The producer behind Ukraine’s Eurovision entry has thanked Britain for defending its values… and expressed regret that his war-torn country had been indifferent to the Syrian war until its own cities were bombed by Russia.
Oleh Bidnarchuk said electric duo Tvorchi’s “experimental” song entry about his people’s resilience may be “incomprehensible” to fans of the show used to seeing it as “only entertainment”.
Andrii and Jimohm of Tvorchi will perform their song Heart of Steel at tonight’s event.
Mr Bidnarchuk, who was creative director of the singing contest when it was held in Kyiv in 2017, told the Sunday Express: “I don’t want people to be able to empathise with each other only if something similar happens in their life.
“I remember the terrible shots we received from the bombings of Syria. We were indifferent to them, and only when the bombs landed in our cities did we start asking everyone not to treat us like we used to treat Syria.
“This is a sad truth, but it must be overcome. I want the world to become more sensitive to those who came to such indifference earlier. Thank you Britain, thank you to the civilised world that learns and teaches to appreciate life.”
Speaking ahead of the competition’s final, he added: “I want to appeal to everyone to unite around those truths that make up the meaning of our life: freedom, justice, humanity.
“As long as we are together – we will have life, as long as there are many of us, we will be able to defend our values.”
Mr Bidnarchuk said Britain has shown a greater understanding of the plight of Ukrainians than other European countries.
He said he had visited nearly every country in the continent over the past year and noticed while some such as Hungary had no Ukrainian flags at all.
He said: “In Britain, I feel more understanding of the situation in Ukraine, perhaps this is the historical experience of their struggle in the Second World War; or perhaps this is the British ability to deeply perceive the problems of others.
“In the UK the support is felt not only in the colours of yellow and blue, here I especially feel the brotherhood of two nations.
“This is expressed in many details: people in the street can sing our national anthem, with an accent, of course, but they learned it; at the border crossing point; at the border crossing point the border guard with tears in his eyes wished us to win.”
He added: “People who go to the Eurovision arena fan zone keep Ukrainian and British flags together. They are treating Tvorchi as if they are British. I am happy that in Britain I feel respect for myself in particular and for Ukrainians.”
The biggest challenge producing Tvorchi’s song was the “responsibility to Ukrainian society and the world community”, he said.
“It was important to come up with the right message and not just say that we still have a war, but to tell how we treat this terrible phenomenon today.
“Our performance is about the strength of Ukrainians, they are really steel people who courageously survive all the tragic events in Ukraine.
“They are not traditional performers who take part in the competition, they will not perform circus tricks… this is music by modern artists for modern artists.
“We may be incomprehensible to the general public, who are used to treating this contest only as entertainment. This experiment is definitely a risk, but I can afford to take that risk.”
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