Ukrainian celebrities and a crowd of nearly 3,700 music fans have gathered together to celebrate the country’s best musicians named by YUNA – Yearly Ukrainian National Awards.
Often referred to as “Ukrainian Grammy,” the eighth YUNA music awards took place at the capital`s Ukraine Palace of Arts, on March 22, 2019. This year, the nominations have expanded from 11 to 16 categories, adding the Best Other Language Song, Best Electronic Music Hit, Best Pop Hit, Best Hip Hop Hit, and the Best Artist’s Management.
YUNA Music Awards was founded in 2011, by Kyiv Post ex-publisher Mohammad Zahoor with the help of radio host and producer Pavlo Shylko. The winners of the award are determined by the team of judges, all connected to Ukraine’s music industry. Apart from that, the auditing firm Deloitte monitors the process of winners` selection.
This year, the ceremony was hosted by the TV presenter and radio host Volodymyr Ostapchuk, who emphasized the importance of having more songs in Ukrainian language.
“I myself am very pleased of having songs in Russian language at the Best Other Language Songs category, but not vice versa,” Ostapchuk said.
Pop singer Maruv won the favor of judges this year, as she won four YUNA awards: Best Other Language Song, Best Duo, Fresh Sound, and Best Electronic Music Hit.
Maruv is known for winning the national selection competition and then refusing to sign the Ukrainian Public Broadcasting Company’s contract to participate in Eurovision, due to the contract`s strict conditions.
“Thanks to those who support me and to those who do not, because you are still an incentive and a motivator for me to go ahead and do even better, something more interesting,” Maruv said
Another YUNA favorite performer is Ukrainian rock band The Hardkiss, who won three awards such as the Best Album, Best Concert Show and became the Best Rock Band of the year.
Pop singer Dmytro Monatik, mostly known as Monatik, became a Best Male Performer second year in a row. Other than that, Monatik shared and an award for the Best Music Video with Nadya Dorofeeva, a member of pop band Vremya i Steklo.
“The way you treat ‘made in Ukraine music’ is so valuable, and I`m so grateful,” Monatik said.
Although YUNA has long been criticized for ‘same old faces at the stage’, this year’s ceremony surprised the audience with the performance of the song “Rybky” by young Ukrainian artist Alyona Alyona, who was nominated for the Best Hip Hop Hit but did not receive the award.
Apart from that, the members of Ukrainian rock and hip hop band Boombox got a special YUNA award for the Contribution to the Development of Ukrainian Music Industry.
Ukrainian singer Jamala, the winner of 2016 Eurovision song contest, who received an award for Best Female Performer, thanked everyone for the ceremony, as well as talked about the difficulties of making genuine Ukrainian music as well as “glorifying it in the world, and making it even louder.”
“Listen to Ukrainian, support Ukrainian and buy Ukrainian,” Jamala said from the stage.
Winners of 2019 YUNA Music Awards
Best Male Performer – Monatik
Best Female Performer – Jamala
Best Pop Band – Kazka
Best Rock Band – The Hardkiss
Best Song – “Plakala” (“I Cried”) – Kazka
Best Other Language Song – “Drunk Groove” – Maruv
Best Duo – Maruv and Boosin
Best Album – “Zalizna Lastivka” (“Iron Swallow”) – The Hardkiss
Best Music Video – “Gluboko” (“Deep”) – Monatik feat. Nadya Dorofeeva
Fresh Sound – Maruv
Best Pop Hit – “Trymay” (“Hold”) – NK
Best Concert Show – “Zalizna Lastivka” (“Iron Swallow”) – The Hardkiss
Contribution to the Development of Ukrainian Music Industry – Boombox
Best Electronic Music Hit – “Drunk Groove” – Maruv and Boosin
Best Hip Hop Hit – Alina Pash – Bitanga
Best Artist’s Management – Mamamusic, Yurii Nikitin
