With its title Stefaniathe Ukrainian group Kalush Orchestra wins the 66th Eurovision Song Contest on May 14, 2022. A victory marked by solidarity with Ukraine, in conflict with Russia.
The Ukrainian group Kalush Orchestra won the Eurovision music competition on Saturday, held in the Italian city of Turin. Kalush Orchestra, named after the western Ukrainian city of Kalush, performed the song in Ukrainian Stefaniawhich mixes rap and traditional folk music and pays tribute to singer Oleh Psiuk’s mother.
These are 631 points including 439 granted by the public vote which allow Ukraine to easily win the 66th Eurovision Song Contest. A result that the bookmakers had predicted due to the fate of Ukraine and its invasion by Russia since February. Ukrainians place ahead of Briton Sam Ryder and his title space man (466 points) and the Spanish singer Chanel with Slo-Mo (459 points).
Ukraine received the maximum score (12 points) in several former republics or satellite countries of the Soviet Union: Poland, the country in Europe that has hosted the largest number of Ukrainian refugees since the start of the war, Moldova , Latvia, Romania and Lithuania. According to the rules of Eurovision, the next edition of the contest should be held in Ukraine, which would be in the words of Oleh Psiuk “ a new, integrated, developed and flourishing Ukraine “.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was quick to react to Kalush Orchestra’s victory. ” Our music conquers Europe “, declares the president. ” Next year, Ukraine will host Eurovision for the third time in its history. And I believe – not for the last time “, he adds in a publication on Facebook.
This is Ukraine’s third victory in this contest after that of 2004 and especially the 2016 edition – two years after the annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea by Russia – with Jamala and the title “1944”, a song recounting the deportation of the Tatars by Stalin.
If France came in second place last year, it finished this penultimate year of the competition with only 17 points. The title in Breton did not bring luck to France and will not mark the history of the competition, as previous candidates have done.
► Interactive Timeline: These French performances that marked Eurovision