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Ukraine Wins Eurovision Song Contest

Turin, Italy —(Map)

On Saturday, Ukraine’s Kalush Orchestra won the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest with its song “Stefania”. The group, which mixes hip-hop with Ukrainian folk music, was a popular favorite following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The Eurovision Song Contest, often called simply “Eurovision”, is one of the most popular song-writing contests in the world. It’s famous for unusual music and performances. Except for 2020, Eurovision has been held every year since 1956.

This year, 40 countries took part in Eurovision, including some countries outside Europe, like Israel and Australia. Each country is allowed to enter one song. The song is performed live by a singer or a group from the country. The performances are carried on TV, radio, and the internet.

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On Saturday, Ukraine’s Kalush Orchestra (above) won the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest with its song “Stefania”. The group, which mixes hip-hop with Ukrainian folk music, was a popular favorite following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

All the countries get to vote for the best songs, but they can’t vote for their own song. Each country gets votes of two kinds. The “jury” vote comes from a small group of music professionals from the country. The “televote” comes from ordinary people in the country who vote by phone.

Eurovision has often been accused of being “political”. That’s because sometimes the way countries vote may have more to do with politics than with the actual quality of the songs.

This year, the Russian invasion of Ukraine made Eurovision even more political than usual. Because of its invasion, Russia wasn’t allowed to take part this year. The show was held in Turin, Italy, and opened with 1,000 musicians performing the song Give Peace A Chance”.

Ukraine’s Kalush Orchestra seen in Turin in May, 2022, wearing black and carrying Ukrainian flags..
The words to the winning song, “Stefania”, have taken on new meanings with all the bombing Russia has carried out in Ukraine. One line of the song says, “I’ll always find my way home, even if all roads are destroyed.” Above, the Kalush Orchestra.
(Source: EBU/Sarah Louise Bennett, Eurovision TV.)

“Stefania”, the song performed by the Kalush Orchestra, was written about the mother of the group’s leader. But the words to the song have taken on new meanings with all the bombing Russia has carried out in Ukraine. One line of the song says, “I’ll always find my way home, even if all roads are destroyed.”

Oleg Psiuk, the leader of the Kalush Orchestra, told CNN, “As we speak, our country and our culture is under threat. But we want to show that we are alive. Ukrainian culture is alive.”

Ukraine was clearly the crowd favorite. The country won 439 points in the televoting – far more than any entry has ever won before. Ukraine also took 192 points in jury votes, with many nearby countries, like Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, and Romania giving the highest number of points possible.

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Ukraine was clearly the crowd favorite. The country won 439 points in the televoting – far more than any entry has ever won before. Above, Eurovision presenters stand with the Kalush Orchestra.

The win brought huge cheers across the country of Ukraine, as people watched or listened to the contest on Sunday night.

The United Kingdom, represented by Sam Ryder singing the song “Space Man”, took second place in the contest. Spain’s Chanel came in third with the song “SloMo”. Many musicians from other countries showed support for Ukraine during their performances, either through words or by showing Ukrainian flags.

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The United Kingdom, represented by Sam Ryder singing the song “Space Man” (above), took second place in the contest. Spain’s Chanel came in third with the song “SloMo”.

Normally, the country that wins the Eurovision contest also wins the right to hold the next contest. That won’t be easy this time. But Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said he hopes that “one day” Ukraine can hold the Eurovision contest in Mariupol.

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