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Ukraine UKRAINE 2022 - Kalush Orchestra - Stefania

How do you rate this entry?

  • 12

    71 28.4%
  • 10

    37 14.8%
  • 8

    33 13.2%
  • 7

    23 9.2%
  • 6

    22 8.8%
  • 5

    18 7.2%
  • 4

    8 3.2%
  • 3

    3 1.2%
  • 2

    7 2.8%
  • 1

    2 0.8%
  • 0

    26 10.4%

  • Total voters
    250

escYOUnited

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Стефанія мамо мамо Стефанія
Розквітає поле, а вона сивіє
Заспівай мені мамо колискову
Хочу ще почути твоє рідне слово

Вона мене колисала дала мені ритм і напевне силу волі не забрати в мене, бо дала вона
Напевне знала може більше і від Соломона
Ламаними дорогами прийду я завжди до тебе
Вона не розбудить, не будить, мене в сильні бурі
Забере в бабулі дві дулі, ніби вони кулі
Дуже добре знала мене не була обманута, як була дуже втомлена, гойдала мене в такт
Люлі люлі люлі...

Стефанія мамо мамо Стефанія
Розквітає поле, а вона сивіє
Заспівай мені мамо колискову
Хочу ще почути твоє рідне слово

Я не в пеленах но ма но ма, хватить, як би я не виріс на виріст за речі платить
Я не мала дитина, вона далі нерви тратить, я гуляв, шляк би тебе трафив
Ти все молода о мамо на піку, якщо не ціню опіку на піку слави мені в тупику
Забивайте піку цю піку, я би попік спік, своєю любов'ю
Люлі люлі люлі...

Стефанія мамо мамо Стефанія
Розквітає поле, а вона сивіє
Заспівай мені мамо колискову
Хочу ще почути твоє рідне слово


Стефанія мамо мамо Стефанія
Розквітає поле, а вона сивіє
Заспівай мені мамо колискову
Хочу ще почути твоє рідне слово​
 
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Mainshow

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I don´t buy this "If Ukraine hadn´t taken part, Spain would have won" argument. That´s pure fan fiction and it comes across as utterly ridiculous and very desperate.
You never know which countries would have got the Ukrainian points instead - especially since Ukraine was a clear stand-out entry. Spain didn´t fill in the void of Ukraine - "SloMo" wasn´t edgy at all (it´s really the opposite: a well-produced and sleek performance).

A Eurovision victory is not "useless" at all: One of the reasons why Ukraine got invaded is that "Ukraine is a fake country, a mistake in history because they don´t have an own culture, language". Europe massively voting for a "non-existing/fake country" which perfectly showcases the "non-existing/fake language" is a huge victory for humanity (not even politics).

Of course, NATO or EU membership would have been better but that´s out of the hands of millions of ordinary Europeans/Eurovision viewers.
 
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midnightsun

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I get your point, but I prefer keeping Eurovision purely as a music contest

It has never been. Many winners or high rated songs have their background story.
Usually I‘m not a fan of the "pity votes" but it's different this year. Living in a war is the worst that can happen to anyone. And I think, this year "pity points" are justifiable.

You think winning this contest does not help Ukraine?
Kalush Orchestra themselves liked Malik Harris' post with a thank you, where he posted himself with the 'peace' on the backside on his guitar- so did many Ukrainians in the comments.

We (my father that is, I don’t live with him) have two Ukranian refugees families living in my parents' house. LOVELY people. They live in my room I had in my childhood. And I‘m so glad my father gave them a home. They were all happy what Malik as a representative of Germany did for them.
Many more Germans will see and help, hopefully our government too! We can help- through music!!!
Of course they need other help first, I get it. But that is our government to decide. We, the small people, help on other ways.
 
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I disagree here, because once you let Eurovision be used to send political messages, perhaps there's no way to disassociate the contest from the political context of the year. Unity? Absolutely yes: let everybody take part, share their music, their values, let other people know your culture, your language, etc. Giving a victory in a music contest because you think this somehow hurts Putin? Apart from useless, it's very naive and distorts the purpose of the contest. It's been fair only because this was the will of the people, but this should NOT set a precedent, and this is what worries me the most.

Eurovision has always been political.

When the juries chose Toto Cutugno's song Unite Europe as a winner in 1990, that was political.

When Hatari waved with Palestinian flags and Madonna as interval act introduced both PAL and Israeli flag on stage, that was political.

When we ousted Belarussia from the contest due to Lukashenko's statements about gays, that was political.

When Conchita won to send a message about transgenders, that was political.

When Moldovans this year had an entry enunciating their direction from Cishinau to Bucurest, they wanted to send a message about Romanian and political identity of the country, denouncing Russian panSlavism (yeah, gonna take time to process that, I know 🤣).

