`Our music conquers'
`Tears of joy' as Ukrainians win Eurovision contest
Polina Falkovskaya doesn't think of herself as much of a party person. “I don't dance. I never go out,” she says.
But on Saturday, Falkovskaya, a Ukrainian living in Germany, danced — in her kitchen and in pyjamas, no less.
Like millions of Ukrainians, Falkovskaya was celebrating the victory of Ukrainian band Kalush Orchestra at the Eurovision Song Contest. The band's victory, which gives Ukraine the right to host the hugely popular spectacle in 2023, was secured by audience votes and cheered by world leaders, in a sign of the strong public support for Ukraine as the war with Russia approaches its threemonth mark.
“For the first time (since Russia's invasion of Ukraine), we were able to listen to music and not feel guilty,” Falkovskaya, 23, told The Washington Post from Munich, where she and her mother have settled since fleeing their home in Odesa in early March. “We finally relaxed and shed some tears.”
European Council President Charles Michel congratulated Kalush Orchestra on Twitter and expressed hope that next year's contest can be hosted by Kyiv in a “free and united Ukraine.”
The reaction to Ukraine's Eurovision win underscored the political undertones of the quirky musical event, from which Russia was excluded after it invaded Ukraine.
Officials in Kyiv portrayed the win as a sign of success to come in Ukraine's war with Russia, and Kalush Orchestra used the Eurovision stage to call for help for Mariupol and the soldiers holding out there inside the Azovstal steel plant. On Sunday, the band released a music video for Stefania, the song that helped secure its first-place Eurovision finish, that was filmed in war-torn areas of Ukraine.
But for many Ukrainians, the contest was also a rare chance to have fun and think about something other than the war.
“When they said that we had won, I shouted at the whole apartment,” Ivanna Khvalyboga told the BBC from Poland.
Khvalyboga, who is one of the more than six million Ukrainians who have fled their country since Russia's Feb. 24 invasion, said Ukraine's win has brought “incredible happiness for Ukraine and Ukrainian people.”
For Falkovskaya, who watched the finale with her mother and their two labradors, it was also a chance to connect with family, as her stepfather watched the contest with them over the phone from Odesa.
“When the war happens to you, you start realizing how much you ... miss the little things,” Falkovskaya told The Post. When Ukraine won Eurovision, “I got my little things back, and so I'm quite happy today. Hopefully, it stays for a while now.”
In a Facebook post, Falkovskaya wrote that winning Eurovision “has brought so much motivation and power back to our country. The happiness, the tears of joy, the laughter.”
“Our courage impresses the world, our music conquers Europe!” wrote Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Instagram after the results were announced.