Last year’s Eurovision was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, so this year’s return is more anticipated than ever.
Last year’s finalists, Ukrainian electro-folk band Go_A, are set to represent Ukraine this year once more.
The name of the band means “going back to your cultural roots”, using ‘Go’ to refer to movement and ‘A’ to the Greek letter alpha.
The band gets in touch with its roots by combining traditional Ukrainian vocals and instruments with modern electronic beats within their music.
The four-person band was formed in 2012 when vocalist Kateryna Pavlenko and producer Taras Shevchenkomet started to make music together. The other musicians are sopilka player Ihor Didenchuk and guitarist Ivan Hrihoriak.
Pavlenko uses the ancient Eastern European “white voice” folklore singing technique that uses an open throat and requires a good command of vocal skills.
Last year Go_A beat out five other finalists with their song “Solovey”, but the group changed their Eurovision submission for this year’s contest.
They will perform their new song, “SHUM” (meaning noise in Ukrainian), in the second half of the first Semi-Final on Tuesday May 18th in Rotterdam.
“The inspiration for the song was Ukrainian mythology and folklore mixed with a little bit of dark techno. And it carries a message of unity and hope. The main message of the song is that we all should unite for a common goal in order to do something good and important.” lead singer Pavlenko told Eurovision.tv.
The song is about waiting for spring after a cold winter and making “shum”, or noise, to encourage spring’s awakening.
The song is a hit, having reached 3 million views on Eurovision’s youtube channel.
The band thanked fans for watching and sharing their song on their social media on April 27, stating “Our SHUM has 3,000,000 views on the official Eurovision YouTube channel. Huge thanks to everyone who listens to our music, who reposts and tags us!”
Ukraine has had several spectacular Eurovision winners. Ruslana won in 2004 and Crimean Tatar Jamala won in 2016.
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