When the Yearly Ukrainian National Awards, or YUNA, was established in 2011, some of this year’s nominees were still schoolkids and could only dream of being part of the ceremony.
Producer and radio host Pavlo Shylko, known as DJ Pasha, says that today’s contestants grew up together with YUNA, and its stage has become an inspiration for many Ukrainian artists. YUNA highlights the freshest talent from the Ukrainian music market: for instance, Jamala, the winner of the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest, was nominated for YUNA in 2014, two years before she achieved international success.
“Some of the children who watched our first shows are now all grown up and have become participants themselves,” Shylko says. “Not so many people knew about Monatik or Onuka when they were nominated for YUNA for the first time — we were one of the first to recognize them.”
YUNA was launched seven years ago, when Ukraine itself had just turned 20. Back then, Shylko came up with the idea of awarding a major music prize to sum up all the achievements of Ukrainian artists and bands of the last two decades.
He turned for help to the Ukraine-based businessman and Kyiv Post publisher Mohammad Zahoor, who is married to the Ukrainian singer-actress Kamaliya. Together, they launched YUNA.
“But what you see during the award ceremony is just the tip of the iceberg,” Shylko says. “The main work takes the whole year, and it involves carefully selecting and bringing together the best voices on the Ukrainian music market.”
Shylko says YUNA boosts Ukrainian artists: amateurs evolve into internationally known professionals, partly thanks to YUNA.
Main rules
This year, the awards themselves, to be held on Feb. 26 in Kyiv, have also evolved: The Best Soloist nomination has been split into Best Male Performer and Best Female Performer. The organizers also created a brand new nomination — the Best Song in Ukrainian — to encourage artists to produce Ukrainian-language content.
To be nominated, a singer or a band has to release at least two songs over the year. Deloitte, a leading auditing firm that helps organize the Grammy Awards, was hired to oversee the voting process.
Zahoor, while the brand owner and organizer of the awards, has no influence on the voting process. But he admits that sometimes the choices of the jury disappoint him, such as their decision not to nominate Ani Lorak, a Ukrainian singer who continues to give concerts in Russia even after the Kremlin’s annexation of Crimea and the launch of its war in the Donbas.
YUNA co-founder and Kyiv Post publisher Mohammad Zahoor and his wife, singer-actress Kamaliya, present the award for “Best Duo at YUNA music awards ceremony on Feb. 21, 2017. (Kostyantyn Chernichkin)
“It makes me sad when jury members judge a performance on the basis of patriotism,” Zahoor said. “I think music should be above this.”
However, he adds that artists have to be judged not only by the quality of their music — popularity also matters nowadays.
“I’m quite pleased that for the first time ever Olya Polyakova is among the nominees,” Zahoor said. “She’s had so many hit songs and sold out concerts. Although it’s not my kind of music, it’s a good sign that the jury is not only paying attention to the quality of the music, but to its popularity as well.”
Two-part show
YUNA consists of two main parts: the award ceremony, full of excitement, and the show itself, where contestants perform their best songs and shows. The budget for this year’s show is $250,000.
Kamaliya traditionally performs a song at YUNA stage, but cannot be nominated by mutual agreement, to maintain the impartiality of the contest. She is not upset at this, however.
“At least I can perform at YUNA every year — while others can’t,” she says.
This year she is planning a special show and will sing in Ukrainian for the first time.
YUNA 2018 will be broadcast live. As usual, all contestants sing live and the results will be revealed only during YUNA Awards.
“We get the results in envelopes right before the show,” Shylko says. “Even I don’t know who’s going to win, so it’s always a surprise.”
For Zahoor, the independence of YUNA is a big deal. He says lots of Ukrainian TV channels want to broadcast the show, but in return ask for artists they favor to be included in the list of nominees.
“We’d rather them not broadcast it,” Zahoor says. “We won’t give up on our principles.”
Nominees for YUNA 2018 National Music Awards
Best Song:
“Vitamin D” — Monatik
“Antarktyda” (“The Antarctic”) — The Hardkiss
“Vitye Nado Viyty” (“Vitya Needs to Go Out”) — Estradarada
“De By Ya” (“Where Would I”) — Sergey Babkin
“Zhuravli” (“Crane Birds”) — The Hardkiss
“Taet Lyed” (“The Ice Is Melting”) — Hryby
Best Female Performer:
Lamala
Loboda
Tayanna
Olya Polyakova
Tina Karol
Best Male Performer
Monatik
Ivan Navi
Arsen Myrzoyan
Ivan Dorn
Sergey Babkin
Best Music Video:
“Collaba” — Ivan Dorn
“Vitamin D” — Monatik
“Moya Lubov” (“My Love”) –Maks Barskih
“Na Stile” (“Stylish”)– Vremya I Steklo
“Taet Led” (“The Ice Is Melting”) — Hryby
Best Album
“H2Lo” — Loboda
“Perfection Is a Lie” — The Hardkiss
“Holyi Korol” (“The Naked King”) — Boombox
“Pyanoe Solntse” (“The Drunken Sun”) — Alekseev
“Solntse” (“The Sun”) — Antytila
Fresh Sound
Constantine
Kazka
Melovin
Michelle Andrade
Best Duo
Amor — Mozgi and Michelle Andrade
“Zharko” (“It’s Hot”) — Monatik and Loboda
“Na Vershyni” (“On the Top”)- Pianoboy and Morphom
“Odyn Den” (“One Day”) — Kishe and Osadchuk
“Chekayu. Tsom” (“I Am Waining. A Kiss.”) — Dzidzio and Olya Tsybulska
Best Rock Band
O. Torvald
Pianoboy
The Hardkiss
Antytila
Boombox
Best Song in Ukrainian
“De By Ya” (“Where Would I”) — Sergey Babkin
“Zhuravli” (“Crane Birds”) — The Hardkiss
“Kalyna” (“Snowball Tree”) — Alyosha
“Perechekaty” (“To Wait Out”) — Tina Karol
Best Concert Show
Live Show “Vitamin D” (Monatik)
“Na Stile” (“Stylish”) all-Ukrainian tour, Vremya I Steklo
“Tina” all-Ukrainian tour, Tina Karol
“Tumany” (“the Fogs”) concert, Max Barskih
Best Pop Band
Dzidzio
Kadnay
Mozgi
Vremya I Steklo
Hryby
