Ukraine was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 with the song "Angel", written by Ruslan Kvinta and Maryna Skomorohova, and performed by Mika Newton. The Ukrainian participating broadcaster, National Television Company of Ukraine (NTU), organised a national final in order to select its entry for the contest. Thirty-five entries competed in the national selection which consisted of nine shows: five heats, three semi-finals and a final. Seventeen entries qualified to compete in the final, held on 26 February 2011, where "Angel" performed by Mika Newton was selected as the winner following the combination of votes from a nine-member jury panel, a public televote and an online vote. Following controversy regarding alleged voting miscalculations, a new final was planned to be held on 3 March 2011 with the top three entries of the initial final competing. The new final was later cancelled after the second and third placed acts both declined to participate, and "Angel" performed by Mika Newton ultimately remained as the Ukrainian entry.
Ukraine was drawn to compete in the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 12 May 2011. Performing during the show in position 6, "Angel" was announced among the top 10 entries of the second semi-final and therefore qualified to compete in the final on 14 May. It was later revealed that Ukraine placed sixth out of the 19 participating countries in the semi-final with 81 points. In the final, Ukraine performed in position 23 and placed fourth out of the 25 participating countries with 159 points.
Background
Prior to the 2011 contest, Ukraine had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest eight times since its first entry in 2003, winning it in 2004 with the song "Wild Dances" performed by Ruslana. Following the introduction of semi-finals for the 2004, Ukraine had managed to qualify to final in every contest they participated in thus far. Ukraine had been the runner-up in the contest on two occasions: in 2007 with the song "Dancing Lasha Tumbai" performed by Verka Serduchka and in 2008 with the song "Shady Lady" performed by Ani Lorak. Ukraine's least successful result had been 19th place, which they achieved in 2005, with the song "Razom nas bahato" performed by GreenJolly.
The Ukrainian national broadcaster, National Television Company of Ukraine (NTU), broadcasts the event within Ukraine and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. NTU confirmed their intentions to participate at the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest on 9 July 2010. In the past, the broadcaster had alternated between both internal selections and national finals in order to select the Ukrainian entry. Between 2005 and 2010, NTU had set up national finals to choose both or either the song and performer to compete at Eurovision for Ukraine, with both the public and a panel of jury members involved in the selection. The method was continued to select the 2011 Ukrainian entry.
Before Eurovision Yevrobachennia 2011Natsionalnyi vidbir The Ukrainian national final commenced on 31 October 2010 and concluded with a final on 26 February 2011. All shows in the competition were broadcast on Pershyi Natsionalnyi as well as online via NTU's official website 1tv.com.ua. The final was also broadcast online at the official Eurovision Song Contest website eurovision.tv.
Format The selection of the competing entries for the national final and ultimately the Ukrainian Eurovision entry took place over four stages. In the first stage, artists and songwriters had the opportunity to apply for the competition by attending a scheduled audition during designated dates. Thirty-five acts were selected and announced on 22 August 2010. The second stage consisted of the televised heats which took place between 31 October and 28 November 2010 with six to seven acts competing in each show. Four acts qualified from each heat based on the votes from a public televote and an expert jury. The expert jury first selected the top three entries to advance, while the remaining entries faced a public vote held following their respective heats which selected an additional qualifier. The jury also selected four wildcard acts out of the remaining non-qualifying acts from the heats to proceed in the competition. The second stage consisted of the semi-finals which took place on 5, 12 and 26 December 2010 with eight acts competing in each show. Seven acts qualified from each semi-final by a public televote and an expert jury. The expert jury first selected the top five entries to advance, while the remaining three entries faced a public vote held following their respective heats which selected an additional two qualifiers. The fourth stage was the final, which took place on 26 February 2011 and featured the acts that qualified from the semi-finals vying to represent Ukraine in Düsseldorf. The winner was selected via the combination of votes from an online vote (10%), a public televote (45%) and an expert jury (45%). The online vote was held from 13 February 2011 and closed before the final, while viewers participating in the public televote during the live shows had the opportunity to submit their votes for the participating entries via SMS. In the event of a tie during the final, the tie was decided in favour of the entry that received the highest score from the jury.
