Ruslana Wins Eurovision

Ruslana Lyzhychko’s victory at the Eurovision 2004 Song Contest May 15 in Istanbul did more than make Ukrainians euphoric. It’s raising questions about Ukraine’s ability to host the Eurovision contest in 2005, as it must according to contest rules.

The Lviv-born pop singer, who performs under her given name only, beat 36 competitors with her song “Dyki Tantsi” (Wild Dances), winning the most votes from the show’s estimated audience of 100 million.

“We conquered Europe with our wild energy and ardor...and we remained a mystery for them,” Ruslana said at a May 17 press conference in Kyiv.

Ruslana’s flamboyant performance grafted Carpathian melodies to contemporary dance music. She added she hopes it will make Ukraine more attractive to a Europe with which it has recently had chilly relations.

The performance has earned Ukraine the privilege of holding the 50th Eurovision concert next May. “Now Europe will come to us,” Ruslana said.

And therein lies the dilemma.

Kyiv Mayor Oleksandr Omelchenko admitted in Kyiv on May 19 that his city is not ready to host the event. “There is no concert hall that would be able to seat all spectators and competitors,” he said.

Kyiv will have to scramble to host event

Omelchenko said an appropriate hall would accommodate 15,000-20,000 spectators. Kyiv’s largest indoor venue, the aging Sports Palace near the Olympic Stadium, holds only between 8,000-10,000 and its interior “does not meet European standards,” he said.

“There’s little time left, just a year, but we will be looking at some possibilities,” Omelchenko added.

The Geneva-based European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the contest’s sponsor, usually gives each hosting country 5 million Swiss francs, or about $3.5 million, said the head of Ukraine’s Eurovision delegation Pavlo Grytsak. Grytsak, who is also director of the National Television Company’s International Board, said that the EBU money is meant for organizing the event, and not for capital investment.

Grytsak also said the National Television Company (NTU), Eurovision’s Ukrainian facilitator and one of Ruslana’s sponsors this year, had received a letter from the EBU telling Ukraine to start planning now.

“As the Eurovision contest develops, and its budget grows, Ukraine can get more financial support this year [from the EBU]” he said. He also said Ukraine should learn from the experience of small countries like Latvia and Estonia, which hosted the contest in previous years, and invited foreign specialists to assist them in planning.

Hennady Kurochka, a managing partner of Ukraine’s CFC Consulting company, which along with the NTCU and Eurocar organized Ruslana’s con test campaign, said Ukraine should approach Eurovision as a positive challenge.

“Eurovision may become the biggest-ever promotion for Ukraine, both culturally and economically,” Kurochka said, citing Estonia, the contest’s host in 2002, as a model for how Ukraine could use Eurovision to promote itself.

“And we shouldn’t forget that there are many competitors who would like the contest not to be held in Ukraine, but instead in their own countries. We should not lose this unique chance for Ukraine,” he said.

National Heroine

Ukrainian politicians were fast to acknowledge Ruslana’s victory. President Leonid Kuchma said she had “brought glory to the Motherland,” while Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, in Brussels to meet with NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, used the opportunity of Ruslana’s victory to invite de Hoop “to visit Ruslana and Ukraine.”

Ruslana’s 2003 album “Dyki Tantsi,” which contains the winning song, has so far sold more than 170,000 copies and has been awarded platinum status here. Those figures are likely to increase with the win.

While Ruslana’s song did win the most votes from Eurovision fans, it was not an isolated performance. Her multifaceted campaign to win the Eurovision contest included promotional tours to 15 participating countries, numerous PR appearances and press conferences, and wide distribution of informational material and T-shirts.

Kurochka estimates that Ruslana’s organizers invested more than $200,000 in her campaign. “But I think everything has been done effectively,” he said, “from choosing the countries to visit to the individual work with foreign journalists and commentators.”

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