Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inva ...

Eurovision Song Contest 2011 The Eurovision Song Contest 2011 was the 56th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Düsseldorf, Germany, following the country's victory at the with the song " Satellite" by Lena. Organised by the European Broadcasting U ...

Mika Newton Oksana Stefanivna Hrytsay ( uk, Оксана Стефанівна Грицай; born on 5 March 1986), professionally known as Mika Newton ( uk, Міка Ньютон), is a Ukrainian singer and actress from the city of Burshtyn. Born and raised ...

National Television Company of Ukraine The Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine ( uk, Національна суспільна телерадіокомпанія України, Natsionalna Suspilna Teleradiokompaniia Ukrainy; abbr. NSTU), shortened to Suspilne ( uk, Суспіль� ...

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in ...

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight ...

Wild Dances "Wild Dances" is a single by Ukrainian singer-songwriter Ruslana. The song, representing , won the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 held in Istanbul with a score of 280 points. A Ukrainian-language version called "Dyki tantsi" () was released in Ru ...

Ruslana Ruslana Stepanivna Lyzhychko ( uk, Руслана Степанівна Лижичко, ''Ruslana Lyzhychko''; born 24 May 1973), known mononymously as Ruslana, is a World Music Award and Eurovision Song Contest winning recording artist, holdi ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight ...

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple Inc., Apple's first iPhone (1st generation), iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakis ...

Dancing Lasha Tumbai Dance is a performing art art form, form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolism (arts), symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its chor ...

Verka Serduchka Andriy Mykhailovych Danylko ( uk, Андрі́й Миха́йлович Дани́лко; born 2 October 1973), better known as his drag persona Verka Serduchka ( uk, Вє́рка Сердю́чка, links=no, ; russian: Ве́рка Серд ...

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

Ani Lorak Karolina Myroslavivna Kuiek, russian: Каролина Мирославовна Куек (born 27 September 1978), popularly known as Ani Lorak,, russian: Ани Лорак is a Ukrainian singer, songwriter, actress, entrepreneur and former U ...

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; " Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discover ...

Razom nas bahato "Razom nas bahato" ( uk, Разом нас багато, ; "Together we are many") is a hip hop song by GreenJolly, which became the unofficial anthem of the Ukrainian Orange Revolution in 2004.GreenJolly. The Ukrainian national broadcaster,

National Television Company of Ukraine The Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine ( uk, Національна суспільна телерадіокомпанія України, Natsionalna Suspilna Teleradiokompaniia Ukrainy; abbr. NSTU), shortened to Suspilne ( uk, Суспіль� ...

(NTU), broadcasts the event within Ukraine and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. NTU confirmed their intentions to participate at the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest on 9 July 2010. In the past, the broadcaster had alternated between both internal selections and national finals in order to select the Ukrainian entry. Between 2005 and 2010, NTU had set up national finals to choose both or either the song and performer to compete at Eurovision for Ukraine, with both the public and a panel of jury members involved in the selection. The method was continued to select the 2011 Ukrainian entry.

Before Eurovision

Evrobachennya 2011 - Natsionalyni vidbir

The Ukrainian national final commenced on 31 October 2010 and concluded with a final on 26 February 2011. All shows in the competition were broadcast on

Pershyi Natsionalnyi Pershyi ( uk, Перший, ; meaning First) is the Ukrainian public television channel, operated by the Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine. It is the only Ukrainian TV channel covering over 97% of Ukraine's territory. Its programs are orien ...

as well as online via NTU's official website ''1tv.com.ua''. The final was also broadcast online at the official Eurovision Song Contest website ''eurovision.tv''.

