Today’s musicians and pop stars making a difference in Ukraine: Eurovision

Ukrainian music artists representing all genres are trying to leave an imprint with their tunes, with some of them using traditional elements in their recently released work. In the following parts, many of these artists were interviewed about how each of them has been trying to make a difference in the context of the ongoing war.

Ukraine's Kalush Orchestra, the 2022 winner of the Eurovision Song Contest, had a hard time preparing for the competition, with all its members having to serve in the Ukrainian Territorial Defence Forces in the months before the event. Their performance of Stefania, a musical piece melding hip-hop beats with Ukrainian folk instrumentation such as the sopilka and the telenka, made a mark in the country's series of Eurovision representations. The song embodies the vocalist's affection for his mother and is entirely written in their mother tongue, making it the first among the Ukrainian winners so far.

The stage of the Eurovision Song Contest is the place where many artists present their work for the first time to countries other than their own. This is also the case for many Ukrainian artists. In addition, performances bringing a traditional-modern blend and impressive stage acrobatics are usually the most catchy with the audiences. Historic events from Ukraine's past had been previously mentioned in winning acts at Eurovision. Jamala's performance in 2016's final with her song 1944 referred to the events that marked the deportation ordered by Stalin of the Crimean Tatars from Crimea to Siberia. Further back, in the 2004 edition of the song contest, Ruslana's dramatic performance of Wild Dances brought into stage trembita horns originating in the Carpathian mountains and aimed to underline the stereotypes about the country's "wild women" by wearing animal pelts.

Dartsya Tarkovska, who is the co-founder of Music Export Ukraine, an institution that seeks to promote Ukrainian artists abroad has declared that "Eurovision is a huge deal in Ukraine, and Ukrainians have always been big fans of the contest." She also acknowledged that the contest has massively contributed to launching the previous winners Ruslana and Jamala on the international stage.

Tina Karol has previously participated in the Eurovision Song contest in 2066 with the song ''Show me your love'' and is at present touring Europe to fundraise for Ukraine, declared for BBC Culture: "Eurovision is so important as we can represent our country and culture, our sound." She further said that 2022's winning performance of Stefania was really interesting and said that folk music was popular in Ukraine. They have different melodies and instruments than various countries and other scales. It's becoming more modern, new, and popular. Jerry Heil, a well-known meme pop artist is traveling alongside Tina Karol and has become remarkable by substituting parts of Tina's music and videos with snippets from TikTok popular memes. She is relying on the strong influence that social media can have globally. This is most likely to happen when it comes to strengthening support for conflict areas. Jerry Heil is backed up by her fans, especially by those who show unconditional support for her and Tina. One of these encouraging messages states: "I currently serve in the armed forces. Thank you for the song, from the bottom of my heart." Most of Tina's performances are represented by a thumbnail on YouTube, marking Ukraine's flag in addition to text which indicates the harsh reality of the war.

Ukraine's artistry was shadowed by Russian-language music for a long time and pop artists were strongly recommended to come up with Russian lyrics to aim for a wider audience. However, a new law that made Ukrainian the country's official language was implemented in 2019. With Russia's aim to destroy all aspects of Ukrainian society and identity, Ukraine's response is expected to be strong. In this sense, preserving the country's culture and art is a must when it comes to resisting Russia's destructive will.