest. It was as follows:
- Vlad Sheryf - "Wind of change"
- Abiye - "Dim" ("Home")
- MOLODI - "My Sea"
- Future Culture - "Waste My Time"
- Masha Kondratenko - "No Time to Cry"
- KHAYAT - "HONOR"
- FIINKA - "Kultura" ("Culture")
- KRYLATA - "STAY TRUE"
- Ziferblat - "Bird of Pray"
- "DK Enerhetyk - "Sil" ("Salt")
Bookmakers and Euro fans predicted a victory for either Masha Kondratenko, FIЇNKA, or Ziferblat. MOLODI and KHAYAT were also on the list of favorites.
What is known about Eurovision 2025?
Ukraine will be represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2025, held in the Swiss city of Basel at the St. Jakobshalle arena, which can accommodate more than 12 thousand spectators. The semifinals will be held on May 13 and 15, and the final on May 17. Ukraine will perform in the first semi-final.
Switzerland gained the right to host the contest after its representative Nemo won the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 in Malmö, Sweden with the song "The Code". Back then, Ukraine was represented by Alyona Alyona and Jerry Heil with the song "Teresa & Maria". The girls took 3rd place with 453 points.
This year, 37 countries will take part in the competition. The organizers are planning to broadcast the show to a nearby football stadium with a capacity of 20,000 people to attract as many viewers as possible. The budget for the event is estimated at 30-35 million Swiss francs (approximately 32-37 million euros).
"Eurovision 2025 will be the third event of this magnitude in Switzerland after the competitions in Lugano (1956) and Lausanne (1989).
Why does Ukraine need Eurovision?
"Suspilne Broadcasting confirmed Ukraine's participation in the 69th Eurovision Song Contest in September 2024.
However, in recent years, Ukrainians have been actively discussing on social media whether our country needs this event during the war. However, the chairman of the board of Suspilne UA, Mykola Chernotytskyi, is convinced that it does because this competition is a powerful tool for drawing the world's attention to the events in Ukraine.
"This is an important platform for communication with the world. Ukraine mustn't leave the front pages of the world's media so that the world remembers the war that Russia is waging against us. "Eurovision is a key element of cultural diplomacy," Chernotytskyi said in 2024.
In turn, the head of the Ukrainian delegation to the Eurovision Song Contest, Oksana Skybinska, emphasizes that songs such as "Stefania" performed by the winners of the Eurovision Song Contest 2022, KALUSH ORCHESTRA, and "Teresa & Maria", which are heard throughout Europe, remind us of the resilience of the Ukrainian people and the need to support them.
"Eurovision remains a platform where culture speaks not only through music but also through powerful artistic images that can reach those who may not follow the news," says Skybinska.
