You're reading: Alyosha to represent Ukraine at Eurovision with ‘Sweet People’ as her song

When little-known singer Alyosha on March 20 won the contest to become Ukraine’s representative at May’s Eurovision Song Contest, I was relieved. Finally, Ukraine was not going be represented by a sexy puppet caked in makeup with dubious talent, but by a professional vocalist with a great voice, an original song and even a rather decent English accent.

Olena Kucher, who chose the male stage name Alyosha, had – or so I thought – quelled the controversy over the First National Channel’s uncompetitive selection and then dumping of Vasyl Lazarovych for the May 25-29 show in Oslo, Norway.

But controversy once again quickly erupted over Alyosha.

Just as I was settling in to follow Alyosha’s preparations over the next two months, rumors circulated that her song “To Be Free” violates Eurovision rules in a couple of ways: First of all, it was previously published in 2008. Secondly, it sounded way too similar to the 1996 song “Knock Me Out” by American rock icons Linda Perry and Grace Slick, raising suspicion of plagiarism.

Thus, on March 22, the First National Channel announced that its producers and lawyers had “studied” the song, and it was suggested that Alyosha should replace it with another. While the singer looked for a new song, the European Broadcasting Union has imposed a fine on the National Television and Radio Company of Ukraine for not submitting their contestant’s documents in time for the March 22 deadline.

Luckily Alyosha has already found herself a new song – “Sweet People” – which was submitted on March 24. The song is in English and contains such lyrics as “Oh, sweet people, have you no love for mankind? Must you go on killing just to pass the time?” The European Broadcasting Union is evaluating the song and, if it fits the rules, the video will be made available through youtube.com/eurovision.

Alyosha got the chance to compete after the newly appointed management of the National TV, which holds broadcast rights to the contest, overruled the previous management’s undemocratic choice of Lazarovych. Everyone, including Lazarovych himself, was invited to participate in an open contest. The decision came on March 17, just days before the March 22 deadline. The sloppy, hurried contest started with auditions on the first day and ended with finals on the third, broadcast simultaneously by two channels – Noviy and UT-1, or First National – from Savik Shuster Studios.

The jury was male-dominated. It featured new UT-1 president Yehor Benkendorf, vice president Walid Harfouche, newly appointed Minster of Culture and Tourism Mykhaylo Kulynyaka and a number of TV channel heads. The sexist composition included only one woman, Iryna Lysenko, the head of Noviy. Savik Shuster, who co-hosted the show with Olga Freymut, was generous with snide remarks and scoffed a bit at UT-1 management.

 

The top 10 finalists of the Ukrainian Eurovision selection (with the exception of Vasyl Lazarovych who left right after the announcement of the results) are on stage together at the end of the contest held at Savik Shuster Studios on March 20 and broadcast live by UT-1 and Noviy channels. (Inna Stryket)

The 20 contestanwerets , likewise, a freakish crowd. Teen-girl pet Vitaly Kozlovsky opened the contest with a lame performance. Lazarovych, who followed, poured his heart out in his “I Love You” song, but still took only seventh place. Also there were former pop star El Kravchuk and singer Natalia Valevska, whose publicist has been bombarding journalists with press releases lately to express Valevska’s desire to represent her beloved Ukraine at Eurovision. The lineup also featured several contestants of “Star Factory 3,” clearly pitched by Noviy channel, which produces the TV show.

Many performers appeared to put more effort in their hairdos and outfits than in their singing. On the other hand, lesser-known entrants, such as girl band Zaklyopki and singers Irina Rozenfeld and Zlata Ognevich, showed real professionalism and strong vocals.

Curly blonde Alyosha and tall brunette Masha Sobko, one of the runner-ups of the 2008’s “Shans” music show contest, tied. After a short, closed meeting, the jury settled on Alyosha, making the selection process look corrupt.

While viewers were allowed to take an equal part in the voting by sending SMS, no detailed table of points was shown on screen. Only the final points for each of the top 10 performers were presented. Therefore, it looked like jurors could play the game as they wished. It was all the more astonishing that they chose a new face like Alyosha.”

Alyosha, or Olena Kucher, is a 24-year-old from Zaporizhya. She studied vocals at the Kyiv National Institute of Culture and Arts and signed with the Catapult Music record label in 2008. As for “To Be Free,” the music for it was reportedly composed by Alyosha herself and Vadim Lassitsa, with the lyrics coming from American poet Peter Chykaliuk in 1977.

According to Chykaliuk, the song was copyrighted on April 9, 2008 and there was no conflict with any artist. The official reason UT-1 management gave for rejecting the song was that it was “illegally published on amazon.com. The song, according to the rules, must be previously unpublished. Chykaliuk, however, claims the song was never “published” and is planned to be released on Alyosha’s debut album later this year.

Alyosha’s new Eurovision song “Sweet People” hasn’t been presented publicly yet, so let’s hope it will be worthy. According to the results of the draw, Alyosha will be number eight to perform at the 55th Eurovision Song Contest in Oslo on May 27.

Kyiv Post lifestyle editor Alexandra Matoshko can be reached at [email protected].