Tonight, nine acts battled it out in the first semi-final of Ukraine’s Eurovision 2016 selection, its first after a one-year break from the contest. However only three could progress. They were Jamala with “Hold Me”, THE HARDKISS with “Helpless” and Brunettes Shoot Blondes with “Every Monday”.
The line-up also featured the Ukrainian-born Russia 2009 representative Anastasia Prikhodko and Aida Nykolaychyuk, the winner of the third season of X Factor Ukraine.
FIRST SEMI-FINAL RUNNING ORDER
- Anastasia Prikhodko “I Am Free Now”
- The Hardkiss “Helpless”
- Tonya Matvienko “Tin Whistle”
- Vladislav Kurasov “I’m Insane”
- Lavika “Hold Me”
- Jamala “1944”
- Aida Nikolaychuk “Inner Power”
- Svetlana Tarabarova “Never Again”
- Brunettes Shoot Blondes “Every Monday”
JURY PANEL
All the acts were critiqued by an expert jury. The panel consisted of Eurovision veterans Ruslana (Eurovision 2004 winner) and Andrey Danilko (aka Verka Serduchka, the Eurovision 2007 runner-up). They were joined by musical producer Konstantin Meladze.
FIRST SEMI-FINAL RESULTS
TELEVOTING RESULTS
- Jamala (49.22%) – 9 points
- THE HARDKISS (16.03%) – 8 points
- Aida Nikolaychuk (10.41%) – 7 points
- Svetlana Tarabarova (7.24%) – 6 points
- Brunettes Shoot Blondes (6.74%) – 5 points
- Vladislav Kurasov (3.91%) – 4 points
- Anastasia Prykhodko (2.89%) – 3 points
- Tonya Matvienko (2.83%) – 2 points
- Lavika (0.73%) – 1 point
JURY RESULTS
- Jamala – 9 points
- Brunettes Shoot Blondes – 8 points
- THE HARDKISS – 7 points
- Svetlana Tarabarova – 6 points
- Tonya Matvienko – 5 points
- Anastasia Prydkhodko – 4 points
- Vladislav Kurasov – 3 points
- Aida Nikolaychuk – 2 points
- Lavika – 1 point
Combined results
- Jamala – 18 points
- THE HARDKISS – 15 points
- Brunette Shoot Blondes – 13 points
- Svetlana Tarabarova – 12 points
- Aida Nikolaychuk – 9 points
- Vladislav Kurasov – 7 points
- Anastasia Prydkhodko – 7 points
- Tonya Matvienko – 7 points
- Lavika – 2 points
The selection continues next week, with nine more acts hoping to reach the semi-final.
Do you agree with the results? Let us know in the comments below!
in fact the song is about the Bulgar’s ( aka Tatars in pseudo Russian history) genocide , but hey after all who cares !?
Jamala singing about the Turkic genocide made by Ussr! 12 points from Azerbaijan for sure
OMG I really cant wait when William say something about our choice! I dont know why but i think he understand us like no one. Im not shure about other
judges they will say something “Oh its boring, its affull” because there are no “Any Lorak” no “La-la-la@ etc.
But I think this is huge progress for us – this kind of music
William, if you read it write something at least on your Twitter we r?ad it too ))
<3<3 thnx!
I love this song, her vocals and the powerful emotional sentiment behind. However, I personally feel it isn’t appropriate for a song in Eurovision. As already shown by some of the comments here arguing about the events of 1944, this is a song about the pain of a real historical event still in living memory that goes against the purpose of Eurovision, which is a contest created to leave the past behind and look to the future. Dwelling on a past terrible complex event is potentially divisive and goes against the spirit of the competition. I’m very happy to purchase… Read more »
Are you serious? Do you know how many kids died during the deportation?Were they colaborating with nazis as well??
It’s important to tell the truth: I understand that. However, the point of the Eurovision Song Contest should be to come together in peaceful celebration. Probably the best example of a winning song to do this well was Nicole winning for Germany in 1982. Decades after WWII, a German song brought people together in peace – it was a lovely sentiment. By all means discuss the past and celebrate the present, but do not fight and do not argue. It has no place at the ESC. If Jamala’s song provokes direct conflict, it will be withdrawn at the ESC level.… Read more »
all songs are pretty good im glad for this choice
I’m a Crimean Tatar and I can say that there was NO reason to punish all the Crimean Tatar people in 1944. My grandma was 4 years old when this awful punishment for nothing was done. Her father took part in the ww2 so the most Crimean Tatars did. We have also big count of Crimean Tatars heroes during the ww2 and their names are famous. (Amet khan sultan for example). So the story about death of little kids in every CRIMEAN TATAR family during the deportation is TRUE. But the most terrible thing was that Stalin punished no guilty… Read more »
I don’t agree, The HARDKISS is obviously the best and amazing!!!!!!! Jamala is wonderful, but her song is not for Eurovision!! Hope very much that HARDKISS will represent Ukraine in Sweden!!!!!
