KYIV, Ukraine (Fwrd Axis) – The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) confirmed that Ukraine would be given an automatic place in the Eurovision final via an announcement on Tuesday.
The main focus of the announcement was that Ukraine has opened submissions for the 2023 entry. But at the bottom of that announcement was a small tidbit. “Ukraine, as the winning country in 2022, will automatically qualify for the Grand Final of the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest in the United Kingdom.”
Previously that position has only gone to the hosts. But this is the first time since the automatic progression of the hosts that the champion and host are from different countries. This question hasn’t needed answering before.
Undoubtedly, the EBU is helped by the fact that the UK, as a big five-nation, had already qualified for the final. Ukraine won’t be taking a spot away. That means six countries will automatically advance to the final along with 10 from each semi-final.
The process to find Eurovision 2023 entrant begins
Ukraine has now opened the process for being the Ukrainian entry to Eurovision next year. That process begins with an application found on the broadcaster’s website.
This is much earlier than UA: PBC typically opens the submission process. The broadcaster says it hopes to have a selection by
The selection structure hasn’t been released yet. There will be an online vote, and a final will be held in Kyiv. Keeping a final may be a pointed statement to the EBU arguing that Ukraine is safe enough for a significant event.
The music producer will be Dmytro Shurov (Pianoboy), who has done music production for Ukrainian TV before. Most notably, Shurov was a composer for Слуга народу (“Servant of the People”). Which starred current Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Zelenskyy
