Kalush Orchestra and Eurovision

Focusing on Eurovision, I will be looking at Kalush Orchestra. The Eurovision Song Contest started in 1955, and was held in Lugano, Switzerland for the first time. Seven countries were represented, but no it has increased to sixteen countries (“The Values of Eurovision”). The countries being represented do not have to be European, countries like Israel, Morocco, and Turkey are now regular participants. The Kalush Orchestra come from Ukraine, they sang a lot of different types of songs to get the first place, but their main one to win was the rap song “Stefania”(Ginsburg).

(photo from Wikipedia)

This song was the first wrap song to ever be song on the show, and the first song to be sung entirely in Ukrainian to win, this was a very big deal and shocked a lot of fans to hear something so different than the norm (Bronson).

Watch Kalush Orchestra’s video for their song “Stefania” on YouTube

The song works to blend together traditional Ukrainian folk music with modern rap and hip hop. These three work together to create a really unique sound. While the song was written before the conflict with Russia, it has now taken on a whole new meaning. The song was written about the lead singers mother, and conveys a feeling of nostalgia. Post Russian invasion of Ukraine, it has taken on a new meaning, the mother is now the country. Ukraine is shown as a strong but sensitive women, who is taking care of her children (citizens of Ukraine) (Veen).

Here, a Ukrainian presenter celebrates as Kalush Orchestra wins Eurovision in 2022.

Winning the Eurovision competition means a lot to the country that wins it (as shown above), scholars explain, “it is a medium which can be used to investigate the wider processes of nation and image building” (Carniel). The impact outside of the Ukraine was large, Arnold Schwarzenegger, an American movie star, appeared in their video for another song. One of the band’s main focus is for it to be known in both the US and in Europe. The lead singer explains, “Whatever city we visit, we’d like to perform and disseminate Ukrainian culture, for it to be well known anywhere” (Bronson). This allows people from Ukraine to be accurately portrayed, and does a lot of good for Ukrainians.

Works Cited:

Bronson, Fred. “Ukraine’s Eurovision Winner Kalush Orchestra Returns to Tour U.S., Raises Money for War Effort.” Billboard, 13 Mar. 2023, www.billboard.com/music/concerts/ukraine-eurovision-winner-kalush-orchestra-tour-us-sxsw-1235283246/.

Carniel, Jess. “Nation branding, cultural relations and cultural diplomacy at Eurovision: Between Australia and Europe.” Eurovisions: Identity and the International Politics of the Eurovision Song Contest since 1956, 2019, pp. 151–173, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-9427-0_8.

Ginsburgh, Victor, and Abdul G. Noury. “The Eurovision Song Contest. is voting political or cultural?” European Journal of Political Economy, vol. 24, no. 1, 2008, pp. 41–52, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2007.05.004.

“The values of Eurovision.” Postwar Europe and the Eurovision Song Contest, 2018, pp. 163–200, https://doi.org/10.5040/9781474276290.0013.