It has been announced in the media that 2004 Eurovision Winner, Ruslana, and 2007 Eurovision runner up, Andrei Danilko who performs as Verka Seduchka (this time as himself, without his alter ego) will be taking their places on the Ukrainian selection jury for Eurovision. This means they will have a say in who is selected to be Ukraine’s participant in Stockholm.
Fellow Ukrainian Musician Konstanin Meladze believes that Ruslana and Andrei Danilko (Verka Seduchka) are right people for the job as they have both represented Ukraine at Eurovision, and they represent two different genres of music. Konstanin is the third and final jury member.
Ukraine’s selection gets underway on February 6 with the first semi final, the second semi final will be on February 13th, and their grand final will take place in Kyiv, and the hosts of all 3 shows will be hosted by Dmytro Tankovich and Oleksander Pedan on UA:Pershyi and STB.
Ruslana says “The news that the national selection in Ukraine will be held at this level was a positive point for me. Finally, the selection of the representative for Eurovision will go in the same way as other European countries. I can see a team of professionals working on preparing the event and I am sure it will be a real national selection. I’ve got something to compare as I was on the jury of national selections all across Europe. And I am not just “A person from the museum”, who won Eurovision over 10 years ago, I am a musician i good shape and I’m ready to share my knowledge and experience with the selected winner. Eurovision has gone far beyond being just a musical event, it’s a competition that brings people together.”
Ukraine have been drawn in the second half of the second semi final which will take place in Stockholm on Thursday 12th May 2016.
