星空传媒

Skip to main content

Ukraine band favoured in Eurovision Song Contest final

Kalush Orchestra from Ukraine celebrate progressing to the final during the first semi final at the Eurovision Song Contest in Turin, Italy, Tuesday, May 10, 2022. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno) Kalush Orchestra from Ukraine celebrate progressing to the final during the first semi final at the Eurovision Song Contest in Turin, Italy, Tuesday, May 10, 2022. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Share
MILAN -

Ukrainian band Kalush Orchestra and its members' folk-hip hop anthem to their war-torn nation is the oddsmaker's favorite to win the Eurovision Song Contest, an event intended to celebrate diversity and promote friendship among nations.

Twenty-five bands are set to compete Saturday in the grand final of the annual songwriting contest. It's taking place in northern Italy's industrial city of Turin. Last year, 183 million people watched the televised competition.

For the Ukrainian community in Italy, Kalush Orchestra's participation in such a hugely popular international event puts an important spotlight on Ukrainian culture while providing a platform to keep global attention focused on Russia's invasion and war in Ukraine.

About 50 people created a flash mob when Kalush Orchestra appeared on an outdoor stage in Turin this week, amplifying international calls for help getting remaining civilians and fighters out of a steel plant that is the last Ukrainian holdout in the southern city of Mariupol.

鈥淲e see Eurovision as an international event where the presence of Ukraine and Ukrainian culture is very important,鈥 said Zoia Stankovska, a Milan-based lawyer who helped organize the flash mob. 鈥淎t the moment, Eurovision is also a place where our voice is being heard.鈥

Kalush Orchestra's Eurovision entry 鈥淪tefania鈥 was written as the frontman's tribute to his mother but has become an anthem to the motherland since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24.

The song is a mashup of traditional Ukrainian folk music and contemporary hip hop elements - a trend in Ukrainian music especially since Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea - and offers an especially strong message against Russia's false assertion that Ukrainian culture is not unique, Stankovska said.

The band's success is serving as a sort of morale booster for Ukrainians living in Italy, Stankovska said. 鈥淲hen you have such terrible things going on, to have some good news is something really helpful," she said.

Italy is hosting Eurovision this year because the Rome-based glam rock band Maneskin won last year's contest. On the day after Russian invaded Ukraine, the European Broadcasting Union said Russia would not be allowed an entry in the contest.

For Saturday's final, 20 winners from the semifinals held on Tuesday and Thursday will join bands from the so-called big five of Italy, France, Germany, Spain and Britain.

While Kalush Orchestra is the sentimental favorite, receiving the most enthusiastic response from Wednesday's open-air audience, the final decision is split between a professional jury and the viewing public.

Ukraine won twice before, in 2004 and 2016.

If Ukraine wins this year, Stockholm is offering to host next year's event in case the war is still going on then.

鈥淭his is a way to continue to show support,鈥 Stockholm Mayor Anna K脙露nig Jerlmyr told Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet. 鈥淲e want Ukraine to know that they are welcome to arrange the competition in Stockholm, if needed.鈥

Luca Bruno in Turin, Italy, and Jan Olsen in Copenhagen contributed.

CTVNews.ca 星空传媒

Three men were injured after trying to subdue a man armed with a knife during afternoon prayers at a Montreal-area mosque Friday afternoon.

Police have arrested an 18-year-old woman who allegedly stole a Porsche and then ran over its owner in an incident that was captured on video.

Since she was a young girl growing up in Vancouver, Ginny Lam says her mom Yat Hei Law made it very clear she favoured her son William, because he was her male heir.

A 15-year-old boy who was the subject of an emergency alert in New Brunswick has been arrested.

The search for a missing six-year-old boy in Shamattawa is continuing Friday as RCMP hope recent tips can help lead to a happy conclusion.

Emergency crews in northern Ontario found the bodies of four people inside a home where a fire broke out Thursday night.

Local Spotlight

Getting a photograph of a rainbow? Common. Getting a photo of a lightning strike? Rare. Getting a photo of both at the same time? Extremely rare, but it happened to a Manitoba photographer this week.

An anonymous business owner paid off the mortgage for a New Brunswick not-for-profit.

They say a dog is a man鈥檚 best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.

A growing group of brides and wedding photographers from across the province say they have been taken for tens of thousands of dollars by a Barrie, Ont. wedding photographer.

Paleontologists from the Royal B.C. Museum have uncovered "a trove of extraordinary fossils" high in the mountains of northern B.C., the museum announced Thursday.

The search for a missing ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey ended with a tragic discovery Wednesday.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is celebrating an important milestone in the organization's history: 50 years since the first women joined the force.

It's been a whirlwind of joyful events for a northern Ontario couple who just welcomed a baby into their family and won the $70 million Lotto Max jackpot last month.

A Good Samaritan in New Brunswick has replaced a man's stolen bottle cart so he can continue to collect cans and bottles in his Moncton neighbourhood.