The ten finalists of Vidbir 2024 have been announced.
The Ukrainian broadcaster has revealed the names of the ten acts which have made it to the final of Vidbir 2024. These ten have been whittled down from the longlist of 20 participants that was revealed just last week.
For the remaining ten acts which didn’t make it to the final, an online vote will be held via the Diya Mobile Application to determine the eleventh and final finalist for Vidbir 2024. The full list of finalists is expected to be revealed on December 29th.
- alyona alyona & Jerry Heil
- Drevo
- INGRET
- MÉLOVIN
- NAHABA
- NAZVA
- SKYLERR
- YAGODY
- YAKTAK
- Ziferblat
Some familar names among the line-up include MÉLOVIN, who represented Ukraine at Eurovision 2018 with “Under The Ladder” and Jerry Heil, who competed in Vidbir in 2020 and 2023 with “Vegan” and “When God Shut The Door” respectively.
The songs of all the finalists in Vidbir 2024 will be released in January 2024, as Ukrainian Head of Delegation, Oksana Skybinska explains: “The songs of the ten finalists will be released, according to tradition, closer to the final of Vidbir. By the end of this year, we suggest focusing on those artists and songs that can still compete for a place in the final and are definitely worth the attention of listeners both in Ukraine and abroad. In December, voting will take place in Diya, and everyone will be able to listen to the songs of the longlist participants, and choose who will receive the eleventh spot in the final.”
Music producer for Vidbir, Dymtro Shurov (Pianoboy), has said of the 2024 edition of Vidbir: “Creating songs, applications, preparation, auditions — all this is a huge amount of work and emotional stress for the artists and their teams, and for the Suspilne team, and for me personally. The most important thing is that throughout the whole process we are on the same wavelength and feel that we are doing a common thing together, from which Ukrainian music will definitely benefit…
… I am very glad that several participants of last year’s longlist made a powerful leap during the year and proved that they are ready to go into ‘open space’. Those new artists that you will love have appeared, those familiar faces have returned with strong songs and new motivation. This is a sign of a healthy, civilized attitude to competition, a desire for development, a charge in our nation to search and discover itself. A sign of the balance of love and respect for oneself and at the same time the courage to give and accept new things…
… If we put emotions aside, these ten are objectively the strongest artists of the selection with the most hit songs, who are here today, as ready as possible to represent Ukraine in an international contest. But emotionally speaking, I am very happy for every musician, manager, stylist, sound engineer, for myself because we are all part of a very correct and honest process, the main goal of which is to create a choice for Ukrainians, to give us all new hope, to find a person who will say important things for all of us this year on the stage of the grand finale and which we will trust as ourselves and be proud of as ourselves…
… I know, dear Ukrainians, that, as always, you will like some songs and not others. It is important for each of us to have the right to our opinion, our tastes, our thoughts and love. But now it is very important for us to learn to accept and appreciate other people’s opinion and worldview, to appreciate every action that leads to something constructive. This shows our true unity and development. I really hope that Vidbir will be held in this atmosphere, then everyone will benefit from it, and first of all, our Ukrainian musical scene.”
The remaining long list acts in the running to become the eleventh finalist include: ANKA, Carpetman, Julia Belei, KARYOTYPE, KRYLATA, PARFENIUK, SHÉPA, STASYA, SWOIIA and TESLENKO. One of these acts will join the other ten finalists for the live televised show in February 2024, where a mix of jury and televote will determine Ukraine’s Eurovision 2024 representative.
The winner will be headed to Malmö in Sweden for the 68th Eurovision Song Contest, which takes place on May 7th, 9th and 11th 2024, after Loreen achieved her second Eurovision victory, and Sweden’s seventh overall victory in the contest.
Which songs of the ten Vidbir 2024 finslists are you most looking forward to hearing? Which act are you hoping to see become the eleventh finalist? Let us know in the comments below!
Photo credit: Chloe Hashemi / EBU
