The search for Jamala’s successor is on! Tonight eight acts sang their hearts out to represent Ukraine at Eurovision 2017 — and on home territory. But only two could advance from the semi-final, which, you may have noticed, was brought to you by Pepsi and Kia.
Under the watchful eyes of Eurovision’s reigning queen Jamala, Verka Serduchka’s alter ego Andriy Danylko, and composer and producer Konstantin Meladze, TAYANNA and Salto Nazad won the semi-final and will compete on February 25 to defend Ukraine’s honour in Kiev.
UKRAINE SEMI-FINAL 1 WINNERS
1. TAYANNA — I Love You (15 points)
2. Salto Nazad — O, mamo! (14 points)
TAYANNA was a clear favourite in our poll going in to the show and carried that support through. She topped the televote and placed second with the jury.
Salto Nazad surprisingly won the jury vote, scoring top of Andriy and Konstantin’s ballots. Whilst he only finished third on the televote, that was enough to put him clear of Arsen Mirzoyan. Arsen only finished fifth with the jury, with Jamala in particular placing him bottom of her ballot.
UKRAINE SEMI FINAL 1 ELIMINATED ACTS
3. Arsen Mirzoyan — Geraldine (11 points)
4. SKAI — All My Love For You (11 points)
5. MamaRika — We Are One (9 points)
6. Roman Veremeychik & Lumiere — Make It Real(5 points)
7. Monochromea — Blue Bird (5 points)
8. Laliko — Sugar Whisper (2 points)
UKRAINE SEMI FINAL 1 COMBINED VOTES
UKRAINE SEMI FINAL 1 JURY VOTES
We also saw performances from two acts already guaranteed to be at Eurovision 2017 during the show. Belarus’ NAVI and Georgia’s Tako Gachechiladze both took to the stage to perform. NAVI also performed a Belarusian version of “1944”, visibly moving Jamala.
The action continues next Saturday, when 8 more acts will compete to join TAYANNA and Salto in the final. Letay, Mila Nytych, Kuznetsov, Aghiazma, Detach, Rozhden, Panivalkova and Illaria will all sing for the two winning slots from 6pm CET.
There’s going to be overwhelmed with divas this year, and tayanna is the most cliche one you can imagine: dress, song, music, culmination etc, even the song name is simplicity itself. She’s also at her maximum, so little can be done.
Salto Nazad got fresh music, which can really be defined as modern ukrainian music, he’s very open and looks very organic and natural on stage, and his act isn’t even at 1/10 of what it can be: life music, proper choreography, good set up and he’ll be absolutely amazing. It is also a good hosting-act.
Okay, “I Love You” could get Ukraine a top 5 finish. What a performance.
Tastes do differ… Salto Nazad was my favourite, it was so catchy and made me want to dance. Language does not matter here (I’m not Ukrainian). Tayanna might not do that well with international juries, I guess at least the Western ones might find her song outdated. However, televoters might love her, as they loved Poland’s Michal last year. As to Arsen, I just could not stand his song and singing style.
@Mark Beckenbreur: You forgot a star on b**** 😀 (If you’re going to risk calling someone names on this blog, at least type it right!) By the way I was once told that Jamala herself sometimes reads these things, so be very careful if you visit Ukraine. Hahaha! I happen to disagree with you anyhow. Yes Jamala is a very imposing individual, but she has been in the music business for a very long time and first and foremost knows how to entertain. Her critical outlook may be driven by how she feels about the music and the performance, and… Read more »
@Mil :’D
@Mark Beckenbreur
You have a very vivid imagination.
I didn’t like Arsen’s song at all, nor I liked Salto Nazad. I was for Bluebird.
TAYANNA slayed. Salto Nazad was overrated though.
Jamala is such a b*** While everyone were complimenting Arsen, (who is, btw. like Jamala of Armenian ancestry), and giving him decent points, she decided to ruin his chances. During the voting, she looked like an evil witch. You could read her thoughts.. Those were screaming: ‘let Arsen fail, let him fail.’ It’s like something happened between them and she was punishing him. I’m disappointed in her.
salto nazad, huh? I’m too old to appreciate stipid rap for kids. short intro about their group shows their very limited mental abilities (actually making rap shows the same, but they also loosers and named their group like they are gym pros when they are the opposite – clumpsy idiots who fails on their head in attempt to do simple gymnastic element).
no way in hell I would support such group, I’m not impressed with their personality and with the song itself
salto nazad ayyyyy my favorite
Salto Nazad was’nt that bad. The genre was quite unusual for eurovision (such as Serbia’s Nina with Caroban). Different doesn’t mean it was bad. Overall the songs were good and all the singer can sing.
Boring semi-final. Nothing stuck out. Tayanna is overrated with a boring ballad and would no advance to the final — had Ukraine not won last year.
Tayanna killed it but I don’t get Salto. Two jurors placed this first? That does not sit right!
Salto nazad was actually TERRIBLE. And i say this as a Ukrainian. This will NOT do well in Kyiv, and Tayanna was a much better idea. I personally wish Arsen qualified instead of them. I would LOVE for Ukraine to send a song in Ukrainian, but “O Mamo” was terrible. I hope in the final the juries realize that Salto Nazad is not a good idea.
I felt it was a great show. SKAI had an awesome song and the performance was solid, it had to be in the final, but Salto Nazad were surprisingly interesting. I hated the demo version of Tayanna’s song, but with the live performance she blew me away. Really excited for the next semi-final.
comparison with greenjolly is ridiculous. people, don’t you have ears? then trust jury who gave them the highest score. although i’m pretty sure salto nazad will not win the final but i’m so glad for their today success because until now they were absoluteky unknown in ukraine. and their music is really cool.
Oh my god, Ukraine you better not send Salto Nazad, it is Greenjolly 2.0 and it has high chances to finish like Austria in 2015… It is a pretty weak selection this year but I want my country to do well so…….
I love SALTO NAZAD
@IB There is no full version yet. Part 1 is here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=687G2DG3DOc&t=287s
OMG!
SALTO NAZAD it`s GreenJolly ?2
I’m so happy Salto nazad passed! I voted for them, but it was totally unexpected, since they were unknown in Ukraine until this evening. They were the best in this pretty bland semifinal
Where can I watch full version, please?
The TV viewers had it right – Tatiyana and Arsen were both great. The juries on the other hand got it terribly wrong.
Tayanna better win it all..
Tayanna was amazing tonight!! Congratulations!
salto nazad is wonderful. i sent sms for them ) but didn’ t quite expect them to get to the final. very nice surprise
Did the juries REALLY give that tragic O mamo song the maximum points? Lmaooo okay I get it that y’all want to be patriotic af and that it’s the only song in Ukrainian in this semi, but get real hunties.
“Salto Nazad surprisingly won the jury vote, scoring top of Andriy and Konstantin’s ballots”
Wrong. They topped Jamala’s and Andriy lists, Kostiantyn gave 8 to SKAI