When Polina Gagarina sang of peace amidst Donetsk war, that was also Russian politics that some idiots placed 2nd with televote.

Eventually, what's crucial is that no politicial institution influences the contest. Kalush won not because EU, NATO, State Department wanted that. They won by a decision of tens of millions regular people at home.

You who complain about their "political" win are actually speaking as if somebody from politics has rigged the contest for them. That's exactly what Kremlin propaganda would like to hear. And it really does not serve us to our pride.

It is also very disperectful towards the people who watched the ESC from the shelter under Russian bombs. Not disrespectful only, but inhumane as well. The only thing I find comfort in is that such people were outnumbered on Saturday by massive televote of united Europeans.

And btw, a wake up call - you are on the verge of World War III, it might not be that important whether Chanel had won or not. 🤣
 

Ausesken

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It is also very disperectful towards the people who watched the ESC from the shelter under Russian bombs. Not disrespectful only, but inhumane as well. The only thing I find comfort in is that such people were outnumbered on Saturday by massive televote of united Europeans.
Thanks god an angel has come to earth to illuminate me and make me see how inhumane I am because I want Eurovision to be about music.
I already stated that what makes it fair to my eyes is that it was the will of the people. I've never liked the political intromission in Eurovision, NEVER (none of the ones you mentioned). Why should I like it now? At least I'm being coherent.

Edit: and I clarify (because people will probably misunderstand my words) that I'm all in favour of showcasing diversity (genre, sexual preferences, languages, values...) but not voting just FOR these reasons. After all, when we comment in this forum what we judge is whether we like the song or not, if the staging suits or not, the revamps, the instrumentals, the dance... I wish that was Eurovision and the reasons for voting were these ones.
 
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Thanks god an angel has come to earth to illuminate me and make me see how inhumane I am because I want Eurovision to be about music.
I already stated that what makes it fair to my eyes is that it was the will of the people. I've never liked the political intromission in Eurovision, NEVER (none of the ones you mentioned). Why should I like it now? At least I'm being coherent.

We agree that we disagree. That's OK. I'm only sad that it was I who informed you in 2022 that ESC has never been the best song contest after all. 🤣

Best of luck to Spain next year. I watched all 3 nights of Benidorm, I hope next year you would send Rayden with something provocative and bit more melodic than his usuals (see Brividi e.g. for a rapper crossing over).

Til then....

Stefania mamo, mamo Stefania
Roskvitaje pole a vona sivije
Zaspivaj mi mamo koliskovu
Hoću šče počuti tvoje ridne slovo

P.S. I have an Angela in my family, you hit close 🤣
 

Mainshow

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If Eurovision´s "only about music", Chanel didn´t even deserve to be part of the Top 20, imo - The entry is neither a great composition nor a very progressive entry - it´s got silly, almost/kinda sexist lyrics - the entry is all about Chanel´s absolutely amazing charisma, her incredible talent as a performer and dancer - the performance lift it to another level. - Chanel is even one of only 6 (!) artists who didn´t (co-)write or (co-)compose her own entry. When it comes to "music only", Chanel´s "artistry" is quite limited.

(No offense, I loved Chanel performance and I think she deserved that #3 in the end but personally, I don´t think that "Slo Mo" has much "musical substance" - if you really want to ride that "sophisticated" argument that "Eurovision should be about music and nothing else").

I still strongly believe that "only voting because of the war" didn´t take place that often - it´s insane to think that people are spending their hard-earned money on voting for a song they dislike. It doesn´t make sense at all - They probably already liked the performance but due to war as well as "Stefanie´s" exposure - some people might have felt more motivated to pick up their phones.

It would be interesting to see if the total amount of televoters was higher this year than in recent years - "Stefania" got such a huge amount of exposure - Kalush Orchestra were everywhere here in Germany (on each and every pic reporting on the first semi final), I even heard the song on a Dutch radio in MARCH - all media outlets wrote about them, etc. I think that most viewers already had the chance to listen to or at least read about the Ukrainian entry before the actual Grand Final/contest.

I can only speak for myself but I never vote just "for one reason". I actually thought of voting for Chanel during and shortly after her performance because she totally blew me away.. but in the end, I massively picked up my phone for United Kingdom (song, performance, guitar solo, it gave me "attending a concert" vibes, his personality) and Poland ("River" was my favourite in the Polish national final, Ochman was on my wishlist since "The Voice of Poland", diaspora, he nailed it vocally), Finland (a fan of The Rasmus, "Jezebel" is catchy as hell) and Ukraine (this entry is totally up my ally - I like progressive, weird, "not too pop-y" non-English entries in Eurovision, I listen to Ukrainian artists a lot, love for Slavic language).
 
