With Ukraine’s confirmation, the submissions for its Eurovision 2025 selection has now opened. Up to 10″ songs will be announced as part of the competition on 20 December, with a further act being chosen through a public vote.
Submissions window opens
The window for applications for participation opened today, and will run up until 10 November. Interested artists can apply on the eurovision.ua website.
Submitted songs may be in any language except “the language of the aggressor state” (Russian) and as with previous editions of Vidbir, any artist that has performed in Russia, or entered Crimea through Russia, since the Russian occupation, is ineligible to compete.
Final to take place in February & key selection details
The full list of the participants of the contest will be announced “No later than January 17” with the final of the competition set to take place during February 2025, with the exact date and venue still to be confirmed.
The voting method will again be a combination of jury and televote, with the jurors again being selected by a public vote.
Ukraine’s Eurovision 2006 competitor and two time Vidbir juror, Tina Karol, was recently announced as the contest’s music producer, replacing Dmytro Shurov.
Public wildcard remains
A retained feature from the 2024 edition of Vidbir is the public wildcard vote to select the last finalist. In the 2024 edition, following over 300,000 votes on the Ukrainian national app Diia, ANKA was selected as the wildcard with her song “Palala” receiving over 80,000 votes.
What is Vidbir?
Yevrobachennia. Natsionalnyi Vidbir, Informally known as “Vidbir”, Ukraine’s national selection has been around since 2016, when it picked a Eurovision winner–Jamala’s “1944”–right off the bat. It’s a small selection with generally between six to ten entries competing each year, and is traditionally held in February. Vidbir features a three-person jury panel, and this year an online vote as well.
Ukraine’s Eurovision Journey
Ukraine is one of the most successful countries to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest. The country has scored nine top-five placements, with an extra four top-ten finishes. Ukraine won the Contest three times – in 2004, 2016 and 2022 respectively. Ukraine made history for being the first ex-Soviet country to win the Contest more than once.
In 2024 alyona alyona and Jerry Heil represented Ukraine in Malmö with their song “Teresa and Maria”. The duo finished in 3rd place, scoring 453 points – of which 146 points came from the jury, whilst the remaining 307 points came from the televote.
Are you happy with Vidbir sticking with a similar format? As always, please let us know what you think by getting involved in the comments below. Also, be sure to follow ‘That Eurovision Site’ on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Threads and Bluesky for more information about Eurovision 2025!
News Source: UA:PBC
News Source: Photo Credit
Giwrgos Oiko