The Wiwi Jury — our in-house team of music unprofessionals — is reviewing and rating the 37 competing songs in Eurovision 2025. Next we review Ukraine, who have chosen Ziferblat with “Bird of Pray”.
Were we flying on the wings of Ziferblat’s melodies? Read on to find out!
Ziferblat – “Bird of Pray” (Ukraine Eurovision 2025)
Review: Ziferblat – “Bird of Pray”
Lucy: This song opens with a really gorgeous, mystical tone, before bursting into a verse that completely mis-matches it. The verses feel rushed and grating, before we head into a pleasant whimsical-sounding chorus. I start to enjoy and get into the song during the first chorus, then it heads back to those verses I can’t get onboard with. I can’t decide if they sound dated in a bad way, or retro in a timeless way. Either way, it’s not for me. I want them to succeed as they are huge Eurovision fans, but it isn’t my vibe.
Score: 6
Ruxandra: There are some songs this year that make this edition feel original, and this one is definitely one of them. The song starts powerfully, and I was initially concerned whether they could keep building its intensity as it went on — but they did. Everything is well-crafted and perfectly placed; the song flows smoothly yet remains completely unpredictable. I simply love the level of poetry in the lyrics. Besides the great vocals, I also appreciate the harmony with the backing vocals, which feels essential to this track.
Score: 10
Antranig: Since 2022, we’ve talked about the fact that Ukraine can send absolutely anything and qualify without any effort. However, during that time, they’ve sent entries that had at least some modicum of quality. This year, they’re putting the theory to the test. This song is absolutely dire, devoid of any sort of musical intrigue. While the opening verse offers some level of interest, as soon as we reach the English chorus I feel the irrepressible urge to stop listening, as I am greeted with uninspiring lyrics and a really dull tune. Absolutely not for me.
Score: 2
Deban: Whilst Ukraine is undoubtedly the most highly-ranked country at the Eurovision Song Contest, many of its offerings have been isolationists in their own lane. In 2025, Ziferblat’s appointment deepens this. Rooted in 70’s subculture visuals, and Supertramp DNA, “Bird of Pray” draws in an alternative sound that is atmospheric, yet subtle in its political tone. I acknowledge the powerful elements here, but ultimately, this isn’t my kind of music.
Score: 6
Ukraine Eurovision 2025 ranking
In the Eurovision 2025 Wiwi Jury, we have 17 jurors but only have room for four reviews. The remaining scores are below:
|
Andreas: 6.5 Bernardo: 5 Burak: 7.5 Cinan: 5 Jonathan: 6.5 Jordi: 7 Pablo: 4.5 |
Scarlett: 6.5 Simon: 7 Suzanne: 5 Tom: 7 Tomas: 4 William: 5.5 |
We have removed the highest and lowest scores prior to calculating the average. This is to remove outliers and potential bias. We have removed a high of 10 and a low of 2.
Wiwi Jury verdict: 5.93/10
What do you think of Ukraine’s Eurovision 2025 entry? Share your own score and review for Ziferblat’s “Bird of Pray” below!
I really like this song, very much.so.
Just one minor issue.
I really don’t mind English sang with any accent and to be fair his English is really good, and I don’t speak a word of Ukrainian.
but I wish someone would teach him to sing “bird of pray” not “preee” it stands out so much as the last lingering word of the chorus and could so easily be corrected.
My thoughts exactly ? It is a really small but important detail to elevate the performance and deliver the message.
Ukraine has been solidly improving the quality of their entries since 2016. They have overcome the trendy and stage centered era to actually show us their music scene, culture and essence. It is really funny to read and hear a really absurd argument about they always qualifying just for being Ukraine… What does that mean? Are they every European country neighbours? Are they really rich or a part of the Big 5? Have they juries being involved in any corruption questioning? Is their music industry one of the strongest around the world? No. They just know how to play their… Read more »
Alongside Italy, Portugal and Lithuania, Ukraine is sending music to Eurovision. Not songs, not acts, not numbers, not tracks, not anthems, not bops, not hits. Music.
That´s right !
Ukraine 9/12
I would had liked this song as a kid in 2010, so I still do. In 2010-11 there was many creative songs like this. There’s no song similar to this one in genre, and it would easily qualify even without war.
Not without war, because this song is about the war. Just saying.
It’s about birdwatching. Just saying.
It’s not about birthwatching…
It’s about the bird messenger during the war.
It’s not about birth watching…
There’s electric black-outs in the song. Despair. And a bird who is free.
I love it.
It’s nice and rocky,
and the bird is beautiful.
Wiwibloggs is passé with their attitude, taste and ratings. When you watch Wiwi’s interviews in London, they look so fake and forced.
Good luck to Ziferblat!
UKRAINE – As it often is, Ukraine mixes traditional and pop elements to present us with packages that feel palpable, but also a bit special. Here we have a 70s-inspired pop-rock track with some folk singing by the backing vocals. The song uses many pauses in melody for the rhythmic effect. It also switches pretty abruptly from one section to the next. The most obvious hooks are the repetition of ”begging you” and ”my little bird of… pray”. The title is a wordplay which can look like a typo if one isn’t paying much attention to it. Bird of prey… Read more »
Not bad actually. I love the 70’s rock opera feel very, very much. Production is spotless.
One of the better Ukraiinian entries, if I’m being completely honest.
Once again, Antranig is demonstrating that he has absolutely zero knowledge and taste in music. Deplorable.
i really don’t think Ukraine will make the final this year.
