Ukrainian band Kalush Orchestra wins Eurovision amid war
ABC News
Ukrainian band Kalush Orchestra has won the Eurovision Song Contest in a clear show of popular support for the war-ravaged nation that went beyond the music
TURIN, Italy -- Ukrainian band Kalush Orchestra won the Eurovision Song Contest in the early hours of Sunday in a clear show of popular support for the war-ravaged nation that went beyond the music.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed the victory, Ukraine's third since its 2003 Eurovision debut, and said “we will do our best” to host next year's contest in the hotly contested port city of Mariupol. He underlined “Ukrainian Mariupol,” adding: “free, peaceful, rebuilt!”
"Thank you for the victory, Kalush Orchestra and everyone who voted for us!,'' Zelenskyy said in a post on Telegram messaging app. "I am sure our victorious chord in the battle with the enemy is not far off.''
Kalush Orchestra's front man, Oleg Psiuk, took advantage of the enormous global audience, last year numbering more than 180 million, to make impassioned plea to free fighters still trapped beneath a sprawling steel plant in Mariupol following their performance.