Format

The selection of the competing entries for the national final and ultimately the Ukrainian Eurovision entry took place over four stages. In the first stage, artists and songwriters had the opportunity to apply for the competition by attending a scheduled audition during designated dates. Thirty-five acts were selected and announced on 22 August 2010. The second stage consisted of the televised heats which took place between 31 October and 28 November 2010 with six to seven acts competing in each show. Four acts qualified from each heat based on the votes from a public televote and an expert jury. The expert jury first selected the top three entries to advance, while the remaining entries faced a public vote held following their respective heats which selected an additional qualifier. The jury also selected four wildcard acts out of the remaining non-qualifying acts from the heats to proceed in the competition. The second stage consisted of the semi-finals which took place on 5, 12 and 26 December 2010 with eight acts competing in each show. Seven acts qualified from each semi-final by a public televote and an expert jury. The expert jury first selected the top five entries to advance, while the remaining three entries faced a public vote held following their respective heats which selected an additional two qualifiers. The fourth stage was the final, which took place on 26 February 2011 and featured the acts that qualified from the semi-finals vying to represent Ukraine in Düsseldorf. The winner was selected via the combination of votes from an online vote (10%), a public televote (45%) and an expert jury (45%). The online vote was held from 13 February 2011 and closed before the final, while viewers participating in the public televote during the live shows had the opportunity to submit their votes for the participating entries via SMS. In the event of a tie during the final, the tie was decided in favour of the entry that received the highest score from the jury.

Competing entries

Artists and composers had the opportunity to submit their entries between 5 July 2010 and 19 August 2010. Auditions were held between 19 and 21 August 2010 at the Olmeca Plage in Kyiv where a seven-member selection panel consisting of Walid Arfush (producer), Vlad Baginsky (music producer of NTU), Ruslana Pysanka (singer), Yuliya Magdych (fashion designer), Anton Tseslik (CEO of Kiss FM Ukraine), Igor Likhuta (composer and producer) and

Kamaliya Kamaliya Zahoor ( uk, Камалія Захур, russian: Камалия Захур; born Nataliya Shmarenkova on 18 May 1977), known professionally as simply Kamaliya, is a Ukrainian singer, actress, television personality, model and former Mrs ...

(singer) reviewed over 200 received submissions and shortlisted thirty-five entries to compete in the national final. On 22 August 2010, the thirty-five selected competing acts were announced. Among the competing artists was former Eurovision Song Contest contestants

Verka Serduchka Andriy Mykhailovych Danylko ( uk, Андрі́й Миха́йлович Дани́лко; born 2 October 1973), better known as his drag persona Verka Serduchka ( uk, Вє́рка Сердю́чка, links=no, ; russian: Ве́рка Серд ...

, who represented Ukraine in

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple Inc., Apple's first iPhone (1st generation), iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakis ...

with the song "

Dancing Lasha Tumbai Dance is a performing art art form, form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolism (arts), symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its chor ...

", and

Anastasia Prikhodko Anastasia Kostyantynivna Prikhodko ( uk, Анастасія Костянтинівна Приходько, Anastasiya Kostyantynivna Prykhodko; born 21 April 1987) is a Ukrainian activist, politician and former singer-songwriter. Known for her ...

, who represented Russia in 2009 with the song "

Mamo Mamo or woowoo is a common name for two species of extinct birds. Together with the extant ʻIʻiwi they make up the genus ''Drepanis''. These nectarivorous finches were endemic to Hawaii but are now extinct. The Hawaiian name may be relat ...

". On 14 October 2010, Verka Serduchka, who was to gain direct entry into the competition's final, withdrew from the national final due to scheduling issues and was replaced with the song "Shake Your Body" performed by

Pavlo Tabakov Pavlo Anatoliyovych Tabakov (born April 27, 1978, Lviv) is a Ukrainian singer, musician, composer and arranger. Known for a vocal range of three octaves, he was the winner of the fifth season of the Ukrainian TV project ''Chance''. He was a semifi ...

.

Shows

= Heats

= The five heats took place between 31 October and 5 December 2010 at the Dovzhenko Studios in Kyiv, hosted by Tatyana Goncharova and

Timur Miroshnychenko Timur Valeriyovych Miroshnychenko (Ukrainian: Тімур Валерійович Мірошниченко) (born 9 March 1986) is a Ukrainian TV presenter for the channel UA:PBC. He was the host of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2009 togeth ...

