Ukraine’s Go_A say they feel “great appreciation” for Eurovision fans as their Wiwi Jam video tops one million views

They cast a spell on Eurovision during Eurovision 2021, rising all the way to second place in the public vote thanks to front woman Kateryna’s stellar voice and the group’s unique blend of folk and EDM.

And now Ukraine’s Go_A can celebrate another achievement: Their iconic performance of “SHUM” at the Wiwi Jam at Home has now topped one million views. Filmed in Kateryna’s kitchen, it captures the group’s musical abilities, but also their quirkiness and sense of fun as Kate simultaneously sings while making traditional cherry-filled dumplings. As an added bonus, they repurpose their now iconic hazmat suits from their first “SHUM” music video.

To mark the occasion we had a quick chat with  group’s founder and frequent translator Taras Shevchenko, who discussed their at-home performance, their reaction to their amazing Eurovision result and their plans for performing abroad.

Go_A’s Wiwi Jam video of “SHUM” tops one million views

WIWIBLOGGS: First of all, thank you again for filming this iconic video for our online concert. It was really generous and kind of you. You are known for mixing EDM and folk music. But the Wiwi Jam video is something entirely different. Could you tell us about the style and genre you are doing?

TARAS: All of us can play several musical instruments, especially Ihor, so it’s not a problem if we need a double bass or a cajón on the song. We also like to experiment with different music genres. Metal version? Sure! Acoustic gypsy-jazzy style? Why not? So we just did what felt right at the moment.

Your video is so creative. Why did you choose this setting and what is Kate cooking? Is she a good cook? Did you eat everything?

Thanks! As a matter of fact, we remembered your comment on social media about varenyky and were thinking like, “challenge accepted,” haha. Actually Kate is a very good cook. You should try her lentil soup sometime! And of course we and our filming crew ate everything — it was very tasty.

We love the appearance of Kate’s cat at the end of the video. Was she waiting to eat? Does she always sit so patiently?

Kate’s cat is always waiting to eat as any other cat. And she never sits patiently, so it took about 10 minutes for Kate talking to the cat and convincing her to sit quietly and wait for her moment.

 

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Your song came second in the public vote and Kate looked emotional and almost shocked at that moment. What were you all feeling?

It’s almost impossible to describe it in words. We do what we do for the people and the fact that they liked our song and stage performance so much meant the world to us. And we’re talking about a song that’s not in English!
When we were standing behind the stage during the final and waiting for our turn to come up and play, we saw a girl in a green fur coat in the audience as well as many Ukrainian flags! All this is very inspiring and motivating. We feel great appreciation to all people that believed in us and voted for us and we just want to write more songs and tour all over the world for them.

Finally, your international fans are in love with your unique style and music. Do you have plans to perform some concerts and festivals abroad in the next year?

We have already played several shows in Ukraine and we were shocked by how great the people reacted to our performance. In Lviv, we hardly managed to get out of our dressing room and into our bus because there were people everywhere singing our songs to us. This year we’ll have concerts in Lithuania, Estonia, and the Netherlands so far and we hope there will be more. We want to play live everywhere it’s possible to show the people how much we love them and how beautiful Ukrainian music is. Of course, right now everything still depends on Covid restrictions, so touring everywhere is technically not quite possible. But you never know what comes next.

Read more of our Go_A news here.

 

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