Ukraine takes the Eurovision spotlight as the weirdest show on earth returns

At first sight, the six-piece group appear to fit in comfortably with dozens of their extra eccentric Eurovision brethren.

Most members put on elaborate nationwide costume, with rapper Psyuk additionally sporting a pink bucket hat. One member is so submerged by patterned embroidery that solely his mouth is seen, whereas the group’s double bassist comes dressed as a ball of yarn.

However getting Kalush Orchestra to the Eurovision stage took some doing, and their journey is deeply interwoven with the conflict at residence.

The band initially completed second in Ukraine’s nationwide choice competitors, however they had been elevated after it emerged the winner had beforehand traveled to Russian-annexed Crimea. They had been unveiled because the nation’s entry on February 22, two days earlier than Russian troops invaded Ukraine.

“All members of the group are by some means concerned within the protection of the nation,” Psyuk instructed CNN through e-mail.

One member, Vlad Kurochka, joined the territorial protection and is preventing on the entrance line, which means a late alternative was wanted for the competition. Psyuk, in the meantime, volunteers to seek out internally displaced Ukrainians shelter and organizes the transportation of meals and medicines.

The backdrop of battle sophisticated preparations for Eurovision. The group had been pressured to rehearse just about till they had been lastly in a position to meet in Lviv after weeks of conflict.

And their tune has taken on new which means. “Stefania,” sung in Ukrainian, is a tribute to Psyuk’s mom, who nonetheless lives within the western metropolis of Kalush from which the band takes its title. “On some days there are rockets flying over folks’s homes and it is sort of a lottery — nobody is aware of the place it can hit,” Psyuk instructed CNN.

Organizers banned Russia from the competition in February, 24 hours after an preliminary, broadly criticized determination to permit it to participate. The European Broadcasting Union concluded that the nation’s presence “would carry the competitors into disrepute.”

Belarus, which aided Moscow’s invasion, had already been suspended as a result of suppression of media freedom within the nation.

Kalush, in the meantime, sailed by means of Tuesday’s semifinal and elicited wild cheers from the group once they got here onstage. Eurovision is notoriously troublesome to foretell, given its level system depends each on jury verdicts and public voting from dozens of nations, however Kalush appear a secure wager to take this yr’s crown.

A Ukrainian victory would imply the nation had the best to host subsequent yr’s contest — however it’s removed from sure that such an occasion can be potential in Ukraine subsequent Might.

Psyuk, although, is optimistic. “We imagine in our tune … it has turn into a tune in regards to the motherland,” he mentioned.

“If it seems that we are going to win, Eurovision 2023 will probably be held in Ukraine. In a brand new, integral Ukraine … a rebuilt, affluent, completely satisfied nation.”

The frontrunners

Kalush Orchestra are becoming a member of a sometimes ragtag group of nationwide rivals at this yr’s contest, and whereas they’re the clear favorites to triumph, a variety of different artists have managed to get Europe speaking within the build-up.

Subwoolfer, Norway’s enigmatic electro duo, have additionally attracted buzz with their entry “Give That Wolf a Banana.”

The pair declare they had been fashioned on the moon 4.5 billion years in the past and by no means take away their yellow canine masks. They most carefully resemble a TikTok-ified Daft Punk, had the legendary French pair employed David Lynch as their inventive director and hit the children’ events circuit.

Much less “on the market” are entries from Sweden, Poland and Greece — all three have introduced ballads to the desk which can be positive to curiosity the nationwide juries.

And listed here are some phrases this seasoned Eurovision reporter by no means thought he’d sort: The UK would possibly win this yr.

That is proper — the nation that has, previously decade, despatched what stays of Bonnie Tyler and Engelbert Humperdinck to compete with Europe’s up-and-comers has reluctantly accepted that modernity isn’t just a passing fad, turning to a TikTok sensation in a play for Europe’s under-65 demographic.

Sam Ryder’s “Area Man” is an unusually sturdy British entry that takes inspiration from Elton John and Ziggy Stardust-era Bowie, and a few bookmakers give solely Ukraine higher odds to win.

However the observe depends closely on the outstanding vocal acrobatics that helped Ryder go viral in the course of the early days of the pandemic — so he cannot afford an off-night if he is to interrupt the UK’s 25-year Eurovision curse.

One of the best (and worst) of the remaining

Italy is hoping to placed on a present on Saturday night time, to mark the primary post-Covid Eurovision in entrance of a full viewers. The 2020 version was canceled, and final yr’s came about with crowd restrictions.

That competitors marked the discharge of two years’ value of suppressed weirdness, and the tone of this contest is considerably extra conventional by comparability. However that is nonetheless Eurovision, and it’s nonetheless bizarre — so informal viewers tuning in completely to shake their heads and tut will not be let down.

Already eradicated are Latvia, whose environmentally aware anthem “Eat Your Salad” started with the road “I do not eat meat, I eat veggies and p*ssy.” Organizers unsurprisingly requested them to skip over the feline allusions, and in doing so wiped away the tune’s solely fascinating characteristic.

Serbia’s Konstrakta begins her entry, “In Corpore Sano,” with the query conserving us all up at night time: “What may very well be the key of Meghan Markle’s wholesome hair?” Then she kind of simply … retains going with that theme. “What might or not it’s?” Konstrakta sings in her native tongue. “I believe it is all in regards to the deep hydration.”

Final yr, the landlocked micronation of San Marino inexplicably included Flo Rida of their tune, after which pressured the bemused rapper to sit down and watch because the folks of Europe successively shrugged at his waning star energy, dumping the nation to a fourth-from-bottom end.

This yr, Achille Lauro — a person who takes his stage title from a famously hijacked cruise ship — picks up the mantle for the smallest nation within the competitors. With a tattooed, androgynous aesthetic and lyrics that liken his coronary heart to a intercourse toy, Lauro might be the unhealthy boy of Eurovision 2022. (Although he is nonetheless bought a method to go to beat final yr’s winners, who had been in the end cleared of taking cocaine on air following a viral video that sparked an investigation by organizers.)

Different lengthy pictures value your time embrace Stefan, Estonia’s reply to Johnny Money. He is performed up the Western theme in his music video, and although his Eastwoodian credentials lengthen about so far as with the ability to put on a poncho and stare somberly into the center distance, his throaty vocals and catchy refrain might bother the frontrunners.

After which there are party-crashers Australia. Initially invited in 2015 to mark the present’s sixtieth anniversary, Australia proceed to rock up annually, boxed wine in hand, awkwardly laughing alongside at Europe’s inside jokes and hoping to clinch a victory for the hardcore followers who get up within the early hours to look at the present again residence.

To be honest to Australia, they offer it their all — and this yr’s competitor Sheldon Riley’s aptly named observe “Not the Similar” is anticipated to show in a good end.

And the recognition of Eurovision within the southern hemisphere is testomony to its rising energy, even in its seventh decade.

Eurovision, for all its oddities, maintains a particular place within the cultural calendar. However successful can be uniquely important for Kalush Orchestra, and it is arduous to think about a extra standard victor within the event’s historical past.

“For us, the victory would imply appreciation of Ukrainian music, its uniqueness and wonder,” Psyuk instructed CNN. “The victory would additionally raise the spirit of Ukrainian folks, who (have) not had any break (for) pleasure for greater than two months.”

Eurovision airs at 9 p.m. native time (3 p.m. ET) on Saturday, and it is obtainable on Peacock for US viewers.