. In each heat an expert jury selected the top three entries to advance to the semi-finals of the competition, with the remaining entries then facing a public televote held in the week following the heat which determined an additional qualifier. Four wildcards were also awarded by the jury from the thirteen eliminated entries to advance to the semi-finals. The jury panel that voted during the heats consisted of Walid Arfush (producer),

Kamaliya Kamaliya Zahoor ( uk, Камалія Захур, russian: Камалия Захур; born Nataliya Shmarenkova on 18 May 1977), known professionally as simply Kamaliya, is a Ukrainian singer, actress, television personality, model and former Mrs ...

(singer), Ruslana Pysanka (singer), Anton Tseslik (CEO of Kiss FM Ukraine) and Iryna Zhuravska (model, winner of the

Miss Ukraine Miss Ukraine (Міс України or Панна України, ''Panna Ukrayiny'') is a national Beauty pageant in Ukraine. Today it is one of the top three national beauty contests in Ukraine, others being Miss Ukraine Universe and Queen ...

2008).

= Semi-finals

= The three semi-finals took place between 5, 12 and 26 December 2010 at the Dovzhenko Studios in Kyiv, hosted by Tatyana Goncharova and

Timur Miroshnychenko Timur Valeriyovych Miroshnychenko (Ukrainian: Тімур Валерійович Мірошниченко) (born 9 March 1986) is a Ukrainian TV presenter for the channel UA:PBC. He was the host of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2009 togeth ...

. In each semi-final an expert jury selected the top five entries to advance to the final of the competition. The remaining entries then faced a public televote held following the semi-final which determined an additional qualifier, while the remaining entry was eliminated. The jury panel that voted during the semi-finals consisted of Walid Arfush (producer),

Kamaliya Kamaliya Zahoor ( uk, Камалія Захур, russian: Камалия Захур; born Nataliya Shmarenkova on 18 May 1977), known professionally as simply Kamaliya, is a Ukrainian singer, actress, television personality, model and former Mrs ...

(singer), Ruslana Pysanka (singer), Anton Tseslik (CEO of Kiss FM Ukraine) and Iryna Zhuravska (model, winner of the

Miss Ukraine Miss Ukraine (Міс України or Панна України, ''Panna Ukrayiny'') is a national Beauty pageant in Ukraine. Today it is one of the top three national beauty contests in Ukraine, others being Miss Ukraine Universe and Queen ...

2008).

=Final

= The final took place on 26 February 2011 at the Savik Shuster Studio in Kyiv, hosted by

Savik Shuster Savik Shuster (russian: link=no, Са́вик Шу́стер, uk, Са́вік Шу́стер, born Ševelis Šusteris; November 22, 1952 in Vilnius) is a journalist and Ukrainian political TV shows anchor. He presented ''The Freedom By Sav ...

,

Gaitana {{confusing, date=May 2014 Gaitana, also known as Guaitipan, is referred to as La Gaitana and Cacica Gaitana, was a 16th-century Yalcon ''Cacique, cacica'' from the region of Timaná, Huila, a leader who, in 1539–40, led the indigenous people ...

,

Irina Rosenfeld Irina Rosenfeld (''Mishéll'', born December 10, 1988) is a singer and songwriter in the genres of R&B, jazz and soul. Biography Mishéll was born Iryna Talia Rozenfeld in 1988 in Kerch, USSR. She studied at the Kyiv International Institute of ...

and Evgenia Vlasova with

Timur Miroshnychenko Timur Valeriyovych Miroshnychenko (Ukrainian: Тімур Валерійович Мірошниченко) (born 9 March 1986) is a Ukrainian TV presenter for the channel UA:PBC. He was the host of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2009 togeth ...

