#UKRAINE: Live blog of Vidbir 2025 from 17.30CET

By John Stanton on February 8, 2025 • ( Leave a comment )

The national finals are coming thick and fast this weekend. Today includes the turn of Ukraine – a country you can never write off, as they definitely ‘get’ Eurovision.

Ten acts are competing for the lucky Golden Ticket to Basel. Can broadcaster Suspilne find a fourth winner for the country?

As ever, we’re blogging the action as it happens. You can watch it online HERE. All times below are GMT.

21.07 – That’s the blog done. Congratulations to the winners, and we wish them the best of luck in Basel. Good night.

21.06 – It’s Ziferblat for Ukraine. An interesting choice.

21.05 – 9 for Molodi (16), 10 for Ziferblat (19)

21.03 – 7 for Fiinka (13). 8 for Masha Kondratenko (16)

21.01 – 4 for Krylata (8). 5 for DK Enerhetyk (8). 6 for Khayat (16)

21.00 – 1 for Vlad Sheryf (2). 2 for Future Culture (7). 3 for Abiie (5)

20.58 – We may have some public voting results.

20.50 – Results of the jury vote

20.46 – We appear to have moved into a bunker for the jury results. Hmmm

20.43 – Over to the Green Room for some more chatter

20.35 – Jamala is performing her megamix now. Understated as ever

20.34 – Lines are closed

20.32 – That was quick. We’re back

20.30 – But first, an ad break

20.29 – More chatter now. Results can’t be far away

20.24 – Back to the stage. It’s Tina Karol with a megamix

20.20 – Mélovin and Kataryna are in the Green Room

20.18 – It’s Timur’s birthday. He gets serenaded by the Badstreet Boys. His life must be complete.

20.11 – Interval act again. The Badstreet Boys. It’s satire, natch

20.06 – Another recap now.

20.03 – Alyona alyona is in the house. She’s looking well

20.02 – Then to 2023 when Liverpool became an honorary Ukrainian city for two weeks. Again, the memories

19.59 – Then to 2017, when Ukraine hosted again. Ah the memories

19.57 – A look back now. To 2005 when Kyiv first hosted the big show at the Palats Sportu

19.53 – Over to the Green Room. We do have time to kill so why not.

19.51 – She knows how to use two whips at the same time.

19.47 – Ruslana? It is! With Zakrutyna

19.43 – We’re back.

19.40 – Ad break time again.

19.39 – He’s so emotional he’s in tears. His country means so much to him. Slava Ukraini!

19.38 – Our Artem has got one heck of a voice on him. A future Big ESC contestant perhaps?

19.34 – Interval act time. It’s Artem Kotenko, who sang for Ukraine at JESC in Madrid last November.

19.29 – Time for that first recap.

19.27 – Those lines are open for the public to vote by SMS/text

19.23 – More chat now from Tina Karol who’s backstage.

19.17 – A final word from the panel now.

19.16 – The band has a dancer who wields a video camera. That’s different. It’s refreshingly in Ukrainian. The vibe is rock in a slightly downbeat style. There are elements of Depeche Mode 1980s riffs too. Not a bad way to end.

19.11 – The final song – song 10 – comes from DK Enerhetyk. It’s called Sil

19.02 – Over to the panel

19.01 – We have lots of foliage on stage for this. And it also starts in a very chanty way. It mixes English and Ukrainian and has a very different construction. Quite arty, seemingly several songs in one. I suspect people will find it quite marmite. You’ll either love it or hate it.

18.56 – Song nine is Bird of Pray by Ziferblat

18.50 – We’re back

18.47 – Time for an ad break. Don’t go away

18.43 – And over to the expert jury panel.

18.42 – Krylata is in basic black. But her dancers are in white. And black too. This has a very fast beat to it. This is an odd presentation. The dancers don’t seem to interact with Krylata at all, and we see more of them than her. I want to like this, but I’m struggling to. Even though there’s a good voice in there.

18.37 – Song eight is Stay true by Krylata

18.32 – Seven down, so over to the acts in the Green Room.

18.28 – And back to the panel.

18.27 – This has hutsal elements to it (Google it). Yep, definitely ethnic, but with modern elements. It’s another chanty song with some close dancing and individually-dressed dancers. I like the catchy was it bounces along and FIЇNKA has a smoky voice going on. A real crowd pleaser.

18.22 – Song seven comes from FIЇNKA. She sings Kultura

18.17 – Of course, there’s chat with the panel.

18.16 – Khayat starts off in a hooded top. It’s almost a religious song and he warbles along nicely holding some decent notes. There is a serious dance routing accompanying this, with hand movements and dry ice aplenty. The lighting could be a bit better, as there are times when he’s in total darkness. But that dance routine – it’s choreographed within an inch of its life. Very striking.

18.11 – Song six tonight is Honour by Khayat

18.09 – We’re getting a monologue right now. It appears to be very well-meaning.

18.02 – More words from the expert panel.

18.01 – We’re going down a more traditional route for this song. Masha has five pals on stage, stood on boxes with images playing on their backs. The chorus is banging. Very banging. Alomist hypnotic and very catchy. This second verse is more high energy than the first, and the dancers are now dancing. And they’re carrying baby dolls. This has everything going on. Not least that banging beat. That is potent. That is strong.

17.56 – Song five comes from Masha Kondratenko. It’s called No time to cry

17.51 – The Green Room now has occupants, so get some words from them.

17.47 – As ever, we get a few bon mots from the jury.

17.45 – This five-piece band has a number of vocalists. They’re all in white, but casual white. This is a tad funky, almost a summer song. It also gets an electric guitar riff before the second verse. It’s not bad, and the crowd love it. But it might not be a contest song and is a tad repetitive in parts.

17.40 – Song for is Waste my time by Future Culture

17.38 – And we’re back.

17.35 – It’s Reklamy time. That’s adverts to the rest of us. Don’t go away.

17.29 – The audience love them and we go to expert jury

17.28 – This is a mid-tempo song in English. The chorus is quite strong – stronger than the verse. Well, the second verse is better than the first and it really gets into its stride. It does include some Ukrainian towards before the middle eight which is mainly left to the drummer. The backing singers are really getting into it too. A decent all round performance.

17.23 – Tina Karol introduces us to song three. It’s My sea by Molodi

17.14 – Whilst we consult the jury for their views, I should point out that my feed has a person signing the action in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen. You might see said person in some of the pictures.

17.13 – This is a novel staging. Abiie and her fave dancers are all in red and sitting on what looks like a large wedge of Swiss cheese. There is much chanting to what is quite a catchy beat. It’s a bit traditional, but yet quite modern at the same time. Abiie eventually leaves her cheese to face a wind machine and offers us some serious dancing. And a bit of that talk-singing. The final chorus is loud and very memorable

17.07 – Time for song two. It’s called Dim and it’s by Abiie

17.02 – We go briefly to the Green Room. None of the artists are there yet though.

16.57 – The jury is giving its views.

16.56 – Vlad is in a long jacket that trails behind him like a cloak. His song is a ballad with a decent verse followed by a soaring chorus. His voice is almost falsetto which seems a tad incongruous. The large flower on his lapel has a light of its own – it’s referenced in the song. It’s nicely powerful, especially for the final chorus. That’s when we get some dry ice just to set it off.