TAYANNA may be out of this year’s Vidbir, but Ukrainian national broadcaster, STB, have been quick to find someone to take her place. Anna Korsun, better known by her stage name, MARUV, will replace the Ukrainian songstress in the competition, thus taking the total number of entries back up to 16.

Just a few hours ago two-time Vidbir runner up, TAYANNA, announced via Instagram that she would be withdrawing from the contest. In her announcement, the Ukrainian diva stated that she felt there were many more artists aiming to participate, who deserve the ticket to Tel Aviv more than she did.

Nevertheless, STB were quick to respond and announced that MARUV, who had competed in Vidbir back in 2016, would be her replacement.

Who is MARUV?

MARUV (Anna Korsun) is a 26-year-old singer, songwriter and composer originating from central Ukraine. Before adopting her iconic pseudonym, she competed in the fourth season of The Voice – Ukraine. Her rendition of the song “Pomogi Mne” grabbed the attention of all four judges (including Eurovision alums Sergey Lazarev and Ani Lorak) and earned herself a spot in the next round of the competition.

It was around this time that her period in the group The Pringlez began. Their first big appearance was at the New Wave competition; an event which has produced many notable Eurovision and Junior Eurovision entrants such as Jamala, DoReDos or Helena Meraai. Possibly the most notable achievement of the band was their partaking in Vidbir 2016 along with the song “Easy to Love”.  While they didn’t make the final, the group definitely brought their flare and uniqueness to the competition.

Come 2017, the name MARUV was born and Anna began working with DJ and guitarist Mikhail Busin, who also has an all-capitalised pseudonym: BOOSIN. The two began their collaboration by creating a label called Zori Sound.  After realising their voices and harmonies amalgamated well together, they began to work under the name MARUV & BOOSIN.

The two began to release music with some success but their real breakthrough came with the song “Drunk Groove”.  Produced by the duo themselves, their song charged to the top of the Ukrainian and Russian music charts and even achieved international success.  As of January 22nd 2019, the song has amassed almost 80 million views in under a year.

It still remains to be seen whether or not MARUV will be collaborating with BOOSIN on her Vidbir 2019 entry as much of the details concerning her entry are still unknown.  Nevertheless, we look forward to seeing what the Ukrainian songstress and the other 15 competing hopefuls have up their sleeves for the competition in February.

Running order reveal

Following up this information, STB revealed some more information regarding their national final, namely the semi-final allocation as well as the running order.  All three Vidbir shows will take place in February with the respective dates as follows:

Semi Final 1 9th February
Semi Final 2 16th February
Final 23rd February

 

As shown in the image above, the 16 competing acts have been divided into two semi-finals of eight.  The running order for the two shows as well as the semi-final allocation can be seen below:

Semi Final 1 Semi Final 2
1 The Hypnotunex 1 Ivan Navi
2 LETAY 2 Anna Maria
3 VERA KEKELIA 3 KAZKA
4 TseShow 4 Kira Lazur
5 Yuko 5 LAUD
6 MARUV 6 Khayat
7 Brunettes Shoot Blondes 7 Braii
8 Bahroma 8 Freedom Jazz


What do you think about MARUV joining the contest in lieu of TAYANNA? Are you excited to see what kind of arrangement the Ukrainian singer will bring to the competition? Let us know in the comments down below.

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Tom
Tom
5 years ago
kyamranasanov
kyamranasanov
5 years ago

Maruv will participate with “For You” song. She confirmed this in her yesterday Insta live.

VlaD
VlaD
5 years ago
Reply to  kyamranasanov

Oh no!!! Very average song.
I assume she chose it because the DJ behind it , Farouk Sabanci, comes from one of the richest families of Turkey (20$ to 30$ billion dollars worth). So he will pay for EVERYTHING 😉

Tom
Tom
5 years ago
Reply to  kyamranasanov

Sireng Song – new song! Very cool!!!!

Susane
Susane
5 years ago

Khayat voice gives me a shivers… what a gem!

Nikko
Nikko
5 years ago

She kinda looks like Srbuk

Miguel
Miguel
5 years ago

Maruv! I love her sound.

Wilhelm
Wilhelm
5 years ago

I think we should bet on divas since eurovision doesnt like our guys.
Last two years were a mess…

LAUDFan
LAUDFan
5 years ago
Reply to  Wilhelm

But there are not much divas this year,maybe Sasha from Kazka is only real diva, instead we have three very charismatic male performers, so who knows….

Bahog Bilal Hassani
Bahog Bilal Hassani
5 years ago

I forgot that MARUV participated in 2016 with The Pringlez. Their song back then was a feel good kind of song and I wondered why it did not qualify.

Fatima
Fatima
5 years ago

Yes it was not bad song back then but in 2016 was very strong Vidbir, maybe the strongest one.
Maruv will win her semi but only becouse there are no real contenders, maybe BSB can win semi 1 too, but in final she has no chances to win

Kris
Kris
5 years ago

Wow 5 of 6 fan favs artists s in one semi?! Its crazy! Anna Maria twin sisters have an amazings voices but their song is not my cup of tea, though its not bad Ivan Navi is sexy guy with huge fan base but his song sounds like poor copy of Timberlake ‘ get the feelings’ Kazka has a huge international hype around their hit ‘plakala’ but they hav issues with live singing, though we have to wait for the song first Laud is an amazing performer with velvet tember, but everything depends on his song, last year he wins… Read more »

Braydon
Braydon
5 years ago

Can’t belive that Maruv is in the selection… ?
Her music is greet and she is blowing up in Ukrainian music scene so she can totally have a chance to win. But I can also see her getting a lot of hate. ?

Fatima
Fatima
5 years ago
Reply to  Braydon

Many people find her performances too vulgar and sexist, too much skin on the stage, and her live singing is not very impressive …

BlackKava
BlackKava
5 years ago

Second semi is bloodbath… all fan favs are there, i listened that new guy Khayat on The Voice, i can say his singing manner is really impresive, he looks a bit like Zayn and i can hear Arabic melodies in his singing, is he Arabian?
Anyway no one from fan favs still haven’t realised their songs, so we only can guees who win Vidbir

Braydon
Braydon
5 years ago
Reply to  BlackKava

Yeah totally agree. The first semi has mostly unknow to wide audience artists many of whom are up and coming.

In an inverview Khayat reviled that his father is from Lebanon.

Dylan7049
Dylan7049
5 years ago

Does anyone know where to find the Ukrainian entries ???

Der
Der
5 years ago

Say hello to Khayatvinators

Fatima
Fatima
5 years ago
Reply to  Der

Lmao! Absolutely! And after Khayat said he adores Mélovin he gained even more fans ….lol

Fatima
Fatima
5 years ago

Such a strong semi 2, the winner will be out of there for sure, Khayat is my fav, im in love with his voice and charisma, simply amazing guy!

Kirby Romford
Kirby Romford
5 years ago

If Tayanna is out im all for Khayatt or Loud to win, they re both extraordinary male singers and totally cutie pies:))

Joe
Joe
5 years ago
Reply to  Kirby Romford

It’s supposed to be about the song.

Fatima
Fatima
5 years ago
Reply to  Joe

Agree, supposed to be, but never was and never will be…lol

Anna
Anna
5 years ago

Khayat will win.