UKRAINE

The Ukrainian Final was held on February 26th at the Savik Shuster Studio in Kiev. Before the final there were 3 semi-finals, however the final itself was not without controversy (seems to be running theme in Ukrainian pre-selections!) Neksi, Armiya and Vera Varlamova withdrew before the final started but during the final, Vitaliy Galay was disqualified for using pre-recorded backing vocals, then Tetyana Vorzheva was disqualified for having 7 people on stage. The winner was chosen by an "expert" jury (45%), SMS voting (45%) & internet voting (10%). However the overall winner was the song “Angel” sing by Mika Newton.

Angel is performed with the singer and 5 backing dancers. She is dressed in a tight white dress, with a flower effect on them. Her male dancers are all wearing wings, like mini Eroses. They also help create the “mis en scene” by moving around slabs of mirrors around the stage. In fairness, I cannot tell you if the mirror effect was any good as the Ukrainian TV director never really let the TV audience have a good look at this view for a suitable length of time. There are also some pyrotechnics during the final chorus

Mika looks very good and sings well too. She really drives out the high notes of the song with a lot of gusto. I feel that almost any song in her hands would be safe. The song she sings is a very predictable ballad. There is no real hook in the tune or the words and is rather forgettable even when you have heard it several times. The song does show off her power and range but I don’t think that this is enough.

After a few good years from Ukraine, this is a bit of a let down in terms of a reasonable song. But I far that it’s poser and ‘friendly neighbours’ will still make it a qualifier, even if it is not deserved


SINGER – Mika Newton
SONG – Angel
MUSIC –
WORDS –