UA:PBC and STB have launched a call for songs and artists for the next edition of their national selection show Vidbir. The broadcaster has also revealed further details and dates of the live shows, as well as changes to the rules after last year’s issues that led to the country’s withdrawal from the Eurovision Song Contest 2019.
Like previous years, UA:PBC will choose its representative from a national selection that will be organised and broadcast by the private channel STB. The contest will be produced by Ruslan Quinta and Natalia Franchuk, and hosted by Sergey Pritula.
Candidates shall send their application from now until December 25th following the rules of the competition. An update of those rules has been announced: the candidate artists can be either a solo performer or group that haven’t performed in Russia since 2014, they mustn’t promote or announce future performances in that country during the competition, nor at the Eurovision Song Contest. Also, performers that have stepped on Crimean territory according to the Ukrainian legislation aren’t allowed to take part in the contest. This year, STB will financially support the entrant during the Eurovision Song Contest.
Vidbir 2020 will be made up of three live shows, two semifinals, on February 8th and 11th, and a Grand Finale on February 22nd.
In February, MARUV won Vidbir 2019 with ‘Siren Song’ but didn’t manage to reach the European stage due to conflicts with the UA:PBC’s own rules for the Ukrainian entrant. The country ended up withdrawing the competition after not being able to find a representative. This time, both broadcasters, UA:PBC and STB have signed an agreement to avoid such situations in the future.