Eurovision Song Contest Grand Final 2022: Live Updates - The New York Times

The band was victorious with a performance of a rousing, anthemic song delivered as a tribute to Ukraine as a motherland.

Elisabetta Povoledo, Alex Marshall, Dan Bilefsky and Anushka Patil.

TURIN, Italy — The Ukrainian rap and folk band Kalush Orchestra won the Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday, as European viewers and juries delivered a symbolic, pop culture endorsement of solidarity behind Ukraine in its defense against Russia’s invasion.

After 80 days of fighting that has forced millions from their homes, brought ruin to cities and towns across Ukraine’s east and killed tens of thousands, the band won an emotional victory for Ukraine with a performance of “Stefania,” a rousing, anthemic song.

Written to honor the mother of the group’s frontman, Oleh Psiuk, the song has been reinterpreted during the war as a tribute to Ukraine as a motherland.

Psiuk’s mother had texted him after the win to say that she loved him “and she was proud,” he said at a media conference after the contest at which he thanked everyone who had voted for the group.

“The victory is very important for Ukraine especially this year,” he said.

She came to Turin to report for OGAE Ukraine, the Ukrainian Eurovision Fan Club.

She said she had spoken to several of the other performers and that: “they all tell me that they want Ukraine to win because it’s important for them, too.”.

And “it’s a great song about moms,” said Ms.

Ukraine also won the contest in 2016 with “1944,” a song by Jamala about Crimean Tatars during World War II.

And in 2008, when Dima Bilan, a Russian pop star, won Eurovision with the song “Believe,” President Vladimir V.

Before the final on Saturday, several bookmakers had said that Ukraine was by far the presumptive favorite to win.

Carlo Fuortes, chief executive of the national broadcaster RAI, which hosted the events, said he had sensed that Ukraine would be a favorite.

He said Ukrainians loved the contest and were “trying to catch any peaceful moment” they could.

In a recent video interview from Kyiv, Hnatenko said he felt the band’s appearance at Eurovision was “equally important” as his own service in the war.

“It’s a chance to show the world that our spirit is difficult to break,” he said, adding that he intended to watch the contest, if he was not in combat and could get a signal on his cellphone.

In an interview in the days leading up to the contest, Psiuk said that even if Kalush Orchestra won, its members would return to Ukraine.

He said that after the win they were going home.

Martin Österdahl, the executive producer for the Eurovision Song Contest handed Oksana Skybinska, the leader of the Ukrainian delegation, a black binder with contact details!

“We will do everything possible to make the Eurovision contest possible in the new peaceful Ukraine,” Skybinska said.

Alex Marshall and Jessica Testa.

The story of Eurovision 2022 was always going to be Ukraine’s victory, but this year’s contest was also about so much more.

Based on this year’s Eurovision, Ukrainian is in with a chance, and the country has a host of great pop musicians, including the rapper Alyona Ayona and the singer Ivan Dorn.

Elisabeth Vincentelli.

An exhilarating Eurovision has come to an end, but now a big question looms: since the winning country hosts the following year, where will the contest take place in 2023.

A distinct possibility is that if Ukraine cannot host in 2023, Eurovision will take place in one of the so-called Big Five countries — Spain, Germany, France, Italy or the U.K.

Elisabeth Vincentelli.

Elisabeth Vincentelli.

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Elisabeth Vincentelli.

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Alex Marshall.

The European Broadcasting Union, the statement said, “takes any suspected attempts to manipulate the voting at the Eurovision Song Contest extremely seriously and has the right to remove such votes in accordance with the Official Voting Instructions, irrespective of whether or not such votes are likely to influence the results and/or outcome of the voting.”.

Alex Marshall!

He won Sanremo in 2020 and would have performed at that year’s Eurovision had it not been cancelled due to “the uncertainty created by the spread of COVID-19 throughout Europe and the restrictions put in place by the governments of the participating broadcasters and the Dutch authorities,” according to Eurovision.

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Elisabeth Vincentelli.

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Elisabeth Vincentelli.

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Alex Marshall.

Why did he risk his life for a song contest.

Fazlagic said Eurovision was a vital way to raise awareness about Bosnia’s plight.

Elisabeth Vincentelli.

Elisabeth Vincentelli.

Alex Marshall?

Alex Marshall.

It’s been quite the year for Maneskin, the Rome rock band that won last year’s Eurovision in Rotterdam with “Zitti e Buoni,” a song that propelled the group to global recognition.

Elisabeth Vincentelli.

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Alex Marshall.

Alex Marshall.

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Elisabeth Vincentelli.

It is impossible to watch this year’s Eurovision Song Contest and not think about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Russia was barred from this year’s competition at the start of the war, and while this may be a symbolic move, it carries some weight, given that the two countries are Eurovision powerhouses.

(Russia’s Eurovision aggressions are not limited to Ukraine: the year after it invaded Georgia, that country’s entry in the competition was rejected for being anti-Putin and thus political.).

Tensions flared again when Ukraine hosted the contest in 2017: The Russian entry, Yuliya Samoylova, had been banned from entering Ukraine, so Russia decided not to broadcast the show, effectively withdrawing from the competition?

Alex Marshall.

Psiuk said he wrote “Stefania” about his mother, and it includes lines like “she rocked me, gave me rhythm.” Now, many Ukrainians see it as a metaphor for Ukraine, especially the lyric, “I will always walk to you by broken roads.”.

Yes, Ukraine’s government has said men aged 18 to 60 must stay put in case they are needed in the war, but the members of Kalush have been given special permission to take part in Eurovision.

In a video interview from Kyiv, Hnatenko said he felt the band’s appearance at Eurovision was “equally important.” “It’s a chance to show the world that our spirit is difficult to break,” he said.

Hnatenko said he was hearing “Stefania” every day in Ukraine.

He had even, somewhat bizarrely, seen Russian soldiers using it in TikTok clips, he said, apparently not realizing it was Ukraine’s Eurovision entry.

Psiuk said that even if they win tonight, he will return to Ukraine.

Elisabetta Povoledo.

When he won the national Sanremo song contest in 2019, his lineage spurred anti-immigration comments.

Alex Marshall

Alex Marshall

Alex Marshall

Elisabetta Povoledo

In 2018, we met some Eurovision obsessives to find out how they watch the contest, and what it means to them

Sheen said he held his first Eurovision party in 1991, and continued to host parties for the next 20 years

Bresic was growing up in the 1970s in the western suburbs of Sydney, she knew about the Eurovision Song Contest from Croatian-language radio and from her parents’ friends

When Yugoslavia won the contest in 1989, “my parents were outraged,” she said, because, in their mind, the winning band, Riva, should have been considered Croatian, not Yugoslav

He said the closest analogy for the contest was Broadway