‘If our music is in the charts then we have won’ – Ukraine on importance of Eurovision in face of war

It is the only country with a 100pc qualification rate, and nine out of its fourteen entries have finished in the top ten.

In 2022, Ukraine won the contest with Kalush Orchestra's Stefania.

This week, former Ukrainian winner Jamala spoke about the importance of the contest to the country and why Ukraine would not boycott the contest this year. Jamala won the 2016 contest with her song 1944, which reflected upon the deportation of the Crimean Tatars, in the 1940s.

“Some countries may refuse to participate [in the contest], but we don’t. Especially we cannot afford to give up such a contest in time of war,” she told PA Media.

“There are many wars now in the world and, of course, it is not easy to constantly keep attention on yourself so that people do not get tired of our war.”

This year’s entrant Alyona Alyona and Jerry Heil's anthemic song Teresa & Maria is about female resilience in Ukraine.

Heil previously told Scandinavian Vogue: “We feel like if you don’t know the music of a country, you don’t see its face.”

On Tuesday night after qualifying, Heil added: “If Ukrainian music is in the charts and in all of your playlists, not from Eurovision to Eurovision, but on a daily basis, then we won,” she said at a press conference after qualifying on Tuesday night.

As part of their Eurovision campaign the singers launched a campaign ‘Unlock the Future for Ukrainian Children’. The initiative raises money for the Velykokostromska School that was destroyed during the war, leaving 250 kids without access to education.

“We raised funds for a Ukrainian school that had been bombed by Russia and we want to rebuild it because we truly believe that by rebuilding the past you can build the future for Ukrainian children which will be re-building the country after this,” Jerry Heil.

Alyona Alyona added: “We have unlocked the future for the children, because children is our future.”

“Being here now it is the possibility to say thanks to all the countries for your helping hand to all Ukrainians, we feel it, we appreciate it, we value it. It is [also] a possibility to spread our culture,” she said.