Kyiv hosts Eurovision finals

Greece's entry wins song contest

by Zenon Zawada
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - More than 150 million television viewers worldwide set their eyes on Kyiv's Sports Palace on Saturday night, May 21, to watch the 50th anniversary of the Eurovision Song Contest finals - the first time Ukraine hosted the event.

Ruslana's victory at last year's competition in Istanbul brought Eurovision to Kyiv, which was able to demonstrate to Europe that it could organize and execute a show of high standards and quality.

Helena Paparizou, a Swedish citizen who is an ethnic Greek, emerged as the winner after performing in English her song, "My Number One," as Greece's official representative in the contest.

The political and economic significance of hosting Eurovision just months after the Orange Revolution proved far more significant to Ukrainians, and particularly their government leaders, than the music itself.

"The festival's concept, which we proposed, depended on the fact that this wasn't just a song competition, but above all, a European presentation of Ukraine," said Mykola Tomenko, vice-prime minister of humanitarian affairs, after the final's conclusion.

In front of an international audience of nearly 9,000 spectators, singers and rock bands from 24 nations competed in the final round on May 21 in the annual celebration of European pop music, with traditional, ethnic elements mixed in by the Mediterranean and Slavic performers.

Eurovision fanatics began descending upon the Sports Palace hours before the event, either draping their nation's flags around their shoulders or waving them fiercely.

Organizers covered the Sports Palace in green netting and its awning featured the show's logo alongside advertisements for Nemiroff vodka and Kyivstar telecommunications.

Delegations took turns holding mini-rallies on the Sports Palace's steps, chanting their country's name and singing its song entry. The Serbians held the first rally, followed by the Greeks and Russians.

Finally, just minutes before the concert began, about 40 Ukrainian youths began chanting, "U-kra-yi-na" and sang verses from "Razom Nas Bahato," the Orange Revolution's anthem that the Gryndzholy, known in English as Greenjolly, rewrote for Eurovision.

Ruslana launched the finals with the song that won her the competition last year, "Wild Dances."

Performances covered the whole spectrum of popular music.

Norway's Wig Wam was a living effigy to the glamour rockers of the 1980s who caroused on stage in skin-tight pants, eyeliner and long hair.

Moldova's young rockers Zdob si Zdub thrashed about the stage with a 60-year-old woman in their performance of "Boonika Bate Doba" (Grandma Beats a Drum), which they sang in Moldovan and English.

"I smile and I cry when I see that crazy baba," was among the curious lyrics in the group's tribute to babas, during which their babusia sat in an oversized rocking chair beating a large drum, then later springing out.

Other performances were more serious, such as that of Chiara of Malta, who presented an emotional, inspiring ballad, "Angel," in which she sang the refrain "I'll be your angel, in the darkest nights." Her vocal range and intensity drew enthusiastic applause and many votes later on.

Not everything was rock. Israel's Shiri Maymon sang a heartfelt song, "The Silence That Remains," in a long evening gown and was accompanied by a pianist, a guitarist and back-up singers.

Four female violinists surrounded Albania's Ledina as she performed, "Tomorrow I Go." Turkey's Gulseren sang strictly in Turkish in what was the night's most traditional performance, consisting strictly of Turkish costumes, dancing and melodies.

Most songs were sung in English, and most female performers wore short skirts and revealing tops, including the winner, Helena.

In her performance, Helena danced in a tan, glittery top and a light skirt that bounced and teased the audience as four muscular men in loose light button-down shirts danced alongside.

The dancers performed intricate moves resembling traditional Greek dancing and at one point raised Helena in the air so that she could play an exaggerated string bass.

Helena's song contained the refrain, "You are the one, you're my number one, the only treasure I'll ever have."

The excitement reached a climax when Ukraine's national heroes came out on stage to play the simple, catchy tune that became a part of history.

Before the contest, Greenjolly's chubby lead singer Roman Kalyn said "Razom Nas Bahato - Nas Ne Podolaty" would become the first hip hop song performed at Eurovision.

Certainly, it was the only hip hop song performed during this year's contest, and the entire audience rose from their seats to clap, dance and sing along.

Chants of "U-kra-yi-na" filled the hall when Mr. Kalyn, guitarist Roman Kostyuk and keyboardist Andrii Pysetskyi ran onto the stage along with their drummer who was decked out in orange.

Behind Mr. Kalyn, two young dancers dressed in white sweats struck sharp synchronized dance moves while a heavy chain bound their wrists, striking an obvious political message.

Mr. Kalyn sang the first two verses in English, including the lyrics, "All together we're one, all together we're strong. God be my witness, we've waited too long!"

After the second verse, the dancers broke their chains and began to dance freely in their own individual styles. One did a cartwheel while the other did a handspring.

And, despite attempts to politically neuter the song, in which phrases such as "Yushchenko - Tak!" (Yushchenko - Yes!) and "My ne bydlo - my ne kozly" (We are not beasts of burden- we're not goats) were eliminated, Mr. Kalyn managed to shout the words, "We are together, we won't be defeated," in Russian toward the end.

When the song ended, the concert hall erupted in frenetic cheers as flags representing all nations waved fiercely. Another "U-kra-yi-na" chant started.