Competing entries Artists and composers had the opportunity to submit their entries between 5 July 2010 and 19 August 2010. Auditions were held between 19 and 21 August 2010 at the Olmeca Plage in Kyiv where a seven-member selection panel consisting of Walid Arfush (producer), Vlad Baginsky (music producer of NTU), Ruslana Pysanka (singer), Yuliya Magdych (fashion designer), Anton Tseslik (CEO of Kiss FM Ukraine), Igor Likhuta (composer and producer) and Kamaliya (singer) reviewed over 200 received submissions and shortlisted thirty-five entries to compete in the national final. On 22 August 2010, the thirty-five selected competing acts were announced. Among the competing artists was former Eurovision Song Contest contestants Verka Serduchka, who represented Ukraine in 2007 with the song "Dancing Lasha Tumbai", and Anastasia Prikhodko, who represented Russia in 2009 with the song "Mamo". "Gogol Bordello" не буде на "Євробаченні", а Сердючка вже у фіналі, Табло ID (August 20, 2010) On 14 October 2010, Verka Serduchka, who was to gain direct entry into the competition's final, withdrew from the national final due to scheduling issues and was replaced with the song "Shake Your Body" performed by Pavlo Tabakov. Artist Song Songwriter(s) A.R.M.I.YA and Vera Varlamova "Allo, allo" () Roman Babenko Anastasia Prikhodko "Action" Andrii Ignatchenko Arina Domski "Prosto lyubit'" () Oleksandr Grinchenko, Ihor Dobrolezh Bahroma "Yeyo imya" () Roman Bakhariev Dash "Love Is" Arkadii Nesterenko, Dmytro Seriakov Dasha Medova "Infinity" Dasha Medova Denys Povalii "Aces High" D. Seriakov, A. Korzhenko, A. Nesterenko, Denys Povalii Eduard Romanyuta "Berega" () Bohdan Bolkhovetskyi, Volodymyr Tretiakov El Kravchuk "Moya nadezhda" () Semen Horov, Andriy Danylko Inna Voronova "Mr. Fever" Inna Voronova Ivan Berezovskyi "Ave Maria" Romano Mussumaro Jamala "Smile" Jamala, Tetiana Skubashevska Khrystyna Kim "Victim of My Love" Khrystyna Kim Maksym Novytskyi "True Love Can Free You" Maksym Novytskyi, Brent Jordan MetroPoly10 "Think It Over" Maksym Dersky Mika Newton "Angel" Ruslan Kvinta, Maryna Skomorohova Mila Nitich "Goodbye" Gennadii Krupnik, Olha Stepura Natalia Pugachova "Hey Boy" Natalia Pugachova Nek$i "Sever-Jug" () Gennadii Tatarchenko, Yurii Rybchynskyi Oleksandr Kvarta "Ne somnevaysya" () Oleksandr Kvarta Oleksii Matias "Myself" Gennadii Krupnik Olena Kornieieva "Why Didn't I Say Goodbye?" Olena Kornieieva, Marianna Stasiuk Para Normalnykh "Gliadi" () Vitalii Pleshakov Pavlo Tabakov "Shake Your Body" Petro Chernyshenko Shanis "Kamennyi tsvetok" () Ruslan Kvinta, Diana Golde Tetiana Vorzheva "Vsyo resheno" () Vlad Darvin Vitalii Galai "My Expression" Vitalii Galai Vladislav Levytskiyi "Love" Vladislav Levytskiyi, Sonia Sytnyk Vroda "Zhovteie zhyto" () Vasyl Tkach Yakov Smirnov "You'll Be With Me" Yakov Smirnov Zaklyopki "Superhero (U-la-la)" Serhii Kabanets, Katia Komar Zhemchug "Hero" Anna Alisher, Aliona Zhemchug, Yevhenii Matiushenko Zlata Ognevich "The Kukushka" Mykhailo Nekrasov, Yevhenii Matyushenko
Shows
Heats The five heats took place between 31 October and 5 December 2010 at the Dovzhenko Studios in Kyiv, hosted by Tatyana Goncharova and Timur Miroshnychenko. In each heat an expert jury selected the top three entries to advance to the semi-finals of the competition, with the remaining entries then facing a public televote held in the week following the heat which determined an additional qualifier. Four wildcards were also awarded by the jury from the thirteen eliminated entries to advance to the semi-finals. The jury panel that voted during the heats consisted of Walid Arfush (producer), Kamaliya (singer), Ruslana Pysanka (singer), Anton Tseslik (CEO of Kiss FM Ukraine) and Iryna Zhuravska (model, winner of the Miss Ukraine 2008).