, Olesya Batsman and Iryna Zhuravska as backstage hosts. A.R.M.I.YA and Vera Varlamova as well as Nek$i withdrew prior to the final, while Vitaliy Galay and Tanya Vorzheva were disqualified during the show due to using pre-recorded backing vocals and having over six performers on stage, respectively. The remaining seventeen entries that qualified from the semi-finals competed and the winner, "Angel" performed by

Mika Newton Oksana Stefanivna Hrytsay ( uk, Оксана Стефанівна Грицай; born on 5 March 1986), professionally known as Mika Newton ( uk, Міка Ньютон), is a Ukrainian singer and actress from the city of Burshtyn. Born and raised ...

, was selected through the combination of votes from a public televote, an online vote held between 13 and 26 February 2011, and an expert jury. The jury panel that voted during the final consisted of

Ruslana Ruslana Stepanivna Lyzhychko ( uk, Руслана Степанівна Лижичко, ''Ruslana Lyzhychko''; born 24 May 1973), known mononymously as Ruslana, is a World Music Award and Eurovision Song Contest winning recording artist, holdi ...

(singer-songwriter, winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 for Ukraine), Egor Benkendorf (President of NTU), Walid Arfush (producer),

Hanna Herman Hanna Mykolaivna Herman ( uk, Га́нна Микола́ївна Ге́рман) (born 24 April 1959; Lviv region,

(Deputy Head of Presidential Administration), Yan Tabachnyk (composer),

Ani Lorak Karolina Myroslavivna Kuiek, russian: Каролина Мирославовна Куек (born 27 September 1978), popularly known as Ani Lorak,, russian: Ани Лорак is a Ukrainian singer, songwriter, actress, entrepreneur and former U ...

(singer-songwriter, represented Ukraine in

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

), Eduard Klim (producer), Yuriy Rybchynsky (poet) and Alyosha (singer-songwriter, represented Ukraine in

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

). 75,310 and 221,682 votes were registered by the televote during the show and by the online vote, respectively. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, 2003 Ukrainian Eurovision entrant Oleksandr Ponomariov performed as a guest.

Controversy and new final plans

Following Mika Newton's victory at the Ukrainian national final, jury member

Hanna Herman Hanna Mykolaivna Herman ( uk, Га́нна Микола́ївна Ге́рман) (born 24 April 1959; Lviv region,

petitioned for a re-evaluation of the result due to multiple votes being submitted from a single phone number causing votes to be miscounted. On 28 February, NTU announced that a new final featuring the top three acts in the initial final would take place on 3 March where only a single vote per phone number would be allowed during the show, however both Jamala and Zlata Ognevich declined to participate with the former claiming that votes would again be rigged and the latter having to take part in another television show that day. The broadcaster confirmed on 4 March that the new final had been cancelled, and that Mika Newton would remain as the Ukrainian representative for the 2011 contest. A revamped version of "Angel" was presented to the public on 15 March through the release of the official music video, directed by Alexander Ivanenko.

Promotion

Mika Newton specifically promote "Angel" as the Ukrainian Eurovision entry on 27 March by taking part in promotional activities in

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''O ...

where she performed during the National Music Awards. A farewell concert for Newton took place on 24 April at the Independence Square in

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe. Ky ...

, Ukraine where she performed during the event.

At Eurovision

All countries except the " Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom), and the host country, are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The

European Broadcasting Union The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; french: Union européenne de radio-télévision, links=no, UER) is an alliance of public service media organisations whose countries are within the European Broadcasting Area or who are members of the C ...

(EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 17 January 2011, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Ukraine was placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 12 May 2011, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show. The running order for the semi-finals was decided through another draw on 15 March 2011 and Ukraine was set to perform in position 6, following the entry from

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the ...

and before the entry from

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The unrecognised state of Transnistri ...

