Celebrating Diversity: 18 acts to participate in Ukraine's selection

Ukraine hosted the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest in Kyiv under the slogan Celebrate Diversity and this year the theme continues with 18 acts participating in the national selection for Eurovision 2018 with 16 different styles of music.    

Who is in the running in 2018? 

• The Erised
• Serhii Babkin
• CONSTANTINE 
• Kozak System 
• The VIO 
• Julinoza 
• Dilemma 
• KAZKA
• Yurcash
• Mountain Breeze
• Ingret Kostenko
• VILNA
• LAUD 
• TAYANNA 
• KADNAY 
• Pur:Pur
• MELOVIN 
• ILLARIA   

Changes for 2018

According to musical producer Ruslan Kvinta, all songs in the 2018 national selection have been written by the artists themselves, a change from previous years. 

"We received more than 1000 applications during the first stage of the selection. It shows how intensively our music industry is developing. We have put emphasis on the quality of songs. They need to combine the love of music, daring solutions and the identity of the artist. It does not matter whether the artist is popular or not. We have done colossal work, and I can assure everyone that viewers will hear high quality music and see – I dare say – strong artists. Personally, I believe in each of them. Furthermore, all songs were written by the participants, which makes me very happy as a musical producer," said Ruslan Kvinta.  

O.Torvald represented Ukraine in 2017 with the song Time. Ukraine automatically qualified for the Grand Final in 2017 as it was the host country but in 2018 it will return to the Semi-Finals once more. When Ukraine has participated in Eurovision it has never missed a Grand Final.

The draw to define the running order of the Ukrainian semi-finals will be held on 19th January. The shows will be broadcast live on UA:Pershyi and STB. Visit the official website for more information. 

Update: 9th February 2018

The first semi-final of the Ukrainian national selection for the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest takes place on Saturday 10th February. You can watch the show live from 18:00 CET. The jury this year will consist of Eurovision 2016 winner Jamala, artist and composer Adrii Danylko otherwise known as Verka Serduchka, and Yevhen Filatov, sound producer of the band ONUKA - interval act of the Grand Final in Kyiv in 2017. 

The participants of the first semi-final:

• CONSTANTINE - Misto (City)  
• Serhii Babkin – Kriz tvoi ochi (Through Your Eyes) 
• LAUD - Waiting KAZKA – Dyva (Wonders) 
• The Vyo - Nga Nga 
• KOZAK SYSTEM - Mamai 
• VILNA - Forest song 
• Pur:Pur - Fire 
• The Erised - Heroes 

Only three contestants will qualify for the final and the result will be decided by a combination of televote and the votes from the professional jury.

The show will also feature special guests. Mikolas Josef from Czech Republic who will perform his Eurovision 2018 entry Lie to Me. O.Torvald, Ukraine's representatives in Eurovision 2017 will perform their new single Likhtari (Lanterns) from the new album Bisaidy.