Ukraine’s act at this year’s Eurovision, Ukrainian electro-folk band Go_A, made it into the grand finals of the song contest from the first semi-final held on May 18.
Go_A performed their electro-folk song “Shum” with futuristic visuals and lighting. The video of the performance published on YouTube on May 18 has racked up almost 900,000 views within the first 11 hours.
Ukraine is now the only country that has never missed the finals since its Eurovision debut in 2003. The country has an impressive history of participation in the contest, with two victories in 2004 and 2016.
This year, Ukraine was the last finalist to be announced of the 10 qualifiers from the semi-final round.
The announcers took their time revealing the last country to qualify, to amp up the suspense. When they finally announced that Ukraine made it, the Ukrainian group jumped and cheered.
The band posted their reaction video on Instagram with the caption “We are in the final of Eurovision 2021. Thank you for your crazy support and faith in us!”
The other nine finalists are Azerbaijan, Belgium, Cyprus, Israel, Lithuania, Malta, Norway, Russia and Sweden.
The results are determined by a combination of 50% televoting and 50% voting by the national juries.
The other group of Eurovision finalists will be selected during the second semi-final on May 20. They will be joined in the final by this year’s contest host, the Netherlands, and the “Big Five,” France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom. These five countries are the highest-paying members of the European Broadcasting Union that produces Eurovision and have an automatic right to compete in the final.
The final round will take place on May 22 at 10 p.m. Kyiv time in Rotterdam.
