Eurovision 2016 winner Jamala left some big shoes to fill in Stockholm, and tonight Ukraine held its second semi final to find her successor. Eight acts competed for two spots in the Grand Final which will be held on February 25. And as expected Pepsi and Kia continued to milk that promo for all it’s worth, honey!

Watching like a hawk coming in for their prey was current reigning Eurovision champion Jamala, the man behind the mask of Verka Serduchka, Andriy Danylko, and Ukrainian music producer Konstantin Meladze, and they watched on as Illaria and Rozhden took out first and second place in the second semi-final and will go on to the final in a couple of weeks.

UKRAINE SEMI-FINAL 2 WINNERS

1. Illaria — “Thank You for My Way” (15 POINTS)

2. Rozhden — “Saturn” (13 POINTS)

Illaria slightly divided the jury when it came to the staging and the tempo of the song, but it was still enough for her to earn 7 points. The televote, however, gave her the full 8 points and put her clear at the top of the table this week.

Second place went to Rozhden with “Saturn”. He was the jury favourite, taking their 8 points, with Miladze even asking the audience to vote for him. This only returned 5 points from the televote though — but again, enough to make sure he easily qualified.

UKRAINE SEMI FINAL 2 ELIMINATED ACTS

3. Detach — “Distance” (10 POINTS)

4. Panivalkova — “Dokuchayu” (19 POINTS)

5. Kuznetsov — “Deep Shivers” (9 POINTS)

6. Aghiazma — “Synthetic Sun” (7 POINTS)

7. Mila Nytych — “Mystery” (6 POINTS)

8. Letay — “World is Calling” (2 POINTS)

UKRAINE SEMI FINAL 2 COMBINED VOTES

ukraine national final semi final two televote

There was some minor controversy in the eliminated acts. Web vote winner Kuznetsov found the jury to be very critical of his vocals, yet he still took second place in the televote. Jamala even said she preferred his backing vocalists to him — ouch!

Just another Saturday night in #Ukraine. #vidbir2017 #eurovision2017 #eurovisionsongcontest #eurovision

A photo posted by wiwibloggs (@wiwibloggs) on

The semi-final action will conclude next Saturday, when the final eight acts will compete to join TAYANNA, Salto, Illaria and Rozhden in the final. Payushchie Trusy, O.Torvald, Anastasia Prudius, Vitaly Kozlovsky, Kadnay, Melovin, Green Grey and Vivienne Mort will all sing for the final two winning slots from 6pm CET.

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Rita
Rita
7 years ago

Saturn was rockin’!

Oxana
Oxana
7 years ago

that’s what I call accurate prediction 🙂 I wanted Illaria and Rozhden to qualify and bingo! I expect Kozlovsky to win 3d semi and Illaria to win NF.
Kuznetsov has his very own fans and he wrote his song…. but he can’t sing and hardly he can improve his technique in 3 months to be flawless on big stage. anyone who wants him to represent Ukraine must be out of their mind or they just want Ukraine to get some 18th place in final result.

Nick
Nick
7 years ago

After ILLARIA sang, Verka Serduchka literally said “Sorry i hate slow songs”.
How can he be there as a “PROFESSIONAL” judge? Isn’t that quite unprofessional?

n
n
7 years ago

Rozhden disappointed me with his comments like “Eurovision artists seldom go without feathers and glitter”, just proves he doesn’t respect the contest enough.

SLY
SLY
7 years ago

KUZNETSOV was the only enjoyable song for me! But, Ukraine don`t need another win in a row so I don`t give a s**t! 😀

Héctor
Héctor
7 years ago

So sad, neither KUZNETSOV or Detach made it. At least one of them deserved to go to the final.

Zebb
Zebb
7 years ago

Good staging, elevated acts a lot. Btw LED volume figures is still an idea that big Eurovision has never achieved yet since they started to run actively around the world somewhere in 2009. Illaria has got an enchanting act, but her song somehow reminded me of Sabina from Az – beautiful but utterly forgettable. Might be an interesting final battles!

Nick
Nick
7 years ago

Surprised about Rozdhen, I would’ve much preferred DETACH to qualify. But as I’ve said from the start, ILLARIA is a beautiful musician and has a beautiful song, and I would love to see her represent Ukraine at Eurovision.

Mil
Mil
7 years ago

@Mar
Same here

Mar
Mar
7 years ago

Ugh, I though Rozhden was horrid.

Mil
Mil
7 years ago

@Polegend Godgarina
Check out Anastasia Prudius – Flow https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4T_HK6PGH8U
It might be Tayanna vs Illaria vs Anastasia Prudius

Polegend Godgarina
7 years ago

Aight, I guess it’s really about Illaria and Tayanna in the final. Ukraine is sending a ballad, but it’ll be a good one either way.

Mil
Mil
7 years ago

A very weak semi, the third one is going to be the strongest. Surprisingly, Anastasia Prudius has a good song. Loving Vivien Mort, but it relies on wonderful lyrics which is in Ukrainian, and thus I’m not seeing them doing well with the foreign audience. O’Torvald and Kadnay are rather good.

Daniel_2017
Daniel_2017
7 years ago

My favourite came last :), Well, I didn’t actually expect them to qualify… But I don’t like any of the qualifiers…

I thought last year’s jury, including Ruslana, talked way too much, and this year, with Jamala, things haven’t improved… Man, why the heck do they need to talk so much???

Purple Mask
Purple Mask
7 years ago

The real winner tonight was Pepsi. 😀