Based on the jury’s points, Ukraine finished in fourth place, after the United Kingdom, Sweden and Spain. The crowd’s votes pushed Kalush Orchestra to the solitary top of the standings, where the band finished with 631 points. “Thank you for supporting Ukraine. This victory is for every Ukrainian,” said rapper Oleg Pshuk when he received the trophy.
Earlier in the evening, just after their performance, Psjoek made an urgent appeal: “Europe, help us. Help Ukraine, help Mariupol and help Azovstal (the besieged steel factory where Ukrainians still reside, ed.) immediately!”. The Song Contest normally has an apolitical character, but the Ukrainian favorites decided to ignore this rule for once.
In “Stefania”, a song about Psjoek’s mother, the Kalush Orchestra combines traditional Ukrainian music with rap and hip-hop. The song is said to have been written long before the start of the war in Ukraine. Yet the shadow of war in the country hung menacingly over the song contest.
The international bookmakers already predicted that Ukraine would win the song contest, as many viewers would like to express their solidarity with the country after the Russian invasion by voting for Ukraine, and they were proved right. In addition, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), organizer of the Eurovision Song Contest and representative of European public broadcasters, excluded Russia from the competition.