Ukraine has been represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 21 times since making its debut in . The current Ukrainian participating broadcaster in the contest is the Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine (UA:PBC/Suspilne), which has selected its entrant with the national competition in recent years. Ukraine has won the contest three times: in with "Wild Dances" by Ruslana, in with "1944" by Jamala, and in with "Stefania" by Kalush Orchestra, thus becoming the first country in the 21st century and the first Eastern European country to win the contest three times. The and contests were held in Kyiv, while the contest was held in Liverpool, United Kingdom, due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Since the introduction of the semi-final round in 2004, Ukraine is the only country outside of the "Big Five" to have qualified for the final of every contest they have competed, and has been placed outside the top-ten only six times. Ukraine has a total of nine top-five placements, with "Dancing Lasha Tumbai" by Verka Serduchka () and "Shady Lady" by Ani Lorak () both finishing second, "Gravity" by Zlata Ognevich () as well as "Teresa & Maria" by Alyona Alyona and Jerry Heil () third, "Angel" by Mika Newton fourth (), and "" by Go_A fifth (), in addition to its wins. The only countries with more top-five results in the 21st century are (13) and (10).
Participation The National Television Company of Ukraine (NTU) was a full member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) from 1st January 1993, thus eligible to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest from then. It participated in the contest representing Ukraine from the in 2003. NTU had previously planned to debut at the Eurovision Song Contest in and , but the planned entries failed to materialize. Since 2017, its successor, the Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine (UA:PBC/Suspilne), has been the participating broadcaster representing Ukraine.
History Ukraine made its debut in the contest in 2003, when it finished in 14th place with the song "Hasta la vista" performed by Oleksandr Ponomariov.
Ukraine won the contest at the second attempt in , with the song "Wild Dances" by Ruslana, defeating second-placed by 17 points, 280 to 263. In , Ukraine became the first Eastern European country to win the contest twice, when "1944" by Jamala won. The televote was won by and the jury vote by ; Ukraine was second in both, but won with an overall total of 534 points, with Australia second with 511 points and Russia third with 491 points. In , Ukraine was pre-qualified for the final as hosts, however it achieved its worst result to date – 24th place with 36 points.
Ukraine was absent twice from the contest, in 2015 and 2019, for reasons related to the ongoing war with Russia: NTU sat out the 2015 contest because of financial difficulties in relation to the war in Donbas. However, Ukraine broadcast the contest despite not taking part. NTU pledged to bring Ukraine back to the contest for 2016, which was finalized and announced on 16 September 2015. Vidbir, the Ukrainian national selection for the 2019 contest, was won by Maruv with "Siren Song". However, UA:PBC required any potential representative in the contest to sign a contract which contained a clause to forbid them from performing in Russia. The winner Maruv, as well as runners-up Freedom Jazz and Kazka, all refused to sign the contract, leading to Ukraine's withdrawal from the contest on 27 February.
In , Go_A won the national selection Vidbir and was set to represent Ukraine with the song "Solovey", before the contest was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They were instead internally selected to represent the country with the song "Shum", with which they finished in fifth place. After the contest, "Shum" entered the Billboard Global 200 at position 158, becoming the first ever Ukrainian-language song to chart there. Ukraine won the contest for a third time in , with the song "Stefania" performed by Kalush Orchestra. "Stefania" later went on to surpass the peak of "Shum" on the Billboard Global 200, charting at position 85.
Since the introduction of the semi-final round in 2004, Ukraine is the only country to have qualified for the final of every edition they have competed in.No country has always participated in the final since the introduction of semi-finals in 2004. Ukraine, despite having always reached the final, did not participate in the 2015 and 2019 contests. Additionally, the 2020 contest was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The "Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are also not counted in this list since they receive automatic qualification to the final. Ukraine has a total of 14 top-ten placements (among those are nine top-five placements). Ukraine's participation and success in the contest has been acknowledged as a factor in the country's growing soft power and international image. This view is shared by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who has supported the country's continued participation following the Russian invasion as a way to promote the Ukrainian national cause internationally.
