Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020


Ukraine originally planned to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, after a year break. The Ukrainian entry for the 2020 contest was selected through a national final, which UA:PBC organised in collaboration with the commercial broadcaster STB. However, due to the 2019-20 pandemic of Coronavirus, the contest was cancelled.

Background

Prior to the 2019 Contest, Ukraine had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest fifteen times since its first entry in.The nation had won the contest on two occasions: in with the song "Wild Dances" performed by Ruslana and in with the song "1944" performed by Jamala. Following the introduction of semi-finals for the, Ukraine had managed to qualify to the final in every contest they participated in thus far. Ukraine had been the runner-up in the contest on two occasions: in with the song "Dancing Lasha Tumbai" performed by Verka Serduchka and in with the song "Shady Lady" performed by Ani Lorak.Ukraine's least successful result had been 24th place, which they achieved during the 2017 with the song "Time" performed by O.Torvald.
The Ukrainian national broadcaster, , broadcasts the event within Ukraine and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. In the past, UA:PBC had alternated between both internal selections and national finals in order to select the Ukrainian entry. Between 2011 and 2014, UA:PBC had set up national finals with several artists to choose both the song and performer to compete at Eurovision for Ukraine, with both the public and a panel of jury members involved in the selection. NTU withdrew from the contest for one year in due to the unstable financial and political situation caused by the conflict in east Ukraine. In 2016, NTU collaborated with the commercial broadcaster STB in order to organise a national final to select Ukraine's entry, resulting in the selection of an entry that went on to win the Eurovision Song Contest. UA:PBC's collaboration with STB continued will continue into 2021.

Before Eurovision

National final

The Ukrainian national final was held at the Palace of Culture "KPI" in Kyiv and consisted of two semi-finals held on 8 and 15 February 2020 and a final on 22 February 2020.
The expert jury that voted during the shows consisted of:
ArtistSongSongwriter
"Tam, kudy ya ydu" Olha Chernyshova, Alexander Kasprov
Assol"Save It"Kateryna Taranenko, Maksym Zakharin, Anna Chernukha, Eldar Bayramov, Yan Likarenko
Cloudless"Drown Me Down"Yuriy Kanalosh, Anton Panfilov, Oleksandr Lysanskiy, Mykhailo Shatokhin
David Axelrod"Horizon"David Axelrod, Pavlo Shylko, Volodymyr Grigorovitch
Elina Ivashchenko"Get Up"Elina Ivashchenko, Vadim Lysitsa
Fo Sho"Blck Sqr"Betty Endale
Garna"Who We Are"Alyona Levasheva, Roman Nepomnyashiy
Gio Dara"Feeling So Lost"Giorgi Darakhvelidze
Go A"Solovey" Taras Shevchenko, Kateryna Pavlenko
Jerry Heil"Vegan"Yana Shemaeva, Roman Cherenov
Katya Chilly"Pich" Kateryna Kondratenko
Khayat"Call for Love"Andriy Khayat
Krutь"99"Mykhailo Klymenko, Anton Babych, Maryna Krut
Moonzoo & F.M.F Sure"Maze"Oleksandr Vasetskyi, F.M.F. Sure
Oleksandr Poriadynskyi"Savior"Yana Kovaliova
Tvorchi"Bonfire"Andrii Hutsuliak, Augustus Kehinde Jimon

Shows

Semi-final 1
The first semi-final took place on 8 February 2020 in Palace of Culture KPI. The top three entries following the combination of votes from a public televote and an expert jury advanced to the final of the competition, while the remaining five entries were eliminated. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, 2018 Eurovision entrant Mélovin performed with the song "Oh, No!" as a guest.
Semi-final 2
The second semi-final took place on 15 February 2020 in Palace of Culture KPI. The top three entries following the combination of votes from a public televote and an expert jury advanced to the final of the competition, while the remaining five entries were eliminated. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, runners-up of Vidbir 2016 The Hardkiss, 2020 Czech entrant Benny Cristo and Junior Eurovision 2019's Ukraine entrant Sophia Ivanko performed as guests.
Final

At Eurovision

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big 5" are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 28 January 2020, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Ukraine was placed into the first semi-final, which was to be held on 12 May 2020, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show. However, due to 2019-20 pandemic of Coronavirus, the contest was cancelled.