Ukraine wins Eurovision Song Contest, the Netherlands in eleventh place
Because of the war in Ukraine, it is the big question of the Eurovision Song Contest next year that it can be held in the country. Kalush Orchestra believes that the festival should be in Ukraine by 2023, preferably in Kiev. “Next year we welcome everyone to the Eurovision Song Contest in a newly reunited and happy Ukraine”, the band said during a summary of the final.
“Any win a lot for Ukraine at the moment,” said foreman Oleh Psiuk. “We are here to show that Ukrainian culture and music are very much alive, even if they are being attacked at the same time in our motherland.”
What will happen next for the musicians is also still unclear to them. “We will go back in two days. It is not yet entirely clear what we are going to do, we would like to have never experienced winning the Eurovision Song Contest. But like any other Ukrainian, I am ready to fight.”
In Kiev or not?
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the organization behind the Song Contest, previously said it did not have a plan B if it is not possible in Ukraine. However, the producer of the Eurovision Song Contest in Rotterdam last year, Sietse Bakker, expects a decision to be made quickly when it is point of no return is: “At what point can you still have conversations about whether or not you can in Kiev?”
If the festival cannot be held in Ukraine, according to Bakker, there are enough scenarios. “For example, a country that has recently performed the festival can quickly implement it.” He also thinks Poland, because that country recently published the Junior Song Contest and received a lot of praise. “The third option is to have one of the big-five countries organize it.”
A non-winner has already organized the Eurovision Song Contest before. In 1980 the event in The Hague, Israel won the year before. Israel abandoned the organization because it had already won the year before. The country finally disagreed in 1980 because the event was held on Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Singer Oleh Psiuk asked the public for support because of the war in his country: