Today, the Ukrainian broadcaster Suspilne launched a poll in the Diia app and government web portal that will allow the country’s citizens to select the 3-strong jury for their national final from a longlist of 10 candidates, which includes two Eurovision winners and two other alumni. The vote is open to any Ukrainian aged 14 and over, and will last for a week until midnight on Sunday 23rd December. The three with the most votes will sit on the panel that will decide 50% of the vote in Vidbir 2025, which is due to be held on an as-yet unconfirmed date in February.
The potential jurors for Ukraine’s 2025 national final are:
- Andriy Gutsulyak (sound producer and member of 2023 Ukrainian represenative Tvorchi)
- Anna Svyrydova (TV and radio presenter, known for work on ‘Pyatnytsia’ and YouTube’s ‘MuzRoom’)
- Dmitry Shurov (producer of Vidbir 2022 and 2023, renowned composer and songwriter)
- Dmytro Zezyulin (lead singer of rock band LatexFauna)
- Jamala (singer/songwriter, winner of Eurovision 2016)
- Kateryna Pavlenko (lead singer of 2020-21 Ukrainian representative Go_A)
- Katya Tsaryk (film director, producer of national music awards)
- Oleg Psyuk (rapper, lead of Eurovision 2022 winner Kalush Orchestra)
- Sasha Chemerov (musician and poet, founder of ‘Cultural Landing’ project)
- Serhiy Tanchynets (singer, producer and band leader of Bez Obmezhen; jury member at Vidbir 2024)
On Wednesday last week, Suspilne also revealed a longlist of 20 acts invited by the broadcaster to compete in a pre-round of closed auditions. Of the following, up to 10 will be selected to compete at the show by the broadcaster, plus one more who’ll be selected in a wildcard vote on the Diia app:
- Abiye
- Brykulets
- DK Enerhetyk
- Enleo
- Fiїnka
- Future Culture
- Grisana
- Khayat
- Krylata
- Masha Kondratenko
- Molodi
- Mon Fia
- Muayad
- Ranrawi
- Slukhay Sashu
- Starykova Hrystyna
- Teslenko
- Vlad Sheryf
- Yagody
- Ziferblat
Fiïnka, Yagody and Ziferblat all featured in last year’s national final, with indie rock band Ziferblat performing the best of them, finishing second with their song Place I Call Home. Also on the list is Khayat, who finished 2nd at Vidbir 2020 with Call For Love, and popular Ukrainian TikToker Enleo, originally from Mariupol.
While Ukraine has done exceptionally well at Eurovision with songs selected through Vidbir, the jury has been the subject of controversy in recent years, with concerns raised over a lack of transparency and a willingness to edit the results after they’d been finalised, as was the case in 2022. Last year’s winners alyona alyona and Jerry Heil finished 3rd in Malmö with their hip hop-spiritual infusion Teresa & Maria.
Ukraine has never failed to qualify for the grand final at Eurovision, and has won on three occasions, including twice in the last 8 editions.
Who would you like to see on the Vidbir jury in 2025? Remember to follow ESCBubble across social media to stay up-to-date with all the latest Eurovision news!