Slava Ukraini all the way, but in a fair (music) world,this would be a NQ. Actually it should be their first NQ. I don’t see that coming though…
I love the song from the first time I heard it. It’s one of my favorites this year. It’s beautiful and I will vote for them
As much as I’d want to like it, it just falls flat to me. It’s always nice tohave alternative rock in Eurovision but Lithuania success where Ukraine fails. It’s not bad though, just going nowhere for me.
1. Poland (6.5)
2. Ukraine (6.25)
This is a song that I enjoy listening to very much but I don’t really connect with it, and that’s mostly due to the lyrics, starting with the title, a play on words that feels totally empty to me. But if I accept the throwaway nature of the words, there’s a lot to like here: the choral opening; the guitar riffs that feel so much more muscular than when Ziferblat were in Vidbir last year; the wild melodic leaps. it’s right around the fringes of my top ten.
Just watch tops on other platforms/websites. Doesn’t feel like we have a clear winner. Every year you could see it but this year every top is so different. Can’t wait for May. Might be exiting. Somehow I have a feeling that Austria will win
It doesn’t scream winner vibes because its quality is not overt. That is not a flaw. I think it will stand the test of time long after others have faded. I like it very much.
I honestly like this song a lot and it’s among the ones I listen to more within this edition. I am happy to see from the comments I am not the only one, despite the low ranking of this and other webs.
Wiwi Jury rankings
love, love, love this song! 9.5/10
“Bird of Prey” is surprisingly beautiful and very artistic. It has somewhat flown under the radar so far because of its soft rock genre. But underneath all that, this song feels to me like an arthouse cinema soundtrack. I’d recommend listening to the acoustic version of this song to help better understand it, musically. The harmony is quite unique to this song; there’s some modern-classical fused together with jazz and folk elements. When combining this all with a stand-out lead vocal, some magic happens. However, the downside to this song is that it’s inaccessible to a lot of listeners simply… Read more »
Eurogays as always can’t appreciate anything but pop
As someone who rather takes something unique than generic pop, this song is trash.
Every year these reviews remind me how much lack of taste Antranig has…
One of the worst songs in the history of Ukraine at Eurovision. Only the chorus is cool here.
27. Ukraine – Ziferblat – Bird of Pray 5.5/10 – there are some interesting guitar riffs and solid drum work in this entry but I’m not sold on the vocal delivery and the choral elements. I welcome the confident style of the performers and there are parts that I enjoy, sadly there are parts that I don’t enjoy, so this is a confusing and frustrating listen for me.
5.93 seems generous!
Oh wow, I did not expect the scores to be this low. It’s so underrated! It’s in my top 5.
From the very first two sets of scores, it’s once again evident how “high” the level of musical culture is at Wiwibloggs. Glorifying mediocrity and failing to recognize true quality. Won’t be surprise when we’ll see Malta and Finland at the top. Sad.
Ukraine – Ziferblat has really changed my opinion on soft rock/prog rock and their entry for Eurovision is no different. The revamp with extra orchestral bits really helped and the harmonies with the girls just makes it feel extra special. It understandably gives a mixed opinion from viewers, but I absolutely love it. 9/10
(I’m not listing entries this year, btw. I’ve really had trouble this year and my top 10 really likes changing haha)
5th place: Ukraine: I diverge a lot with the fandom regarding this one. I appreciate the creativity and the experimentation that was involved when composing this song, and as an indie rock fanatic I can’t help but appreciate Bird of Pray. The progressive rock influences are really evident in the many key changes and the chorus is really touching. The melodic changes of the song make it really interesting, albeit maybe too much for some listeners. But not for me, as I personally really like it and is one of the tracks I regularly listen to even outside the contest’s… Read more »
I like how Ukraine went in a slightly different direction this year. It has an indie quality but still holding the cultural elements that we love in Ukrainian entries. I love the interesting structure of the song and how the chord progression changes allowing it to shift in tone from verse to chorus. Plus the chords themselves are quite interesting and add to that indie feel. I am missing a proper melody though and it does seem at one note throughout the song but that is somewhat outweighed by the changes in vocal style and the interesting instrumentation. I also… Read more »
Idk I like the song. Grew on me a lot after the first time I heard it. I gave it a 9
The title of the song is so special and the song is very nice.
Yes, bird of pray.
I like everything expect the chorus. I find myself skipping this song after first chorus. The stage concept is beautiful and I hope they will keep that atmosphere in Basel.
5.5/10
Total agreement. Flat chorus ruins what are really catchy verses that get me hooked on the song. I want to like it but if everything good builds to disappointment then whatever. 6/10.
Let’s be honest: If this represented Malta, San Marino, Slovenia, Austria, Netherlands … or almost any of the other participating countries, it would never qualify but rather compete for last place in its semi. The country over song arguments may be old and annoying, but in some cases, they are just blatantly obvious. This will be such a case.
Well, I actually like this song, so… yeah. Let’s see if it qualifies.
Does the term Bird of Pray make any sense to a native speaker? Or is it another case of Jamala’s beloved Ukrainian English? I only know of birds of prey.
I mentioned it in my upcoming review, but “bird of pray” isn’t a typo, but a deliberate wordplay. However, since it demands that one:
1. Knows the difference in spelling
2. Knowns it’s a deliberate choice
3. Knows why it’s been made
… it’s very easy to confuse many viewers and be lost in translation.
Poetry
Ohh that’s interesting. When I wrote my review of this song about a month ago, the title says “Bird of Prey”. I re-checked my source material for the song and confirmed it is me who made a typo, as the song is indeed titled “Bird of Pray” and I hadn’t even noticed! Silly me.
I don’t see any of those countries sing about this topic, with this poetry.