Ukrainian singer Laud, real name Vladyslav Karashchuk, who had been announced today as one of the 8 acts competing at Vidbir 2022 with his song Head Under Water, has been disqualified from the show after it was discovered by UA:PBC that his song had been released in 2018.
UA:PBC announced that the song, posted on co-writer Daniel Botting’s YouTube channel four years ago, breached both the broadcaster’s and the EBU’s regulations on song release dates.
“Songs must not have been made public, released and/or performed publicly (in whole or in part, including lyrics separately from music or vice versa), have been available to the public, for example (but not limited to) on online video platforms, social networks or in (semi-) publicly available databases, or have been used for any commercial purposes before September 1, 2021.”
Vidbir rules, published by UA:PBC, 14 December 2021
Laud has been replaced by fellow longlist artist Barleben, with the song Hear My Words. The running order according to today’s draw will not change, and it will slot into the first half, alongside Cloudless, Michael Soul and Our Atlantic. The second half is made up of songs from Alina Pash, Kalush Orchestra, Roxolana and Wellboy.
After deciding not to renew their contract with commercial channel Suspline, UA:PBC is taking the reins hosting Ukraine’s highly-anticipated national final, Vidbir, by itself for the first time in 2022.
A longlist of 27 potential acts was revealed on Monday of last week, with the selected eight being revealed earlier today.
Laud had previously performed at Vidbir and Holos krainy in 2016.
The remaining three competing songs that have been revealed so far can be viewed here:
Will you be disappointed not to see Laud at Vidbir 2022? Let us know in the comments and on social media.