+ Heat 1 (first round) – 31 October 2010 Artist Song Result 1 Yakov Smirnov "You'll Be With Me" Second Round 2 Zaklyopki "Superhero (U-la-la)" Second Round 3 El Kravchuk "Moya nadezhda" Second Round 4 Khrystyna Kim "Victim of My Love" Advanced 5 Olena Kornieieva "Why Didn't I Say Goodbye?" Advanced 6 Inna Voronova "Mr. Fever" Second Round 7 Dasha Medova "Infinity" Advanced + Heat 1 (second round) – 31 October–7 November 2010 Artist Song Result Yakov Smirnov "You'll Be With Me" Zaklyopki "Superhero (U-la-la)" Advanced El Kravchuk "Moya nadezhda" Wildcard Inna Voronova "Mr. Fever"
+ Heat 2 (first round) – 7 November 2010 Artist Song Result 1 Para Normalnykh "Gliadi" Second Round 2 Eduard Romanyuta "Berega" Advanced 3 Ivan Berezovskyi "Ave Maria" Advanced 4 Bahroma "Yeyo imya" Advanced 5 MetroPoly10 "Think It Over" Second Round 6 Nek$i "Sever-Jug" Second Round + Heat 2 (second round) – 7–14 November 2010 Artist Song Result Para Normalnykh "Gliadi" Wildcard MetroPoly10 "Think It Over" Nek$i "Sever-Jug" Advanced
+ Heat 3 (first round) – 14 November 2010 Artist Song Result 1 Arina Domski "Prosto lyubit'" Second Round 2 Vitalii Galai "My Expression" Second Round 3 Oleksii Matias "Myself" Advanced 4 Shanis "Kamenniy tsvetok" Advanced 5 Natalia Pugachova "Hey Boy" Second Round 6 Zhemchug "Hero" Advanced 7 A.R.M.I.YA and Vera Varlamova "Allo, allo" Second Round + Heat 3 (second round) – 14–21 November 2010 Artist Song Result Arina Domski "Prosto lyubit'" Vitalii Galai "My Expression" Advanced Natalia Pugachova "Hey Boy" A.R.M.I.YA and Vera Varlamova "Allo, allo" Wildcard
+ Heat 4 (first round) – 21 November 2010 Artist Song Result 1 Oleksandr Kvarta "Ne somnevaysya" Second Round 2 Vladislav Levytskyi "Love" Second Round 3 Dash "Love Is" Second Round 4 Zlata Ognevich "The Kukushka" Advanced 5 Anastasia Prikhodko "Action" Advanced 6 Mika Newton "Angel" Advanced 7 Mila Nitich "Goodbye" Second Round + Heat 4 (second round) – 21–28 November 2010 Artist Song Result Oleksandr Kvarta "Ne somnevaysya" Vladislav Levytskyi "Love" Wildcard Dash "Love Is" Mila Nitich "Goodbye" Advanced
+ Heat 5 (first round) – 28 November 2010 Artist Song Result 1 Pavlo Tabakov "Shake Your Body" Second Round 2 Jamala "Smile" Advanced 3 Denys Povalii "Aces High" Advanced 4 Maksym Novytskyi "True Love Can Free You" Second Round 5 Tetiana Vorzheva "Vsyo resheno" Advanced 6 Vroda "Zhovteie zhyto" Second Round + Heat 5 (second round) – 28 November–5 December 2010 Artist Song Result Pavlo Tabakov "Shake Your Body" Advanced Maksym Novytskyi "True Love Can Free You" Vroda "Zhovteie zhyto"
Semi-finals