Participation overview The following lists Ukraine's entries in the Eurovision Song Contest along with their result.
+ Table key 1 First place 2 Second place 3 Third place ◇ Entry selected but did not compete
Year Artist Song Language Final Points Semi Points Oleksandr Ponomariov "" English 14 30 colspan="2" Ruslana "Wild Dances" English, Ukrainian 1 280 2 256 GreenJolly "" Ukrainian, English 19 30 colspan="2" Tina Karol "Show Me Your Love" English 7 145 7 146 Verka Serduchka "Dancing Lasha Tumbai" English, German, Ukrainian 2 235 colspan="2" Ani Lorak "Shady Lady" English 2 230 1 152 Svetlana Loboda "Be My Valentine! (Anti-Crisis Girl)" English 12 76 6 80 Alyosha "Sweet People" English 10 108 7 77 Mika Newton "Angel" English 4 159 6 81 Gaitana "Be My Guest" English 15 65 8 64 Zlata Ognevich "Gravity" English 3 214 3 140 Mariya Yaremchuk "Tick-Tock" English 6 113 5 118 Jamala "1944" English, Crimean Tatar 1 534 2 287 O.Torvald "Time" English 24 36 colspan="2" Mélovin "Under the Ladder" English 17 130 6 179 Go_A ◇ "" ◇ Ukrainian ◇ colspan="4" Go_A "" Ukrainian 5 364 2 267 Kalush Orchestra "Stefania" Ukrainian 1 631 1 337 Tvorchi "Heart of Steel" English, Ukrainian 6 243 colspan="2" Alyona Alyona and Jerry Heil "Teresa & Maria" Ukrainian, English 3 453 2 173 Ziferblat "Bird of Pray" Ukrainian, English 9 218 1 137 Leléka "" English, Ukrainian 9 221 6 174 colspan="7" align="center"
Trivia Songs by language
SongsLanguageYears19English, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 10Ukrainian, , , , , , , , , 1Crimean Tatar1German
Selection process
YearSelection processChannelInternal selection NTUNational final with 79 participantsNational final with 3 participantsNational final with 7 participantsInternal selection for artist; national final with 5 songsNational final with 31 participantsInternal selection for artist; national final with 5 songs;winning song of the first national final continued onto a second national final with 20 participantsNational final with 31 participants Online vote with 4 songs; national final with 21 participantsNational final with 20 participantsYearSelection processChannelVidbir with 18 participantsNTUSTBVidbir with 24 participantsUA:PBCSTBVidbir with 18 participantsVidbir with 16 participantsInternal selectionVidbir with 8 participants UA:PBCVidbir with 10 participants SuspilneVidbir with 11 participantsVidbir with 10 participants
Hostings
YearLocationVenuePresentersKyivPalace of SportsMasha Efrosynina and Pavlo ShylkoInternational Exhibition CentreVolodymyr Ostapchuk, Oleksandr Skichko and Timur MiroshnychenkoFollowing its victory in , Ukraine was initially given the opportunity to host the contest, however, the EBU later decided that the country would not be able to host due to security concerns caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, making Ukraine the first country since in to win the contest but not host it the following year. The 2022 runner-up, the , hosted the 2023 contest on Ukraine's behalf, and Ukraine was granted automatic qualification for the final.
Awards Marcel Bezençon Awards
YearCategorySongPerformerFinalPointsHost cityArtistic Award"Wild Dances"Ruslana1280 IstanbulPress Award"Dancing Lasha Tumbai"Verka Serduchka2235 HelsinkiArtistic Award"Shady Lady"Ani Lorak2230 BelgradeArtistic Award"1944"Jamala1534 Stockholm
Barbara Dex Award
YearPerformerHost cityVerka Serduchka Helsinki
Related involvement Heads of delegation
Each participating broadcaster in the Eurovision Song Contest assigns a head of delegation as the EBU's contact person and the leader of their delegation at the event. The delegation, whose size can greatly vary, includes a head of press, the performers, songwriters, composers, and backing vocalists, among others. YearHead of delegationPavlo Grytsak–Victoria Romanova–presentOksana Skybinska Jury members Each participating broadcaster assembles a five-member jury panel consisting of music industry professionals for the semi-finals and final of the Eurovision Song Contest, ranking all entries except for their own. The juries' votes constitute 50% of the overall result alongside televoting. In 2026, the rules were updated to include a requirement for two additional jury members to be under 25 years of age.
