Ukraine also resists Putin from Eurovision

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"There is nothing more opposed to war than music."

This was expressed at the Grammy Awards ceremony in early April by the president of Ukraine, Volodímir Zelenski, who wanted to highlight the importance of his people keeping their culture alive while

, among other objectives, tries to mow it down.

The country that is suffering from the invasion of Russian troops and the devastation left by almost three months of bombing is one of the favorites to win the 66th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest being held this week in Turin (Italy).

The kyiv authorities did not consider suspending participation.

On the contrary, they believe it is more important than ever for

to be present at a contest of such repercussion and so linked to

.

His silence would have been another victory for Putin, whose irrational madness has shut Russia out of the Eurofestival this year.

And we are facing a competition that was born, do not forget, to unite nations of the Old Continent that had not yet healed neither the wounds nor the resentments after the greatest exercise of inhumanity in history, the Second World War.

They fly the battered Ukrainian flag Kalush Orchestra, a group that combines rap, hip hop and traditional Ukrainian folklore.

It has been made up since 2019 by rapper and group leader

, multi-instrumentalist

, and

.

And there is no doubt that his will not be just another performance on the Turin stage.

Musical tastes aside, it causes enormous emotion that the Ukrainian sounds strong while so many innocents are dying because totalitarian madness denies them even the right to exist as a people.

The Kalush Orchestra song has become, much to their regret, an anthem.

is a song in Ukrainian that mixes folk, hip hop and many electronic arrangements, with a catchy

made with flute, that Oleh Psiuk wrote several months ago thinking of his own mother and the nostalgia of when he was little and she loved him. sang lullabies.

But since the Russian invasion, it has taken on a new meaning.

For Ukrainians, it is already

and hope, as well as to evoke the sadness that so many millions of Ukrainians feel right now for being far from their mothers and so many loved ones.

Eurovision, an apolitical festival

Although Eurovision is a contest in which explicit political messages have no place, and the Kalush Orchestra themselves have promised to avoid slogans that make direct reference to the war, the band logically takes advantage of all the tools at its disposal to

.

The scenery or the costumes of the members of the group, as well as some of the instruments used, refer to the ancient Ukrainian culture.

Kalush Orchestra's participation in the Eurofestival has not been easy at all.

To begin with, the band was not even initially chosen in the national public television selection contest.

Although it swept the televote, the winner, thanks to the jury's assessment -as happened without going any further in Spain with the Benidorm Fest- was the singer

.

But she was forced to resign due to the controversy generated after learning that she had traveled to Crimea - illegally annexed by Russia since 2014 - without obtaining a visa from the State Border Service, which put her under suspicion of pro-Russian support. .

The Kalush Orchestra themselves charged at Pash and attacked the chain, which finally gave them, who had finished second, the pass to Turin.

The invasion by Russian troops had not yet taken place.

The catastrophe came a few days later.

And, at that moment, the lives of the members of the band, like that of the rest of their compatriots, were cut short.

For weeks, they mobilized as they could to help their country.

Oleh Psiuk, the vocalist, joined a 20-strong volunteer group to

, while another member of the group enlisted in one of the

.

There were weeks in which it seemed that his performance at Eurovision was not going to be possible.

In April, however, the Ukrainian authorities stressed that it is very important for the country that they be present at the contest.

And, in recent weeks, the band has toured much of the continent, including Madrid, promoting the song and raising funds for the Ukraine Humanitarian and Medical Aid Center, a charity that cooperates with the Ukrainian Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories.

It is not the first time that artists have come to Eurovision directly from a country that has become a war scene.

It already happened in 1993, while the former Yugoslavia was bleeding to death, with the participation of the

group representing

.

They had to settle for a 16th place finish in the grand final.

Stefania

today is in the lead in the bookmakers as the clear favorite to win next Saturday with the precious glass microphone.

The debate on to what extent the war situation will influence the result of this candidacy is served.

It should be noted, however, that since she was chosen, when Old Europe was still sleepy and convinced itself that Putin would not dare to carry out his threat, the song had an extraordinary reception.

And, in any case,

.

And that will not be missing with the performance of Kalush Orchestra.

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