Jamala will represent Ukraine in Stockholm!

Tonight's Ukrainian national final turned into a thrilling and enjoyable show with different musical acts and entertaining hosts and guests. And the highlight of it was Jamala's victory. The singer got the highest number of points from sms and televoting. The jury panel gave her 5 points. There was a tie between Jamala and The Hardkiss. As the TV viewers gave Jamala the highest number of points, she won tonight's final (see the chart below). Tonight, Jamala sang the song 1944, which is half in English, half in Crimean Tatar. 

Jamala, the winner of the Ukrainian national selection

Jamala's real name is Susana Jamaladinova. She is a Ukrainian singer of Crimean Tatar descent. She started her music career in 2005. Jamala became known after her participation at The New Wave 2009, the International Contest of Young Pop Singers in Jūrmala. The singer was awarded with the grand prize, impressing the jury with her outstanding vocal talent and confident singing manner in a variety of genres.

Jamala performs music of her own composition in different genres from jazz, soul, rhythm&blues to pop. She is known to Eurovision fans as a participant in the Ukrainian national final in 2010 where she inspired the audience with her cheerful song Smile.

In 2014 Jamala starred in the Ukrainian drama film The Guide that was selected as the Ukrainian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 87th Academy Awards. 

Jamala won the Ukrainian national final with the song 1944.

Six different music styles were presented in tonight's show in Kyiv. Whilst Brunettes Shoot Blondes performed their indie pop song Every Monday, NeAngely impressed the audience with their powerful voices and their song Higher that was written especially for the Eurovision Song Contest. The Hardkiss was the only one who sang a piece of their entry in the Ukrainian language.  

It was the running order in tonight's final (the winner in bold):

1. Brunettes Shoot Blondes - Every Monday
2. NeAngely (NuAngels) - Higher
3. The Hardkiss - Helpless
4. Jamala - 1944
5. SunSay - Love Manifest
6. Pur:Pur - We Do Change

The show was hosted by Dimitri Tankovich and Aleksander Pedan. A special guest in tonight's final was Nicky Byrne, the Irish representative in the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest. He performed his entry Sunlight. 

Tonight's finalists

Brunettes Shoot Blondes

Brunettes Shoot Blondes is an indie rock band based in Kyiv, Ukraine, formed at the beginning of 2010. In 2014 the band released a self-produced music video for the song Knock Knock which immediately became a worldwide viral hit. With over 6 million views on YouTube, it was called an Internet sensation and positively reviewed by such medias as Billboard, Yahoo! Music, The Daily Mirror, USA Today and many others.

The band’s songs and videos are now on rotation on various radio and TV stations. The musicians have already performed numerous shows and festivals in their homeland and on the stages of Europe. Currently Brunettes Shoot Blondes is working on their debut album and looking for a record label. 

Tonight Brunettes Shoot Blondes will perform their song Every Monday.

NeAngely (NuAngels)

The iconic pop duo from Ukraine are famous for its outstanding powerful voices and striking charisma of its vocalists. NuAngels are two female singers Victoria and Slava. The duo was created by Yuri Nikitin. A song Higher for this year’s national Ukrainian selection was written by Alexander Bard, Andreas Öhrn and Chris Wahle.

The Hardkiss 

The band Hardkiss consists of five members: Julia Sanina (lead singer), Val (guitar), Kreechy (drums), Roman Skorobagatko (guitar), Vitaliy Oniskevich (keyboards). They are known with their appearances at different international festivals like MIDEM festival, Park Live, Koktebel Jazz Festival etc. In 2012 The Hardkiss were the nominees of the international MTV EMA award ("Best Ukrainian Act") and of the national music award YUNA, having won in two nominations - "The best new act" and "The best music video" (Make-Up). In 2013 The HARDKISS became "voice and face" of the PEPSI TM in Ukraine and the nominees of YUNA in the nomination "The best band".

Tonight the band will perform their "fresh and trendy" rock ballad Helpless.

Jamala

Jamala is a Ukrainian singer of Crimean Tatar descent. She performs music of her own composition in different genres from jazz, soul, rhythm&blues to pop. Jamala is known to Eurovision fan as a participant in the Ukrainian national final in 2010 where she inspired the audience with her cheerful song Smile. In 2014 Jamala starred in the Ukrainian drama film The Guide that was selected as the Ukrainian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 87th Academy Awards.

The song 1944 is inspired by the tragical story of her great-grandmother.

SunSay

The band SunSay was formed in 2007. The lead singer Andrei 'Sun' Zaporozhets was a member of the band 5’nizza that disbanded in 2007 and reunited in 2015.

Group’s first album was the unreleased material of 5’nizza. SunSay performs funk, reggae, soul and folk style. The second album Driver was released in 2010.

Andrei Zaporozhets said that he never watched the Eurovision Song Contest before. The band came to the contest to show that Ukrainian music can also be of a high quality. Tonight SunSay will sing their entry Love Manifest.

Pur:Pur

Pur:Pur was founded in 2008 in the city of Kharkiv and became popular through Internet. Pur:Pur consists of three members: Nata Smirina (lead vocal), Evgeni Zhebko (guitar), Gregori Oleynik (drums). The band performs indie-rock, jazz and bossa nova. Pur:Pur sang at various festivals like Gogol-Fest, Stereoleto and others. For the Ukrainian national semi-final the band prepared the song We Do Change.