Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020
Ukraine was set to be represented at the Eurovision [Song Contest 2020] with the song "Solovey " written by Taras Shevchenko and Kateryna Pavlenko. The song was performed by the band Go_A. Ukraine returned to the Eurovision Song Contest, after the nation withdrew in due to contractual disagreements with their chosen representative Maruv on conditions of taking part in the Ukrainian delegation. The Ukrainian broadcaster Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine organised a national final in collaboration with commercial broadcaster STB in order to select the Ukrainian entry for the 2020 contest in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The national selection consisted of two semi-finals, held on 8 and 15 February 2020, and a final, held on 22 February 2020; eight entries competed in each semi-final with the top three from each semi-final advancing to the final. In the final, "Solovey" performed by Go_A was selected as the winner following the combination of votes from a three-member jury panel and a public televote.
Ukraine was drawn to compete in the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 12 May 2020. However, the contest was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Go_A would go on to represent Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021, placing fifth.
Background
Prior to the 2020 Contest, Ukraine had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest fifteen times since its first entry in 2003, winning it in 2004 with the song "Wild Dances" performed by Ruslana and in with the song "1944" performed by Jamala. Following the introduction of semi-finals for the 2004, Ukraine had managed to qualify to final in every contest they participated in thus far. Ukraine had been the runner-up in the contest on two occasions: in 2007 with the song "Dancing Lasha Tumbai" performed by Verka Serduchka and in 2008 with the song "Shady Lady" performed by Ani Lorak. Ukraine's least successful result had been 24th place, which they achieved, as hosts, in 2017, with the song "Time" performed by O.Torvald.The Ukrainian national broadcaster, Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine, broadcasts the event within Ukraine and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. Following a one-year absence due to their withdrawal in 2019 following contractual disagreements with their representative Maruv on conditions of taking part in the Ukrainian delegation, UA:PBC confirmed their intentions to participate at the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest on 20 September 2019. In the past, UA:PBC had alternated between both internal selections and national finals in order to select the Ukrainian entry. Since 2016, the broadcaster, in collaboration with commercial broadcaster STB, had set up national finals with several artists to choose both the song and performer to compete at Eurovision for Ukraine, with both the public and a panel of jury members involved in the selection. Suspilne's collaboration with STB would have continued until 2021.
Before Eurovision
''Vidbir 2020''
Vidbir 2020 was the fifth edition of Vidbir which selected the Ukrainian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2020. The competition took place at the Palace of Culture "KPI" in Kyiv and consisted of two semi-finals held on 8 and 15 February 2020 and a final on 22 February 2020. All shows in the competition were hosted by Serhiy Prytula and broadcast on both UA:Pershyi and STB, and online via Suspilne's official Eurovision Song Contest website eurovision.ua as well as Suspilne and STB's Facebook and YouTube broadcasts. The final was also broadcast via radio on UA:Ukrainian Radio and Radio Promin.Format
The selection of the competing entries for the national final and ultimately the Ukrainian Eurovision entry took place over three stages. In the first stage, artists and songwriters had the opportunity to apply for the competition through an online submission form. Sixteen acts were selected and announced on 20 January 2020. The second stage consisted of the televised semi-finals which took place on 8 and 15 February 2020 with eight acts competing in each show. Three acts were selected to advance from each semi-final based on the 50/50 combination of votes from a public televote and an expert jury. Both the public televote and the expert jury assigned scores ranging from 1 to 8 and the three entries that had the highest number of points following the combination of these scores advanced to the final. The third stage was the final, which took place on 22 February 2020 and featured the six acts that qualified from the semi-finals vying to represent Ukraine in Rotterdam. The winner was selected via the 50/50 combination of votes from a public televote and an expert jury. Both the public televote and the expert jury assigned scores ranging from 1 to 6 and the entry that had the highest number of points following the combination of these scores was declared the winner. Viewers participating in the public televote during the three live shows had the opportunity to submit a single vote per phone number for each of the participating entries via SMS or the Teleportal mobile application. In the event of a tie during the semi-finals and final, the tie was decided in favour of the entry that received the highest score from the public televote.The jury panel that voted during the three shows consisted of:
