Not so long ago Ukrainian broadcasters NTU and STB, who are joining forces for Eurovision 2016, revealed that Ukraine’s national selection will kick off with the first semi-final on February 6, followed by the second semi on February 13 and the final on February 21. Well today they turned up the heat a bit more by revealing that Ruslana, the winner of Eurovision 2004, and Andrey Danilko (aka Verka Serduchka), the runner up of Eurovision 2007, will serve on the Ukrainian jury! Talk about bringing out the big guns…

Konstantin Meladze, the musical producer for Ukraine’s Eurovision selection, is over-the-moon to have them on board. Speaking to Ukrainian media, he pointed out that Ruslana and Andrey gave Ukraine its best results at Eurovision, that they are both very interesting and cavalier performers, and that they work in different genres, which will prove to be very useful when evaluating the contestants.

Moreover, broadcaster STB notes that Andrey Danilko will appear — for the first time — as himself. That is, as a producer and composer, without the Verka Serduchka image. So no tin foil and oversized glasses.

ukraine eurovision 2016 auditionsRecently the broadcasters held a closed audition round, where they selected the acts for this year’s selection. Konstantin Meladze said that there are a lot of interesting artists, both known and unknown, worthy of representing the country at Eurovision. There will be a variety of musical genres represented so that everyone can enjoy the show. And we are definitely excited to hear all of them!

Of course, every audition includes its share of outlandish to freaky performances. One participant apparently sang while holding the leg of a mannequin. It must have been a lovely pairing…

Are you looking forward to Ukraine’s national selection? Whom would you like to see? Let us know in the comments below!

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