Ukraine won Eurovision 2022 with its homeland anthem in the midst of the war with Russia

In the midst of the Russian invasion, the Ukrainian band Kalush Orchestra and their song “Stephanie“They achieved this Saturday an important milestone not only in music, but also in morals and media, by getting the glass microphone of Eurovision 2022 to sing in the motherland.

At a gala held at the Olympic Palace in Turin (Italy), her candidacy was imposed on the United Kingdom, second, and Spain, third, achieving its best position with Chanel and the song “SloMo” since 1984.

After their performance, the Kalush Orchestra asked for “help” for their country, for the city of Mariupol and for the soldiers buried in the Azovstal steel mill, a message that due to its political nature is prohibited in principle in regulations. of the festival, although The organization has not yet decided its consequences.

This is the third time Ukraine has won the Eurovision since its debut in 2003. Just a year later, it won for the first time thanks to Ruslana and “Wild dances” and again in 2016 with Jamala and “1944”, which violated in Russian. government by recovering from the historical stage of exile of the Crimean Tatar minorities.

This time he had already done it 631 points, 439 of them from the audience, the highest granted by the popular vote, and thus imposed on a “top 10” which also consists of the United Kingdom (466), Spain (459), Sweden (438), Serbia (312), Italy (268), Moldova (253), Greece (215), Portugal (207) and Norway (182).

Twenty -five countries, out of the 40 that first joined the competition, reached this grand final that began in the city’s Piazza San Carlo to the music of John Lennon’s “Give Peace A Chance”, a clear allusion to Russian. aggression.

During this time, it is also possible to enjoy the potpourri of hits by Laura Pausini and Mika, who performed as presenters alongside Alessandro Cattelan, as well as two former Italian festival champions: the band Maneskin, winners of 2021, and Gigliola Cinquetti , who performed “Non Ho L’Età” in 1974

Call for help in the war

Before being assigned, the Ukrainian band sought help for their country after their performance in the grand final of Eurovision 2022, as well as for the city of Mariupol and Azovstal steel mill as a result of the Russian invasion.

“Please help Ukraine, please help Mariupol, please help Azovstal“, said the leader of this sextet, Olenh Psink, in a message in which he called for international intervention to help the group of soldiers buried in that factory, the last stronghold of the Ukrainian resistance in the port city that.

The song “Stefania”, which includes a fusion of elements of folk, electronic and hip hop, has gradually become a hymn in the motherland and therefore also the great favorite of bookmakers for success, which was confirmed tonight on European festival.

This is not the first time the Psink and Kalush Orchestra have made this call, which they have repeated in recent days through their social networks, but not until now at an event linked to Eurovision, where it is banned the political messages.