Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020

Go_A backstage during 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.[4] The final was also broadcast via radio on UA:Ukrainian Radio and Radio Promin.[5]

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.[6] 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 (lowest) to 8 (highest) 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 (lowest) to 6 (highest) 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
• Vitaliy Drozdov – general producer of TAVR Media Radio Holding

The Vidbir 2020 judges

Andriy Danylko

Tina Karol

Vitaliy Drozdov

Artists and composers had the opportunity to submit their entries via an online submission form which accepted entries between 16 October 2019 and 25 December 2019. New rules from the 2020 edition only allowed for artists that had not performed in Russia since 2014 and entered the territory of Crimea without due permission to apply for the competition.[7] Composer and producer Ruslan Kvinta was assigned as the music producer of the show and was the lead in reviewing the received submissions and shortlisting entries to compete in the national final.[8] On 20 January 2020, the sixteen selected competing acts were announced.[6] The sixteen acts were allocated to one of two semi-finals during a draw that took place on 22 January, which was hosted by Ruslan Kvinta.[9]

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, 2019 Junior Ukrainian Eurovision entrant Sophia Ivanko and 2020 Czech Eurovision entrant Benny Cristo performing the 2020 Czech entry "Kemama".

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.

Some of the broadcasters scheduled to take part in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 organised alternative competitions. Austria's ORF broadcast Der kleine Song Contest in April 2020, which saw every entry being assigned to one of three semi-finals. A jury consisting of ten singers that had represented Austria at Eurovision before was hired to rank each song; the best-placed entry in each semi-final advanced to the final round.[18] In the third semi-final on 18 April, Ukraine placed 10th in a field of 13 participants, achieving 45 points.[19] Ukraine's song also partook in Sveriges Television's Sveriges 12:a in May,[20] though it did not qualify for the competition's final.[21]