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midnightsun

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I totally understand why one does not like the idea that the final result is determined by "pity votes" or whatever. We‘ve been all at the one point where we were mad when some song got extra points because [whatever sob story in here].

But, in the end, it has always been like that and will always be. I think since 2014+ every winner had somewhat of a background story that helped them with some extra points. They may not be many but in the end it might have been that little extra that made sure people felt good with voting for it.

That said, not every background story helped every song. Some even did not qualify.

But we all know that this year would be huge. Imagine Diadato in 2020 in the Grand Final after thousands of people were singing the song from their balconies in lockdown, when the first wave of people died. It would have been massive too and nobody would complain because it was an awesome song. It might have won anyway, without Covid, but maybe not. Maybe they would have won with the little extra points because it touched people‘s hearts so much due to the situation. The same goes for Ukraine. The song was good (at least I get that from the reactions here) but in the light of the current situation it gets a whole new meaning and a new feeling to it. There‘s nothing wrong to give a little extra vote that could have made the decision.

In the end, I decided to give an extra vote to Ukraine although Stefania was not in my top 10. I made sure to vote enough for other participants to enable them a good place. Some of my votes went to the UK and Sam got 2nd and I‘m very happy with it. I would not be happier if Sam was 1st and Kalush 2nd. It wouldn’t have changed anything for me personally.

But, to cut a long story short, I respect any other opinion on this matter.
 

AlekS

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"People voted for Kalush out of sympathy, Ukraine would never be 1st under normal circumstances. They would vote and forget about it next day, it won't be successful" ... oh, wait a sec...

Spotify Global be like:

#38 🇺🇦 Stefania (1,952,754)
#77 🇬🇧 Space Man (1,384,140)
#85 🇪🇸 SloMo (1,316,939)
#105 🇸🇪 Hold Me Closer (1,153,782)
#117 🇳🇴 Give That Wolf a Banana (1,041,559)
#122 🇮🇹 Brividi (994,895)
#128 🇳🇱 De diepte (956,394)


Excluding local streams (televoting style :)):

🇺🇦 Stefania (1,866,687) - not Måneskin, but almost like Duncan and Salvador combined.
🇳🇴 Give That Wolf a Banana (936,116)
🇸🇪 Hold Me Closer (903,507)
🇬🇧 Space Man (889,099)
🇪🇸 SloMo (809,550)
🇮🇹 Brividi (682,921)
🇳🇱 De diepte (649,114)

Of course it doesn't show the actual televoting, because some markets are larger than the others, but the difference is clear.

ps. For those who're interested, Trenulețul - 559,737. In corpore sano - 660, 957. There's no ex-Yu in Spotify charts, so don't be fooled by lower figures.
 
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Ausesken

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@Mainshow Well, obviously the general audience will always be a bit more influenced by extra-musical reasons, even if they aren't aware of this. It's very difficult being totally unbiased and only judge the music, but I do wish people voted mainly because they like the song. In this regard, I'm aware Slomo got so many votes because of the performance :lol: but precisely we've seen that in Eurovision the performances, the staging, are very important. If someone voted Chanel because she's beautiful... I wouldn't approve that. But because she delivered an amazing performance by singing and dancing? Why not. It's part of the show.
I kinda like the Ukrainian song, so considering its message and the fact it has some really catchy parts in it, there's no doubt they would have got many votes from the audience, but it was very awkward the moment in which they got over 400 points, meaning nobody else would even get close to them. Is this fair towards the other artists taking part, on the other hand? Knowing that no matter what you do, you will not bring the gold to your country? I know the priority is Ukraine, and the dreams of individuals who have no idea about what a war is are secondary (yo siempre primera, nunca secondary - I can't say secondary without remembering this XD) but it's still unfair for them.
 

MopManMoss

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I still stand by 2005 being Ukraine's most explicit political entry like the song was literally the unofficial anthem for the orange revolution, at the end of the day a song contest is nothing compared to the wellbeing and security of 44 million people
 

Navn Navnes

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It is imposible to ban political votes, that will always happen as long as there is a televote(often juries do it to). Think Ukraine would have won with any entry that was not terrible, but luckily Ukraine won with a great song, best of the top 8 in my opinion.
 

lacrymea

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I don´t buy this "If Ukraine hadn´t taken part, Spain would have won" argument. That´s pure fan fiction and it comes across as utterly ridiculous and very desperate.
You never know which countries would have got the Ukrainian points instead - especially since Ukraine was a clear stand-out entry. Spain didn´t fill in the void of Ukraine - "SloMo" wasn´t edgy at all (it´s really the opposite: a well-produced and sleek performance).

