Somehow, almost immediately after our wedding, my wife and I started a tradition—watching Eurovision every year. I wouldn’t say we’re huge fans of European pop music, but every now and then, some genuinely interesting bands pop up, and some of them even end up in my playlist. More often than not, they’re not even the winners. And honestly, we’ve always enjoyed the voting part the most. For example, I’ve been convinced for a long time that all professional juries should be kicked out. From those selecting the songs for the contest to those sitting there with serious faces, pretending to judge them. Ever since they started showing the jury votes separately from the public vote, it became crystal clear how far removed these so-called professionals are from the actual audience.
This year, Ukraine was the clear favorite. Of course, most commentators were yelling that it was all because of the war, that nobody actually cared about the song, and that Ukraine was going to win purely for political reasons.
After watching all the performances, I realized that Ukraine had a completely fair shot at winning. Because, as usual, the majority of entries were utterly uninspiring garbage. I just don’t understand why countries keep sending songs that fail to resonate with anyone. From my perspective, a song should be unique and memorable—and I mean the song itself, not just the spectacle, a bearded man-woman, or a singer who promised to die on stage but is still alive and kicking years later.
This year, Kalush Orchestra from Ukraine stood out far more than anyone else. Their song was performed in their native language, blending folk elements with modern genres. It was different, and that made them stand out from the rest.
The only real competition, in my opinion, came from my long-time favorites, Zdob și Zdub, but as much as I love them, their entry this year felt like a self-rehash of their past performances. That said, this was already their third time representing Moldova at Eurovision.
I also liked the Danish rocker girls, who were clearly trying to channel last year’s winners, Måneskin. At least they were fun to watch. But even that wasn’t enough to get them through the semifinals.
Beyond that, there wasn’t much to see. (To be fair, some contestants did try to grab attention more with their “show” than their songs…)
Even though the organizers insisted on keeping politics out of the contest and even banned open displays of support for Ukraine, many artists still found subtle ways to show solidarity—a small flag on a hand, a symbol on a guitar. But Kalush Orchestra went all in and risked disqualification by shouting words of support for Mariupol and the soldiers at Azovstal at the end of their final performance. They even ended with “Slava Ukraini!” (Glory to Ukraine!)—and the audience loudly responded with “Heroyam Slava!” (Glory to the Heroes!).
The organizers quickly (before the contest even ended) clarified that this was not a political statement, but a humanitarian one. As if they could have said anything else, given the overwhelming public support!
In the end, despite the bizarre voting from the “professionals,” the public vote propelled Ukraine to victory. They scored close to the theoretical maximum in televoting, meaning that nearly every country gave them either 12 or 10 points.
And the very next day, they released their official music video, clearly shot in advance. And let me tell you, it hits hard—especially when paired with such a strong song. Absolutely chilling. No doubt about it—they deserved their victory in this otherwise pop-heavy contest. Even if you don’t like the song itself, watch the music video.
