Following an online public vote, the three judges that will make up the jury in Ukraine’s Vidbir 2023 have been selected.
Judges with familiar faces
For the past two weeks, people living in Ukraine have been able to cast their vote to see who they would like to see on the judging panel for Vidbir 2023. The public could choose one person per device. Now, with the voting closed, all three judges have now been revealed. These three judges will now preside over the national selection on December 17th.
The main Eurovision presence amongst the jury is Jamala, who won the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 with her song “1944”. Jamala finished second in the vote, with a final share of 15.71% of the total. The other two judges are Taras Topolya and Yulia Sanina. Topolya is a member of the Ukrainian band Antytila, as well as a volunteer for the Ukrainian army. He came out on top of the poll, with 17.41% of the final vote. Sanina, meanwhile, is the lead singer of the band The Hardkiss, who finished runner-up to Jamala in Vidbir 2016. She finished with 15.70% of the vote.
Other well-known figures who narrowly missed out included Tina Karol, who represented Ukraine at Eurovision 2006, and Kateryna Pavlenko, the lead singer of Go_A, who represented the nation in both 2020 and 2021.
Ukraine’s Eurovision journey
Ukraine is one of the most successful countries to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest. The country has scored eight top-five placements, with an extra three top-ten finishes. Ukraine won the Contest in 2004 with Ruslana’s “Wild Dances” and again in 2016 with Jamala’s “1944”. Jamala’s win made history for Ukraine, as it became the first ex-Soviet country to win the Contest more than once.
In 2022, Kalush Orchestra represented Ukraine in the 66th edition of the Contest with their song “Stefania”. The band scored 614 points, finishing in first place, marking Ukraine’s third victory.
What do you make of the public’s choices? Who would you liked to have seen on the jury for Vidbir 2023? Do you think the judges will be fair? As always, let us know what you think by commenting below. Also, be sure to follow “That Eurovision Site” on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Tiktok as we gear up for Eurovision 2023!
News Source: UA:PBC
Photo Credit: EBU
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