As for me, The Hardkiss have amazing song!
This is a very good song, and this is entirely “her” (Jamala’s) song. Yes, this song is about a historical event, but it is also about feelings of those people who were kicked off their homes. Jamala’s family suffered at those times as well – her great-grandmother had told her a lot about that relocation, during which people barely had anything to eat, they were cold and ill. Jamala’s great-grandmother’s little daughter died on the way (as many of other people did) and her family even didn’t have an opportunity to bury her body. So this song turns into a… Read more »
There are no video with overview yet! Im so dissapointed. Waiting for comment since yesterday night, cant normally sleep )) You posted new and new videos but not about Ukrainian (( Your opinion is really matter
That may be the excuse he used; his reasoning was probably closer to removing a Turkic presence from a place of extreme geographic importance, and attempting to bring in people of Russian background to solidify unit and support for the core culture of the USSR (as the Soviets did with a lot of strategic locations, like the Baltics, the far east, Kola etc). Did the Tartars work with the Nazis? Yes. Did half of Europe work with the Nazis? Yes. Is working with the Nazis a bad thing? Yes. Were the Tartars deported just because some worked with the Nazis?… Read more »
@Tania @oxyk
1. What do my comments have to do with Russia or the Kremlin??? You need to calm down. The song “1944” is about a historical event that took place during the years of the Soviet Union, Stalin was the leader of all USSR countries and his actions reflect to all of them.
2. The FACT is that Stalin ordered the deportation of Crimean Tatars as a punishment for their collaboaration with the Nazi. This is the reason he used.
@tania, they are not trolls, but people with other view on the situation. Ukrainian political regime controls the cultural life of the country. That’s sad.
The statements about this being a pro-nazi song are just dumb.
If the title was different this could be a peace anthem about how low human race has sank these days.
The whole thing is misinterpreted and we gotta just let Jamala SLAY and enjoy the show.
V
only moderator can silence trolls
all in all we are here to discuss music, aren’t we? about 10 last comments were far from it
@tania, if somebody’s opinion is not like yours, it doesn’t mean that they are wrong. And don’t try to silence the truth. We have a right for freedom of speech.
if someone abroad doesn’t know why russian trolls are so active
it’s because 2000 crimean tatars are now persecuted in occupied crimea by russian power
@Emily_G tell me, are you blind or it’s just your work to tell lies? read this phrase carefully:
“a 1967 Soviet decree removed the charges against Crimean Tatars”
now, if you can understand the meaning of it, can you repeat that Crimean Tatars guilty? can you repeat that Europe will vote for nazi’s collaborators?
oxyk
because he is a kremlin bot
it’s quite clear. and the only aim is to ignite politics fuss about dzhamala.
so many russian pro-stalin trolls even here at esc blogs. gradually they start moving discussion to politics propaganda.
i hope all these “about nazi” comments will be removed by moderator. meanwhile i would recomend to modern nazi searchers to look at their homes. in st-petersburg and kreml for example http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-32009360
@dutchie The deportation of Crimean Tatars was ordered by Stalin (who was Georgian) as a punishment for their collaboration with the Nazi https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deportation_of_the_Crimean_Tatars
Even if this is not what really happened this is a debatable historical event that can create a negative image for Ukraine and I really can’t see how a song with this kind of message can be voted by juries in central Europe.
@emily_g
Sure, if they put it like that in the booklet (‘this song is in favor of Nazi collaborators’) not many juries will vote for it. I’m not awfully versed in Ukrainian history, but I’m sure there’s more complexity to it than that.
@ct_greece Do you really think that people and juries in central Europe will vote in favour of a song in the memory of Nazi collaborators? Maybe supporters of Lepen in France or supporters of the Golden Dawn in Greece would but I don’t think that juries would vote in favour of this song.
It is a foregone conclusion: Jamala will win the national final and is a serious contender to win the whole thing in May. She is a true powerhouse, like Ofra Haza coming back to life. From a true ESC fan, thank you Ukraine!!!
The Hardkiss were quite alright, but live I did not feel the emotion it was just a performance to them.
