Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008


Ukraine was represented by Ani Lorak in the Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Shady Lady". In Eurovision 2008, Ukraine came in 2nd, being defeated by Russia.

Before Eurovision

Artist selection

announced Ani Lorak as the Ukrainian entrant at the Eurovision Song Contest 2008. She previously competed in the Ukrainian national final, where she came 2nd behind the group Greenjolly.

National final

NTU opened the song submission period for composers to send their entries until 5 February 2008. From all 109 songs submitted to NTU, a selection committee selected five songs. The committee consisted of Eduard Klim, Vitaliy Dokalenko, Oleksandr Ponomaryov, Oleksandr Zlotnik, Ihor Poklad, Vasil Vovkun and Sergey Kuzin.
On 23 February 2008, Ani performed the five songs during a live concert in the studio of NTU. The winning song, "Shady Lady", was determined via the 50/50 combination of votes from a public televote and an expert jury. "Shady Lady" received maximum points from both the jury and televote, and was also Ani's personal favorite.

At Eurovision

Although Ukraine had been granted a spot in the 2008 final because of its second-place finish at the Eurovision Song Contest 2007, it had to compete in a semi-final for the first time since 2006 because of new rules put into effect by the European Broadcasting Union. In previous years, countries that received a top 10 placing were automatically granted a spot in the next year's final without having to compete in a semi-final, but for 2008, the EBU changed the automatic qualification regulations so that all countries except the "Big 4" and host country, would have to pass through one of two semi-finals.
Ukraine chose to perform 4th in the second semifinal, following Turkey and preceding Lithuania.Ukraine was ranked first, with 152 points and qualifying for the final. In the final, performed 18th following Georgia and preceding the France scored 230 points and placed 2nd.
12 points10 points8 points7 points6 points

  • 5 points4 points3 points2 points1 point
  • 12 points10 points8 points7 points6 points

  • 5 points4 points3 points2 points1 point

  • Points awarded by Ukraine

    Semi-final 2

    Final