. In Ukraine, both the semi-finals and the final were broadcast on

Pershyi Natsionalnyi Pershyi ( uk, Перший, ; meaning First) is the Ukrainian public television channel, operated by the Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine. It is the only Ukrainian TV channel covering over 97% of Ukraine's territory. Its programs are orien ...

with commentary by

Timur Miroshnychenko Timur Valeriyovych Miroshnychenko (Ukrainian: Тімур Валерійович Мірошниченко) (born 9 March 1986) is a Ukrainian TV presenter for the channel UA:PBC. He was the host of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2009 togeth ...

and Tetiana Terekhova. The three shows were also broadcast via radio on

Radio Ukraine Ukrainian Radio ( uk, Українське радіо) is the publicly funded radio broadcaster in Ukraine since 1924. In 2017 has been merged with national TV company into country's public broadcaster Suspilne.

with commentary by Olena Zelinchenko. The Ukrainian spokesperson, who announced the Ukrainian votes during the final, was Ukrainian Eurovision 2004 winner

Ruslana Ruslana Stepanivna Lyzhychko ( uk, Руслана Степанівна Лижичко, ''Ruslana Lyzhychko''; born 24 May 1973), known mononymously as Ruslana, is a World Music Award and Eurovision Song Contest winning recording artist, holdi ...

.

Semi-final

Mika Newton took part in technical rehearsals on 2 and 6 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 9 and 10 May. This included the jury show on 9 May where the professional juries of each country watched and voted on the competing entries. The Ukrainian performance featured Mika Newton performing on stage in a long skin coloured dress with feathers on her shoulders designed by Olga Navrotskaya together with a sand artist and a backing vocalist. The stage displayed blue rays of light shining down on Newton and the LED screens displayed images painted by the sand artist on a table, which according to the latter depicted the story of a little girl that lost her mom, and an angel comes and saves her when she feels only indifference from other people. The stage director and choreographer for the Ukrainian performance was Anatolii Zalevskyi. The sand artist that joined Mika Newton on stage was Kseniya Simonova.Mika Newton (Ukraine) 2nd press conference

European Broadcasting Union The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; french: Union européenne de radio-télévision, links=no, UER) is an alliance of public service media organisations whose countries are within the European Broadcasting Area or who are members of the C ...

(6 May 2011) At the end of the show, Ukraine was announced as having finished in the top 10 and subsequently qualifying for the grand final. It was later revealed that Ukraine placed sixth in the semi-final, receiving a total of 81 points.

Final

Shortly after the second semi-final, a winners' press conference was held for the ten qualifying countries. As part of this press conference, the qualifying artists took part in a draw to determine the running order for the final. This draw was done in the order the countries were announced during the semi-final. Ukraine was drawn to perform in position 23, following the entry from

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

and before the entry from

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia ( Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hu ...

. Mika Newton once again took part in dress rehearsals on 13 and 14 May before the final, including the jury final where the professional juries cast their final votes before the live show. Mika Newton performed a repeat of her semi-final performance during the final on 14 May. Ukraine placed fourth in the final, scoring 159 points.

Voting

Voting during the three shows consisted of 50 percent public televoting and 50 percent from a jury deliberation. The jury consisted of five music industry professionals who were citizens of the country they represent. This jury was asked to judge each contestant based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. In addition, no member of a national jury could be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently. Following the release of the full split voting by the EBU after the conclusion of the competition, it was revealed that Ukraine had placed fourth with the public televote and seventh with the jury vote in the final. In the public vote, Ukraine scored 168 points, while with the jury vote, Ukraine scored 117 points. In the second semi-final, Ukraine placed fifth with the public televote with 91 points and seventh with the jury vote, scoring 76 points. Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Ukraine and awarded by Ukraine in the second semi-final and grand final of the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to Slovakia in the semi-final and to Georgia in the final of the contest.

Points awarded to Ukraine

Points awarded by Ukraine

References

External links

NTU's Official Eurovision Website
{{Eurovision Song Contest 2011

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrates ...

Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011

Eurovision The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pri ...

Background

Before Eurovision

Evrobachennya 2011 - Natsionalyni vidbir

Format

Competing entries

Shows

= Heats

= Semi-finals

=Final

Controversy and new final plans

Promotion

At Eurovision

Semi-final

Final

Voting

Points awarded to Ukraine

Points awarded by Ukraine

References

External links