On the 22nd of February 2020, at the Grand Final of the national selection program “Vidbir”, the Ukrainian public chose the group Go_A with their “Solovey” to represent Ukraine at the Eurovision Song Contest in Rotterdam. As you know the contest was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic with the group given the option to represent Ukraine for the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest also to be held in Rotterdam.
With there being no national selection process for 2021, it allowed the group the chance to explore the options of producing a song for the contest. On the 22nd of January 2021, the group released a new song “Шум” (“Shum”) on YouTube. The song at the time of release was over the specified 3-minute time period that is required for a Eurovision song. At the time, the group advised that the song would not be their song for the contest, but due to popular demand, the public loved it. “Shum” (“Noise”) is inspired by Polissya folklore and incorporates a bit of dark retro style to give it a magical feel and incorporates an element of using bio-hazard suits that have become synonymous during the pandemic.
At the end of January, it was advised that Jamala, Evgeny Filatov, Ruslan Quinta, Yaroslav Lodigin and Dmitry Khorkin were to be selected as the jury. They would have the option of choosing out of three songs: “Шум”, “Рано” and “Церкова”. The public were only able to hear short snippets of the other two songs. On the 5thof February, “Shum” was chosen to be the groups song to send to the contest. Once again there was a lot of hype surrounding the selection of the song, but the group did advise that the song will have to be changed to fit into the time limit as well as changes to the lyrics of the song as they represented a current tune.
On the 11th of March 2021, Go_A released their new revised video of “Shum”, still featuring elements of the original song, but with new lyrics and very much road warrior element added into the video. With many mixed reactions due to a lot of people being very much attached to the original version, it is the kind of song that when you listen to it more and more, the more it will entice you in. I love every element of the song including the continue use of the ‘Sopilka’ (wood flute). The style of singing is very traditional, but it brings out Ukrainian culture in a more modern way. I really hope they do well in Rotterdam. Good Luck!