Year First member Second member Third member Fourth member Fifth member Sixth member Seventh member not requirednot required Illaria Illaria Andriy YatskivAndriy KapralIryna FedyshynLukian HalkinVadim Lysycia Oleksandr SydorenkoSvitlana TarabarovaAntonina MatviyenkoOleh SobchukEvgeny Khmara AlyoshaIryna HorovaKostiantyn TomilchenkoMaksym NahorniakOlena Koliadenko Dmytro ShurovKostiantyn BocharovNatella ZatsarynaOlena ShoptenkoTetyana Reshetnyak Ihor KyrylenkoValentyn LeshchynskyiValerii KharchyshynYevhen KotHanna SvyrydovychVictoria NiroKlavdia Petrivna
Commentators and spokespersons YearNTU/UA:PBC commentatorSTB commentatorRadio commentatorSpokespersonPavlo Shylko, Mariya Orlovarowspan="16" rowspan="3" Pavlo Shylko, Dmytro Kryzhanivskyi Lyudmyla Hariv Rodion PryntsevskyiPavlo Shylko Yaroslav ChornenkyiGalyna BabiyMariya OrlovaPavlo Shylko rowspan="5" Igor Posypaiko Timur Miroshnychenko Kateryna Osadcha Marysya Horobets Iryna Zhuravska Timur Miroshnychenko, Tetiana TerekhovaOlena Zelinchenko Ruslana Oleksiy Matias Zlata Ognevich Olena Zelinchenko Verka Serduchka Tetiana Terekhova, Andrii Horodyskyi Zlata Ognevich Timur Miroshnychenko Mariya Yaremchuk Alyosha Jamala Serhiy Prytula Nata Zhyzhchenko Timur Miroshnychenko Olena Zelinchenko Anna Zakletska, Dmytro Zakharchenko Tayannarowspan="5" Timur Miroshnychenko Anna Zakletska, Dmytro Zakharchenko Kateryna Pavlenko Oleksandra Franko, Oleksandr Barbelen Zlata OgnevichTimur Miroshnychenko Vasyl Baidak Dmytro Zakharchenko, Lesia AntypenkoJamalaTimur Miroshnychenko Olexandr Pedan Vlad Kuran Alyona Alyona Dmytro Zakharchenko, Lesia Antypenko Anna Zakletska, Denys Denysenko Jerry HeilTimur Miroshnychenko Vasyl Baidak Svitlana Tarabarova Alyona Alyona Dmytro Zakharchenko, Lesia Antypenko TBA Daniil Leshchynskyi
Stage directors YearStage director(s)Fokas EvangelinosAlan BadoevAnatoliy ZalevskyyOlha SemeshkinaMaksym LytvynovOlena KoliadenkoKostiantyn Tomilchenko and Oleksandr BratkovskyiOleksii ZhembrovskyiOleh BodnarchukTanu MuinoMariia KorostelovaIllia Dutsyk
Costume designers YearCostume designersRoksolana BogutskaLiliia LitkovskaVictoria HresAnzhela LysytsiaRoberto CavalliSvetlana LobodaLiliia LitkovskaOlga NavrodskaLiliia LitkovskaOlena RevaHanna OsmekhinaIvan FrolovDmytro KuriataIvan FrolovMarharyta ShekelIvan FrolovLiliia Litkovska & Marharyta Shekel
Photo gallery
See also Ukraine in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest – Junior version of the Eurovision Song Contest.