MARUV wins Ukraine's national selection 'Vidbir'

Ukraine's national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest, Vidbir, just finished after a spectacular show in Kyiv, where the final took place. The result was in the hands of an expert jury and the TV viewers.

About MARUV

MARUV is a singer, songwriter and sound producer. In 2016, she was a semi-finalist of the Ukrainian national selection for Eurovision as part of The Pringlez band. In 2017, MARUV started her cooperation with the musician and songwriter Boosin. Their joint single Drunk Groove entered the top music charts in Ukraine and far abroad. In September 2018, MARUV released her new album Black Water. Maruv was only given the chance to participate in Ukraine's national selection, Vidbir, after one of the originally selected acts declined the opportunity, and now she became its winner!

About the show

The final of Vidbir 2019, Ukraine's national selection, kicked off with an update of the international songs that have been chosen so far for Tel Aviv. Then the expert jury was introduced: Andriy Danylko, aka Verka Serduchka, 2016 Eurovision Song Contest winner Jamala and Yevhen Filatov from the popular group Onuka. The three jurors gave comments after each of the participants had been performed, in the following order of appearance (winner in bold):

• Freedom Jazz - Cupidon
• YUKO - Galyna Guliala
• MARUV - Siren Song
• Brunettes Shoot Blondes - Houston
• KAZKA - Apart
• ANNA MARIA - My Road

Then the results of the jury, accounting for 50% of the total, were announced (first figure, below). The second figure corresponds to the televoting results. Added up, this was the outcome:

• MARUV - Siren Song 5 + 6 = 11
• Freedom Jazz - Cupidon 6 + 4 = 10
• KAZKA - Apart 3 + 5 = 8
• Brunettes Shoot Blondes - Houston 2 +3 = 5
• YUKO - Galyna Guliala 4 + 1 = 5
• ANNA MARIA - My Road 1 + 2 = 3

About Ukraine in Eurovision

Ukraine first entered the Eurovision Song Contest in 2003 and rapidly became one of the most successful countries in the competition, never missing a Grand Final. In these fifteen years, two of their entries have become winners. Ruslana became Ukraine’s first Eurovision winner in 2004 and the contest was held in Kyiv the following year. Jamala scored Ukraine’s second victory in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2016 taking the competition to their capital again in 2017.

Statement from UA:PBC

We received the following statement from Ukrainian broadcaster UA:PBC:

UA:PBC provides MARUV as the winner of the national selection with an agreement for consideration, specifying the terms of participation in the Eurovision Song Contest. The official announcement of the representative of Ukraine at the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest will take place after signing the participation agreement.

Are you happy that MARUV has won Vidbir 2019? Let us know in the comments!