Main points
- In 2017, Ukraine was represented at Eurovision by the band O.Torvald with the song Time, which took 24th place with 36 points.
- After the competition, Zhenya Galich admitted that the group did not want to represent Ukraine, the musicians felt like “white crows” at the competition.
O.Torvald band at Eurovision 2017 / Channel 24 collage
Today, May 14, the second semi-final of the 70th Eurovision Song Contest will take place, where Ukraine's representative LELÉKA will perform. The singer will light up the stage at number 12 with the song Ridnym.
Ukraine has only twice refused to participate in Eurovision: in 2015 and 2019. Our country has always made it to the grand final and won three times: Ruslana (Wild Dances, 2004), Jamala (“1944”, 2016) and Kalush Orchestra (Stefania, 2022), but it has not shown good results in all competitions, writes 24 Channel .
Who represented Ukraine the worst at Eurovision?
In 2016, Ukrainian singer Jamala won the Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna. In the Austrian capital, she presented the song “1944”, gaining 534 points based on the results of the jury and audience voting.
The following year, the song contest was held in Kyiv. The semi-finals and final were held at the International Exhibition Center, and the hosts were Volodymyr Ostapchuk, Oleksandr Skichko, and Timur Miroshnychenko.
Then Ukraine was represented by the rock band O.Torvald , which won the National Selection. However, the song Time was not very popular with the jury and the audience, as the group received only 36 points and took 24th place .
O.Torvald – Time: watch the video online
After their failure at Eurovision 2017, the band O.Torvald faced hate. Later, Zhenya Galich admitted that the band did not expect and did not want to represent Ukraine at the song contest.
We thought to expand the audience with the help of the National Selection. And Meladze had a tough time with Danilko. That is, Meladze gave two points to MELOVIN, and Danilko gave two points to TAYANNA. And the winners are the group O.Torvald,
– the musician explained in the “Muz_Trend” project on the DIM TV channel.
Galich added that the band members felt like “white crows” at the competition. The musicians also immediately understood that after Ukraine's victory, it would be difficult for them to take a high place.
On the show “About”, the leader of the band O.Torvald admitted that Eurovision “destroyed” him as a person and personality.
We are a completely original group. We never participated in various competitions. We played in our garages, clubs in our apartments. It was comfortable for us,
– shared Galich.
Let us remind you that in 2018, MELOVIN represented Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest. The show was hosted in the capital of Portugal, Lisbon. The singer took 17th place in the grand final, scoring 130 points with the track Under The Ladder.