Today, Ukraine’s broadcaster Suspilne confirmed their participation in the Eurovision Song Contest 2027 and announced details of the upcoming national selection, Vidbir 2027.
🇺🇦 Jamala steps down from role for Vidbir 2027
Suspilne, the national broadcaster of Ukraine have confirmed that their Eurovision 2016 winner Jamala will step down from her role as music producer for Vidbir. The ‘1944’ singer will be replaced by, Dmytro Shurov (Pianoboy) who previously held the role for the 2023 and 2024 editions of the selection.
takes over from the outgoing 2006 representative, Tina Karol. Since winning the Stockholm contest, Jamala has been a key figure of Ukraine’s selection process. Jamala has participated on the jury in seven editions of Vidbir.
“A music producer is a behind the scenes role that is not visible to the general public, but in reality it is a colossal job. I am pleased that Vidbir 2023 and 2024 gave Ukrainian show business several big names who are now functioning as full-fledged artists. They go on tours, sell out arenas, release numerous songs.
I also feel great confidence in myself both from the musicians who are now shaping the future face of Ukrainian music, and from the Vidbir team, with which professional synergy has developed.
I realise that each subsequent selection may be more difficult than the previous ones, both because of our common tragedy of war and because not many artists are now ready to take risks and invest, throw themselves into the public embrasure, entering the competition in front of the whole country. However, the Suspilne team and I think long term, because everyone today creates every tomorrow. Therefore, every year of work at Vidbir, I do everything in my power to show a wide musical palette of what is happening in Ukrainian music, and together choose the coolest performer to go to a big international show.”
Dmytro Shurov
🇺🇦 Vidbir 2027 submission window opens
From today, artists and songwriters can submit their potential Eurovision entries to Suspline. The window will remain open until November 2. All submissions must comply with the rules of the contest and cannot be submitted to other national finals. Potential acts may submit as many entries as they wish.
“Eurovision today is a critical tool for direct interaction with hundreds of millions of Europeans. For Ukraine, participation in the competition is primarily about subjectivity, the protection of cultural sovereignty and the opportunity to keep the Ukrainian context in the focus of world attention until the very end. At the same time, the format of the National Selection will be changed and developed taking into account security risks and possible challenges of the winter period.”
Mykola Chernotytskyi, (Suspilne Board Chairman)
After the closure of the submission window a maximum of 12 artists will advance to the audition round. Following the audition, a minimum of 6 acts will be selected for the live show of Vidbir 2027. These will be chosen in December. One act from those not selected will join the selection as a wildcard. This will be determined through an online voting process.
The winner of Vidbir 2027 will be selected in February and will represent Ukraine at the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 in Burgas, Bulgaria.
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‘. Last year it was the turn of LELÉKA to represent the nation with her entry, ‘Ridnym’. During the Vienna final, she finished 9th with 221 points.
Who should represent Ukraine at Eurovision 2027? Let us know! Keep track of the latest news by following @ESCXTRA on Twitter, @escxtra.bsky.social on Bluesky, @escxtra on Instagram, @escxtra on TikTok, subscribing to YouTube and liking our Facebook page! Also, follow us on Spotify for the latest music from your favourite Eurovision acts.