- Andriy Danylko – comedian and singer, represented Ukraine in 2007 as the drag artist Verka Serduchka
- Tina Karol – singer, actress and television presenter, represented Ukraine in 2006
- – general producer of TAVR Media Radio Holding
Competing entries
| Artist | Song | Songwriter |
| Assol | "Save It" | Kateryna Taranenko, Maksym Zakharin, Anna Chernukha, Eldar Bayramov, Yan Likarenko |
| Cloudless | "Drown Me Down" | Yuriy Kanalosh, Anton Panfilov, Oleksandr Lysanskiy, Mykhailo Shatokhin |
| David Axelrod | "Horizon" | David Axelrod, Pavlo Shylko, Volodymyr Grigorovitch |
| Elina Ivashchenko | "Get Up" | Elina Ivashchenko, Vadim Lysitsa |
| Fo Sho | "Blck Sqr" | Betty Endale |
| Garna | "Who We Are" | Alyona Levasheva, Roman Nepomnyashiy |
| Gio Dara | "Feeling So Lost" | Giorgi Darakhvelidze |
| Go_A | "Solovey " | Taras Shevchenko, Kateryna Pavlenko |
| Jerry Heil | "Vegan" | Yana Shemaieva, Roman Cherenov |
| Katya Chilly | "Pich" | Kateryna Kondratenko |
| Khayat | "Call for Love" | Andriy Khayat |
| Krutь | "99" | Mykhailo Klymenko, Anton Babych, Maryna Krut |
| Moonzoo and F.M.F Sure | "Maze" | Oleksandr Vasetskyi, F.M.F. Sure |
| "Tam, kudy ya ydu" | Olha Chernyshova, Alexander Kasprov | |
| Oleksandr Poriadynskyi | "Savior" | Yana Kovaliova |
| Tvorchi | "Bonfire" | Andrii Hutsuliak, Augustus Kehinde Jimon |
Shows
Semi-finals
The two semi-finals took place on 8 and 15 February 2020. In each semi-final eight acts competed and the top three entries determined following the combination of votes from a public televote and an expert jury advanced to the final of the competition, while the remaining five entries were eliminated. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, 2018 Ukrainian Eurovision entrant Mélovin performed the song "Oh, No!" as a guest in the first semi-final, while guests for the second semi-final included The Hardkiss, Ukraine in the [Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2019|2019 Junior Ukrainian Eurovision entrant] Sophia Ivanko and 2020 Czech Eurovision entrant Benny Cristo performing the 2020 Czech entry "Kemama".| Draw | Song | Total | Points | |||
| 1 | "Tam, kudy ya ydu" | 3 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 3 |
| 2 | "Vegan" | 5 | 7 | 7 | 19 | 7 |
| 3 | "Pich" | 4 | 6 | 4 | 14 | 4 |
| 4 | "99" | 7 | 8 | 8 | 23 | 8 |
| 5 | "Solovey" | 8 | 5 | 5 | 18 | 6 |
| 6 | "Drown Me Down" | 6 | 2 | 6 | 14 | 5 |
| 7 | "Feeling So Lost" | 1 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 2 |
| 8 | "Save It" | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 |
| Draw | Song | Total | Points | |||
| 1 | "Maze" | 7 | 2 | 7 | 16 | 5 |
| 2 | "Blck Sqr" | 2 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 3 |
| 3 | "Get Up" | 3 | 7 | 4 | 14 | 4 |
| 4 | "Savior" | 4 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 2 |
| 5 | "Who We Are?" | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| 6 | "Call for Love" | 6 | 8 | 5 | 19 | 7 |
| 7 | "Horizon" | 5 | 6 | 6 | 17 | 6 |
| 8 | "Bonfire" | 8 | 5 | 8 | 21 | 8 |
Final
The final took place on 22 February 2020. The six entries that qualified from the semi-finals competed. The winner, "Solovey " performed by Go_A, was selected through the combination of votes from a public televote and an expert jury. Ties were decided in favour of the entries that received higher scores from the public televote. "Solovey" became the first Ukrainian entry in the Eurovision Song Contest to be performed entirely in the Ukrainian language. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, guests included performances from jury members Tina Karol and Verka Serduchka as well as Ukrainian 2016 Eurovision Song Contest winner Jamala performing the song "Zhali" together with alyona alyona.| Draw | Song | Total | Points | |||
| 1 | "99" | 5 | 4 | 5 | 14 | 5 |
| 2 | "Vegan" | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| 3 | "Solovey" | 6 | 6 | 6 | 18 | 6 |
| 4 | "Horizon" | 3 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 3 |
| 5 | "Call for Love" | 4 | 5 | 4 | 13 | 4 |
| 6 | "Bonfire" | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 2 |