Trio Sympho-Nick Interview: Everything in Ukraine will be better soon (Junior Eurovision 2014)

Marta Rak, Sofiia Kutsenko and Amaliia Krymska met on the Ukrainian TV show “Music Academy of Eurovision.” Several months later they were re-born as the trio Sympho-Nick and earned the right to sing for Ukraine at Junior Eurovision 2014. Their song “Spring will come” is all about their favourite season, and they tell us that it reflects the ongoing difficulties in Ukraine. “When spring comes everything awakens and starts blooming and the same happens in our country that is experiencing hard times,” they tell us. “We believe that everything will become better soon.” Things are already better us, as we recently got the chance to speak with these three lovely young ladies.

Congratulations on your victory in Ukraine! Were you surprised to have won?

Thank you very much for your congratulations. Of course, like every finalist we wanted to win and to perform on stage on the best possible way. We prepared for the final and we were anxious before coming on stage. We were very surprised when we heard that we won, we couldn’t believe in it and we were about to cry for happiness.

Our readers want to know a little bit more about Marta, Sofiia and Amaliia. Can you tell us a little bit about yourselves?

I am Marta Rak, I am 13 years old, I am from Novoiavorivsk town which is in Lviv region. I like music very much. My favourite music styles are jazz, pop music. I am a winner of many national and international song contests. I also attend music school and learn to play the piano, learn the music theory and attend dancing classes. I have also been a presenter of children programs on Ukrainian TV channels.

I am Sofiia Kutsenko and I am 12 and I live in a wonderful city – Kharkiv. I am a 7 year pupil at economy-law school. I am a creative personality. I play the piano, try to create music pieces, paint pictures, make beading, dance.

I am Amaliia Krymska, I am 12 and I am a 7 year pupil at school. I like dancing, playing the guitar and piano. I like to spend time with my family and friends. My favourite music style is RNB. I dream of performing together with Christina Aguilera on one stage.

The three of you met on the show Music Academy of Eurovision. For people outside of Ukraine, could you explain what this is?

It was our dream to represent Ukraine on Junior Eurovision and “Music Academy of Eurovision” was the first step on the way of this dream to come true. That’s why we decided to take part in this project since we knew that it could give the opportunity to be among twenty finalists of the national selection for Junior Eurovision. We liked this project very much, we made a lot of friends from Ukraine and from other countries, we gained new experience and new important knowledge. It was a very interesting project where the atmosphere was friendly and therefore it was easy and comfortable for us to work in such creative and warm conditions. Moreover, the stage, light and sound facilities were on the top level. We competed in three thematic nominations: “National hit”, “World hit”, “Song of your choice”. We are very grateful for the advice and useful professional recommendations concerning stage image, performance, vocal side of the song that jury gave us during this project.

Did the three of you instantly get along with each other?

We are best friends. We got acquainted on the project “Music Academy of Eurovision-2014”. During the rehearsals and vocal classes we spent a lot of time together, communicated and supported each other. So, when we won the project “Music Academy of Eurovision” we decided at once to form a trio and compete as a trio in the national final.

Why did you want Mikhail Nekrasov to compose your song?

We know Mikhail Nekrasov as a talented Ukrainian composer and his songs were present at adult and Junior Eurovision song contests several times. His songs were always successful and gained the best results. Therefore we applied to him for a help and hoped that he would help us. We were glad when Mikhail Nekrasov agreed to assist us in composing the song ”Spring will come”. We liked the song very much and when we won the national selection we were happy that the jury and the viewers also liked our song. It was a big honour to work with Mikhail Nekrasov and now we understand how huge a responsibility is since we have to represent Ukraine on the best possible way and we will try our best to do it in Malta.

What were your preparations like for the national selection in Ukraine? You all live in different cities, so it must have been tricky!

We all live in different cities: Amaliia – in Symferopol, Sofiia – in Kharkiv and Marta – in Lviv. Of course, it’s difficult when we live in different parts of Ukraine but we managed to do it. We worked hard and first we were thinking about the music and we worked we Mikhail Nekrasov. Then we worked on the lyrics with Ievhen Matiushenko. Viktoriia Nekrasova helped us with the stage images, she created our beautiful dresses. Tetiana Ostroverkh worked on the choreography of our stage performance. Of course we had a lot of rehearsals with the vocal coach before the national final since we wanted to make it better and better and to show the audience the most we could.

NTU staged a special one-week bootcamp for all of the contestants. Did you find this helpful?

Yes, sure, it was really very helpful since all the rehearsals were very saturated and it really helped to get used to the stage.

What was the moment like when you were announced as the winner?

We were overwhelmed with emotions, we wanted to dance and to jump, we were very happy that we would represent Ukraine on JESC 2014. We worked hard and of course we wanted to win.

Could you tell us about your song? What is the message?

Our song is “Spring will come” and it is about wonderful season, spring. The main message of the song is that when spring comes everything awakens and starts blooming and the same happens in our country that is experiencing hard time and we believe that everything will become better soon. We are children and as it is known children are future of the country and we will do our best to make Ukraine prosperous, free and independent. We would also like to tell the viewers and the audience that every person on the planet can dream and create miracle by themselves. Our song is about burning belief that all the difficulties in our country will pass and our country will become prosperous again.

In your performance you held leaves. What is the meaning of this?

Each of us is holding a leaf in the hand and there is ground (Marta), seed (Amaliia) and water (Sofiia). It’s quite symbolic when we put everything into the ground where a plant has grown out. It is a sunflower that appears on the screen behind us in the end of the performance. This plant has waken up when spring comes.

What are your preparations like at the moment? Are you still traveling to Kyiv to rehearse?

We are having a lot of rehearsals. We come to Kyiv every Friday and have three active days of rehearsals. We have classes with the vocal coach and the choreographers, acting skills classes. We also try to find time for interviews with press members and with our fans. We will stay in Kyiv for two weeks before leaving for Malta and we will have rehearsals every day aiming at improving our stage performance and vocal side of the song.

Are you excited to travel to Malta? What are you most looking forward to?

Yes, we are excited since it is very responsible to represent Ukraine in Europe and for us it is a big honour. We expect a lot of positive emotions and impressions, new experience, new acquaintances and friends and, of course, victory. It is a good start in the career of every young artist.

Junior Eurovision is very popular in Ukraine. Why do you think this is?

Yes, it is. Junior Eurovision is a serious and big contest where every child has an opportunity to show his talent and the talents of their country. Ukraine is a very singing nation and such music festival as Junior Eurovision couldn’t be beyond the viewers’ attention.

Have you had the chance to speak with any past Junior Eurovision contestants? What advice have they given you?

Yes, we talked to Sofiia Tarasova, a representative of Ukraine at JESC 2013. She gave us advice and wished good luck and successful performance on stage in Malta. We are grateful to her for useful recommendations.

Who are your favourite adult Eurovision singers and songs?

Yes, we all like to watch Eurovision Song Contest and of course in future we would like to take part in adult Eurovision and represent our country on such a great music event of Europe. As far as our favourite ESC song is concerned, we like “Gravity” by Zlata Ognevich.

Finally, do you have a message for your fans on wiwibloggs?

Trio Sympho-Nick send all the viewers, eurofans and readers of wiwibloggs the best of luck, peace, happiness, positive emotions and bright impressions, faithful friends and let all your dreams come true! And, of course, we would appreciate your support! See you in Malta! We love you!