In fact, other artists chose unique, symbolic ways of expressing support for the revolution. For example, the Norwegian lead singer waved an orange flag during his performance, while Denmark's Jakob wore bright orange shoes.

Eurovision's theme this year was "Awakening," also a reference to the revolution.

To the audience's delight, boxing champions Vitalii and Volodymyr Klitschko emerged onto the stage in sleek suits to announce the commencement of tele-voting.

Europeans were allowed to vote by telephone for any contestant except the one representing their home nation. As a result, many nations end up giving the most votes to the performers representing their neighboring countries.

Performers received as many as 12 points from a single nation.

Despite the loud, enthusiastic applause in the Sports Palace, Greenjolly faired rather poorly, receiving only 30 votes and finishing near the bottom.

The Moldovans gave Greenjolly eight points, the Portuguese gave seven points, the Spanish gave one point and Russian voters awarded the boys from Ivano-Frankivsk only two points.

Only Poland gave Greenjolly its maximum of 12 points, repeating its decision last year when it awarded 12 points to Ruslana's performance.

Incidentally, a vote that raised eyebrows was Belarus awarding Russia's rock singer Natalia Podolskaya 12 points, but no points to Greenjolly.

Clearly impressed with the homage to a drum-beating baba, Ukraine gave its 12 points to the Moldovan rockers, Zdob si Zdub.

Greece's Helena received 230 total votes and the top score of 12 points from 10 nations, including Cyprus with its Greek-speaking population, the singer's home country of Sweden and even Greece's historic rival Turkey.

Incidentally, European oddsmakers had cast her as the favorite before the competition. It was Helena's second Eurovision contest; she represented Greece in 2001.

Malta's Chiara placed a distant second with 192 votes and Romania's Luminita and her band Sistem finished in third place with 158 votes.

Luminita's song, "Let Me Try," was a techno-dance song with a very catchy refrain: "Let me try; I don't want to say good-bye. I will find a way to make you stay; just let me try."

The Romanian group's choreography was among the most unique as Sistem's percussionists banged on trash cans throughout the performance. During the song's third verse, they emerged with thick trash can lids attached onto their feet and provided the beat by stomping in rhythm upon the thick glass stage.

By the time voting concluded, it was apparent that Helena had won and the large Greek delegation burst into cheers, Greek chants and singing.

When she reached the stage, the Klitshcko brothers greeted Helena with hugs and Ruslana came out to congratulate her.

In a Eurovision first, a national president, in this case Viktor Yushchenko, appeared on stage at the competition's end to congratulate Helena.

"This is a special prize from Ukraine with the hope that your song unites all of Europe," Mr. Yushchenko told Helena as Ukrainian spectators led a chant of "Yu-shchen-ko."

In a conversation with Ruslana afterwards, President Yushchenko said he believed that many of this year's Eurovision contestants chose to sing in "our style."

At a 2 a.m. press conference following her victory, Helena was pointedly asked whether she thought her performance and style were similar to Ruslana's.

"She made all countries feel more proud of their tradition and nationality," Helena responded. "She gave inspiration for countries to do more traditional songs."

Helena was also asked what she thought about the revolution in Kyiv and Ukraine's future in the European Union.

"All revolutions in history result in something better in the end," Helena said. "I would like to see Ukraine and all the Balkans in the European Union, because we will be stronger if we are all together."

With those comments, Ukrainian leaders succeeded in what viewed as a golden opportunity to further promote Ukraine's relations with the European Union. They were thrilled about Eurovision's results and post-Eurovision comments, and Mr. Tomenko went so far as to say Eurovision 2005 was the best in the contest's 50-year history.

"Our team received from the prior government a management task in which we were faced with the threat of Eurovision 2005 being moved from Ukraine to another country," Mr. Tomenko said. "That's why the main task put in front of us by the president was to not allow any upheavals of the contest and carry it out at the appropriate level."

Joining Mr. Yushchenko and Mr. Tomenko in attending the song fest were Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and State Secretary Oleksander Zinchenko.

Even Coca-Cola promoted Eurovision 2005 on its bottles in Ukraine, adopting the slogan, "Obiednuysia zi svitom" (Unite with the world.)

Ukraine's serious treatment of Eurovision stood in contrast with the contest's status in places such as Great Britain and France, where it's treated as more of a spectacle. Even the more successful bands, such as Wig Wam, appeared more like parodies and acts than actual artists.

"It might look strange that the new cultural era in Ukraine has to begin with an event that has become known for joining kitsch costumes with horrible lyrics," wrote the British newspaper, The Guardian.

As for the Ukrainian representative group's poor vote results, Mr. Kalyn of Gryndzholy said Eurovision is a lottery when it comes to determining its winners. He said his band did everything that needed to be done, including presenting an energetic performance and strong choreography.

"Most of all, I am very happy for Ukraine that it organized the competition and it took place in our country," Mr. Kalyn said.

After the finals, Eurovision's executive director, Svante Stockselius, said he was satisfied with Ukraine's execution of Eurovision, which he described as excellently organized.

"Everything was fabulous: the sound, camerawork and tele-voting," he said. "And I give you a 100 percent guarantee that everything was carried out honestly and openly."

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, May 29, 2005, No. 22, Vol. LXXIII

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