UA: PBC, the renewed Ukrainian public corporation, has announced the 12 finalists who will compete to represent the country in Paris 2021.
The national final is expected to be held in Kiev, after last year’s preselection was marked by deep secrecy and a sudden announcement by Oleksandr Balabanov as a representative in Poland. The contest will finally have 12 participants, who will compete on October 23 for the honor of waving the Ukrainian flag.
The 12 finalists are as follows:
- Anastasiia Doroshenko (Nana Do) – Svit nadliudei (The World of Super People)
- Arsenii Hryshchenko – Redemption
- Karina Kornuta – Song TBC
- Daryna Kryvenko – Kosy khmarochosy (Skyscraping Braids)
- Angelina McFarlane (RREALINA) – Angel of Light
- Veronika Morska – Song TBC
- Yelyzaveta Petruk – Song TBC
- Daria Rebrova – Make Me Happy
- Sofiia Skvaruk – Golden Time
- Mariia Tkachuk – Pazly svitu (Puzzles of the World)
- Olena Usenko (Ellen Usenko) – Vazhil (Leverage)
- Daryna Zinchenko – Song TBC
- Arsenii Hryshchenko has reached the final of the national selection with his song “Redemption”. Arsenii is 12, he lives in Kyiv. He has taking singing classes since the age of 3. Arsenii is the winner of many singing contests and festivals
- Anastasiia Doroshenko (Nana Do) has become a finalist with her song “Svit nadliudei” (The World of Super People). The 12-year-old Anastasiia lives in Kyiv. Since the second grade, she has been a music school student, practicing vocals and playing the piano.
- Daryna Zinchenko has entered the list of finalists with her performance of the song “Pochny z sebe” by Anna Trincher (Junior Eurovision 2015). The 13-year-old Daryna has been taking singing lessons since the age of 4. She practices folk and pop signing and likes playing the piano. Daryna is a participant of many singing competitions.
- Karina Kornuta has become a finalist with her performance of Anna Trincher’s song “Pochny z sebe” as well. The 14-year-old Karina lives in Uzhhorod. The girl has tried different types of creativity and sport. She is the prize winner of many festivals and vocal and violin competitions. She is a member of the global children’s choir “Music Camp International”.
- Daryna Kryvenko has reached the final with her song “Kosy khmarochosy” (Skyscraping Braids). The 14-year-old lives in Kyiv. She is the winner of many vocal competitions. She plays the piano and percussions and practices artistic gymnastics.
- Angelina McFarlane (RREALINA) has become the finalist with her song “Angel of Light”. The 14-year-old is the winner of song contests and a finalist of the last year’s national selection for Junior Eurovision.
- Veronika Morska has entered the final with her performance of the folk song Shum. The 10-year-old Veronika lives in Bila Tserkva. She a soloist of Spivohrai folk group, a prize winner of many international and national singing competitions.
- Yelyzaveta Petruk has reached the final with Sophia Ivanko’s song “The Spirit of Music” (Junior Eurovision 2019). The 14-year-old Yelyzaveta lives in Hostomel. She has been taking vocal classes since the age of 11. She has won the grand prix of many international competitions and festivals.
- Daria Rebrova has become a finalist of the national selection with her song “Make Me Happy”. The 12-year-old Daria is taking pop singing lessons, practices the piano and theatrical art. She has many contest victories in her portfolio.
- Sofiia Skvaruk has entered the national final with her song “Golden Time”. The 14-year-old Sofiia lives in Rivne. She is the winner of many international and national competitions.
- Mariia Tkachuk has reached the final with her song “Pazly svitu” (Puzzles of the World). The 13-year-old resident of Hatne near Kyiv is taking singing, piano and percussion lessons. She wrote her first song when she was 10 and held her first concert when she was 12. Mariia has many prizes from national and international competitions.
- Olena Usenko has entered the final with her song “Vazhil” (Leverage). Olena is 14 and lives in Bila Tserkva. Last year she participated in the national selection for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest and reached the final.
The results of the national final will be decided by a professional jury and an online vote, whose votes will be revealed live on a broadcast through UA: KULTURA, the cultural channel of the Ukrainian corporation.
By imperative of the contest rules, the main language of all the songs is Ukrainian, with English additionally included in some verses of certain of the candidates. Suspilne already announced on September 23 that 118 young people had presented candidacies for the preselection, of which an internal committee finally chose the chosen ones.
In the last edition in Poland, Oleksandr Balabanov was in seventh place with 106 points and his Vidkryvai, right in the middle of the table.