I’d like to mention Vladislav Kurasov (Vladi). He sang very well, but he was really unlucky to be drawn in such a strong semi-final with all that added controversy. Obviously Jamala and The Hardkiss were exceptionally good; I would encourage Vladi not to give up. He’s a great singer and he’s very beautiful as well. (Be my Valentine? :D)
Jamala is unique and her song is powerful and controversial, although personally I prefer listening to The Hardkiss’ “Helpless.”
I don’t think that a song in the memory of the Crimean Tatars, the collaborators of the Nazi, will bring a lot of points for Ukraine from Central Europe.
It is really sad that the Neo Nazi are now ruling the country.
Jamala’s got a better song (in Eurovision terms think about it as a mix of “Love Injected”+”Rhythm Inside”+”Suus”, all of which slayed Euroscene)
The Hardkiss should have done a pumping electropop/electroclash song (aka Hot Chip, Friendly Fires, Scissor Sisters or Metronomy usually do) but instead somehow opted for a boring ballad and will probably lose in the final
Holy hell, that woman can bloody sing! It was already clear from the studio version that Jamala’s song was way better than The Hardkiss, but I wasn’t quite prepared for this. Her voice is mixed in way too loudly though, can be a bit unpleasant to the ears at times.
It should be a strong favorite in Stockholm… if the lyrics aren’t too political (I don’t understand a word, even though it’s mostly in English).
Belarus loves the hardkiss
The vote were fabricated!!!
It’s everything from me…
I loved both Jamala and The Hardkiss! Alright with any of them representing Ukraine. I will rank them both 10/10. Good luck, Ukraine! 🙂
Oh Ukraine, don’t do this to yourself. You have to understand that nobody in Eurovision cares about your present suffering, and even less about the history. Think about the future, don’t dwell in the past. And Russia will send a song about world peace and harvest all the points and laugh at you anyway.
My vote was counted)
Jamala has a strong voice and good song.
Her performance was truly the strongest!!!
Wait for video overview from William!!!
A win should be The Hardkiss! The vote were fabricated. They have the biggest fan base in the country. The Hardkis this is the most popular group in the country. Everybody lies.
Very bad and overemotional song about crying over nazi-collaborationists who were doing their best to kick soviet army when they were freeing europe from nazis. It’s not that russians don’t remember it, they think it was justificated, and they are historically right. And from me, a Pole, this song won’t get any points.
I love the Hardkiss, but having just heard Jamala it’s easy to see why she won. Her performance was awesome, so dark and moving. I’m torn. Let them both win!
and to top it off after searching a little more some of the lyrics are in Crimean Tatar which is extremely edgy for Ukraine (tatars largely are loyal to ukraine despite living under russian control in Russia–the line “I couldn’t spend my youth there because you took away my peace” is really really volatile but also so so perfect)
this would so be my number 1 in Stockholm
Ukraine has it`s own character as always but will europe understand it? all songs are really good and unusual. There are no cliche, no “pretty-plastic-girls” and it`s already good because people prefer quality music to habitual pop sound. But it could be better. Will see it on final!
also I can assure you 1944 will not be getting very many points from Russia lololol
Oh man I am loving these super dark Ukrainian entries that subtly hint at the war in Donetsk
1944 does a super super fantastic job of that (1944 was the date of the USSR’s recapture of Eastern Ukraine from Nazi Germany, which could be taken many ways when applied to the present)
so much angst, so much passion with the singers too
They are voting for her to annoy Russia. And nobody cares that crimean tatars were collaborationists with Nazi Germany and Stalin was Georgia.
Listening to Jamala song….I just start crying! I don’t even understand like half of it but it is so real….the emotion is real….this could surely win in Stockholm. I agree with Eugene. It is super original and nothing else is like it. Wow!
Hope it wins the Ukrainian final. But now that the song is known it is much more difficult. It will probably be sabotaged one way or another by the “no politics” bs of ESC which is a form of music censorship.
can someone tell what 1944 is about?
i wasn’t thrilled when i heard jamala entering ukrainian national selection because her previous attempt “smile” was atrocious. but i listened to 1944 and i was slayed. so. hard. very moving and haunting music.
Really good Brunette Shoot Blondes. Another two just a little beat depressive but good for some special mood.
OH! Does Thehard kiss look like The Nightwish on this video or it s just my thought ?))
Jamala’s song was really good but I wasn’t really into her singing. I guess I wouldn’t mind it too much if she won, but oooh wow a lone female singer for Ukraine, I wonder if they’ve ever done that before….
Really love The Hardkiss though! I hope they win, I can easily imagine them in the top 5