Ukrainian entry Kalush Orchestra makes it into Eurovision Song Contest final
- Ukraine’s rap folk band Kalush Orchestra a favourite to win at the world’s biggest live music event
- Russia has been excluded from this year’s Eurovision, as has its neighbour and close ally Belarus
Kalush Orchestra, the Ukrainian entry for this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, has made it into Saturday’s grand final in Turin.
Kalush Orchestra advanced in the first semi-final late Tuesday along with nine other countries.
The musicians from western Ukraine and their song Stefania are the favourites for overall victory at this year’s Grand Prix in the northern Italian city.
The song addressed to a mother, which mixes hip-hop and traditional Ukrainian music, was written before Russia’s February invasion of Ukraine.
But with striking lyrics such as “I’ll always find my way home even if all the roads are destroyed”, the song has become “really close to the hearts of many Ukrainians”, said frontman rapper Oleh Psiuk, who along with the band received special government authorisation to attend Eurovision.
“There are efforts that have been made now to destroy and discredit Ukrainian culture, but we are here to show that Ukrainian music and Ukrainian culture exists,” Psiuk said Sunday during the official kick-off to the competition.