A Eurovision victory is not "useless" at all: One of the reasons why Ukraine got invaded is that "Ukraine is a fake country, a mistake in history because they don´t have an own culture, language". Europe massively voting for a "non-existing/fake country" which perfectly showcases the "non-existing/fake language" is a huge victory for humanity (not even politics).

Of course, NATO or EU membership would have been better but that´s out of the hands of millions of ordinary Europeans/Eurovision viewers.
This! I don't think Kalush and Chanel appeal to the same crowd by any means. So it's very farfetched to assume a massive voting transfer.
 

shameless

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I find it hard to really judge the winning situation in any other way than it still being super hypothetical. Proofs of clicks and views to Stefania don't speak for themselves. They're still part of the bigger context of "A country that is currently in a war participates in an international contest and wins". I can see the song becoming an anthem and symbol for the Ukraine in this war hence it already is somehow. So of course people have a bigger interest than it only being about the quality of the song and thats fine. Its just that we should not pretend to be objective in this situation as many of you seem to be.

I agree, I'm not saying Spain would have won. But I find it unfair to compare the reaction of the Spaniards with the reaction of the brits, as none of you know how much we've been longing for a win in Eurovision. More than 50 years. When it gets so close, it's really exciting but at the same time it's very frustrating.
Whoever hasn't felt this frustration when you're so close to your dream, you're not a human being.
OMG get over it. You remind me of my bf (who is french) who last year didn't find a way to celebrate his countries success but instead focused on that Italy supposedly took drugs in the green room (LOL). Why can you not enjoy the good things?
The way you talk about human being, trauma etc. makes it sound like you're referring to the regime of Franco but instead you are talking about your country not winning the ESC? What should the finish and portguese fans felt like before stars finally alligend for them? Please...
 
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PolarFoxxie.

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They say Stephanie is plagiarism of this folk Serbian Singer aca Lukas and his song soba zna plakanje. I am blind, but i am not deaf. I don't see resemblance.

 

AlekS

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If unofficial data is right, "Stefania" can break the record in Youtube weekly chart in Ukraine.
 
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Ausesken

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OMG get over it. You remind me of my bf (who is french) who last year didn't find a way to celebrate his countries success but instead focused on that Italy supposedly took drugs in the green room (LOL). Why can you not enjoy the good things?
The way you talk about human being, trauma etc. makes it sound like you're referring to the regime of Franco but instead you are talking about your country not winning the ESC? What should the finish and portguese fans felt like before stars finally alligend for them? Please...
Didn't I make clear that I'm fine with the results and I was just trying to explain why some Spaniards have reacted that way? If I didn't, I hope it is clear now.
Anyway, we are drama queens so I don't know where's the surprise XD.
 

Mainshow

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@Mainshow Well, obviously the general audience will always be a bit more influenced by extra-musical reasons, even if they aren't aware of this. It's very difficult being totally unbiased and only judge the music, but I do wish people voted mainly because they like the song. In this regard, I'm aware Slomo got so many votes because of the performance :lol: but precisely we've seen that in Eurovision the performances, the staging, are very important. If someone voted Chanel because she's beautiful... I wouldn't approve that. But because she delivered an amazing performance by singing and dancing? Why not. It's part of the show.
I kinda like the Ukrainian song, so considering its message and the fact it has some really catchy parts in it, there's no doubt they would have got many votes from the audience, but it was very awkward the moment in which they got over 400 points, meaning nobody else would even get close to them. Is this fair towards the other artists taking part, on the other hand? Knowing that no matter what you do, you will not bring the gold to your country? I know the priority is Ukraine, and the dreams of individuals who have no idea about what a war is are secondary (yo siempre primera, nunca secondary - I can't say secondary without remembering this XD) but it's still unfair for them.

Good point - I still think that the most imporant part of "music" is to evoke emotions and Ukraine clearly achieved it by performing "Stefania" - feeling sympathy, being touched by the Ukrainian language, the folklore part/the flute/steel drums or even the rap part.
"SloMo" clearly evoked some emotions thanks to Chanel and her amazing performance but I fail to see how it´s "unfair" that televoters seem to feel more emotionally connected to/touched by the Ukrainian entry.

Eurovision´s concept doesn´t attempt to find the "best composition possible" by a scientific formula - it´s decided by a popular vote - it´s driven by emotions (in each and every year; it has always been that way). That´s why the most progressive, complicated compositions usually fail to perform well because they can´t emotionally connect to the viewers at home (or even the juries).

"Slo Mo" was entertaining, for sure - but personally, I believe it´s ridiculous to think it would be a more worthy winner than "Stefenia" or even "Trenuleţul" :D
 
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