Throughout the festive period, Suspilne the Ukrainian broadcaster, conducted an online vote to determine one extra participant in their national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2024. The votes have been verified, and it is ANKA with ‘Palala’ who wins the wildcard to join the Vidbir 2024 line-up.
ANKA through to Vidbir 2024
Overall, 300,000 votes were cast in the online competition to select an additional wildcard to join the 10 finalists in Vidbir 2024. The voting period was held between December 15-21. Afterwards, it was revealed that ANKA with her song, ‘Palala’ is now through to the live final taking place on February 3. In total, 9 acts competed in the wildcard selection, with ‘Palala’ taking 26.78% of the total votes, amounting to over 80,000 votes cast by Ukrainian fans.
ANKA found fame on the Ukrainian version of The Voice and has been playing the flute since she was three-years-old. In ‘Palala’, ANKA brings her unique fusion of traditional folk elements and modern production.
”Palala’ is a song whose emotions will definitely be familiar to everyone! After all, we all have dreams, but often, in order to achieve our goals, we fall, face failures, are left alone with our destructive thoughts and see no way out. It’s like we’re stuck in the past, within four walls.’
ANKA
Vidbir 2024
On February 3 Ukraine will decide their representative for the Eurovision Song Contest 2024. A total of eleven acts will take part in Vidbir 2024, with all the remaining songs for the finalists to be released in January. The winner will be determined by a combination of televoting and jury voting. The jury members will be chosen through online voting. Below is a reminder of the competing acts and their song titles:
- alyona alyona & Jerry Heil – ‘Teresa & Maria’
- ANKA – ‘Palala’
- Drevo – ‘Endless Chain’
- INGRET – ‘Keeper’
- MÉLOVIN – ‘DREAMER’
- NAHABA – ‘GLASSS’
- NAZVA – ‘Slavic English’
- SKYLERR – ‘Time Is Running Out’
- YAGODY – ‘Tsunamia’
- YAKTAK – ‘Lalala’
- Ziferblat – ‘Place I Call Home’
Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest
Vidbir was first used to select the country’s song and artist in 2016, which saw Jamala win in Stockholm, Sweden with ‘1944‘. Since their debut in 2003, Ukraine has qualified every year for the grand final, being the only country to have done so and has won the contest on three occasions. In their second year of participation, Ukraine took their maiden victory with Ruslana and the crowd pleasing, tribal anthem, ‘Wild Dances‘.
In 2022 Ukraine achieved their third victory for Kalush Orchestra and ‘Stefania‘, in what many consider as a triumph over adversity, following the hostile actions and invasion by Russia. During the Liverpool contest hosted on behalf of Ukraine, Ukrainian representatives TVORCHI and their song, ‘Heart of Steel’ placed 6th in the Grand Final with 243 points.
Who do you want to win Vidbir 2024? Let us know! Be sure to stay updated by following @ESCXTRA on Twitter, @escxtra on Instagram, @escxtra on TikTok and liking our Facebook page for the latest updates! Also, be sure to follow us on Spotify for the latest music from your favourite Eurovision acts. As well as YouTube to see our reactions to the news throughout the Eurovision 2024 season.
