War reaches Ukrainian rock band Ziferblat even at the Eurovision Song Contest
BASEL, Switzerland (AP) — Ukraine's musicians can't escape war, even at the Eurovision Song Contest.
Rock band Ziferblat were in Basel, Switzerland to represent their country when they learned the home of backing singer Khrystyna Starykova in a frontline region of eastern Ukraine had been destroyed by Russian shelling.
'She's so strong,' said guitarist Valentyn Leshchynskyi, who formed Ziferblat with his vocalist twin brother Daniil and drummer Fedir Khodakov. 'She is 19 years old only, but the impact of this situation — I think she won't give up.
'Of course it's difficult when you're losing your flat while you need to stay calm to celebrate here because it's a musical festival, it's not about the war.'
The band is set to compete for Ukraine in Saturday's Eurovision grand final with 'Bird of Pray,' a song whose intense vocals and prog rock sound owe something to the 1970s – as does the bell-bottomed pink suit Daniil Leshchynskyi wore in Tuesday's semi-final.
Valentyn Leshchynskyi said the lyrical message of loss and hope, centered on a phoenix-like bird, resonates with what Ukrainians experienced in recent years.
'We want to build a dream on the stage – even for three minutes, for Ukrainians – like the war will be over in the very near future,' he told The Associated Press.
Ukraine is a longtime Eurovision competitor – as was its neighbor Russia. Both saw their relationship with the continental pop contest transformed by Moscow's full-scale invasion three years ago.
Russia was kicked out of Eurovision. Ukrainian folk-rap group Kalush Orchestra won the 2022 contest less than three months after the invasion. Winning brought the right to host the contest the following year. When war made that impossible, Liverpool stepped in to stage Eurovision with a distinctly Ukrainian flavor, decking out the English city in blue and yellow Ukrainian flags.
Even before the full-scale invasion, Ukraine used Eurovision for cultural diplomacy, as a way to tell the world about their country's history, music and language. Ukrainian singer Jamala won the contest in 2016 — two years after Russia illegally seized Crimea — with a song about the expulsion of Crimean Tatars by Stalin in 1944. Kalush Orchestra's winning song 'Stefania' blended rapping in Ukrainian with a haunting refrain on a traditional Ukrainian wind instrument.
Now the message is that Ukraine is still standing, and still fighting.
Daniil admitted to feeling a 'little bit of pressure' ahead of Saturday. But he said it was 'such a privilege' to represent Ukraine.
'We have two missions here,' his brother Valentyn said. One is to come out at or near the top in Saturday's 26-nation musical showdown. The other is 'to remind Europeans about the war.'
As part of its Eurovision journey, the band is fundraising to buy robotic de-mining systems to help clear an area of Ukraine he says is 3 1/2 times the size of Switzerland.
Ziferblat's trip to Eurovision coincided with Vyshyvanka Day — the third Thursday in May, when Ukrainians around the world wear traditional embroidered shirts as a symbol of national pride.
The band members joined scores of Ukrainians clad in elaborately stitched vyshyvanka in a Basel park to eat borscht, sing Ukrainian songs and cheer on the band ahead of Saturday's final.
'This is a day that is gathering all Ukrainians together,' Valentyn said. 'In Kyiv, the capital, everyone is wearing these shirts and going to the streets celebrating and you feel like a united nation for one day.'
___
Associated Press journalist Kwiyeon Ha contributed to this story.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
17 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Mother Mother refuse to 'pander to the TikTok era' after going viral
Mother Mother will never "pander to the TikTok era" with their songwriting. The Canadian rockers - who have exceeded nine billion streams globally - found themselves going viral on the video-sharing platform in 2020, after their 2008 song Hayloft was used in edits, cosplay, and creative transitions. As a result, the group dropped Hayloft II, which also became a hit. Frontman Ryan Guldemond subsequently noticed on Reddit that some people were critcising them for going after commercial success with their music - but he insists that couldn't be farther from the truth. He told "I was reading people saying, 'Oh, they pander to the TikTok era with their new writing.' ADVERTISEMENT And it's like, Huh? I don't think that's true. If anything, it's the opposite, like, yeah, you know, the TikTok thing came along and made a bunch of songs that were really unviable, commercially famous, and that was to us that sent a message like, Oh, just be yourself. Like, just write from the heart and follow your whims. And that's the best thing you can do, is to be just totally authentic. And if that means you're writing kind of weird, unconventional songs, then so be it." The 'Finger' singer insists the whole TikTok viral experience taught them to "reject writing strategically for anything". He continued: "And so I've sort of taken that message and really ran with it, because I agree. I think the best thing anybody can do, whether you're writing a song or just, I don't know, whatever in life, just to be who you are. So I'm grateful for the TikTok thing, for sending that message, and if anything, yeah, like I said, it has made us reject writing strategically for anything." Mother Mother returned on June 6 with their new album 'Nostalgia', comprised of songs old and new to mark their 20th anniversary. Stream 'Nostalgia' now on all major streaming platforms.
Yahoo
18 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Sir Rod Stewart cancels US concerts amid recovery from flu
Sir Rod Stewart has cancelled a string of concerts in the US as he recovers from flu, ahead of his set at Glastonbury later this month. Sir Rod is due to play the coveted tea-time legends slot at the Somerset festival on Sunday June 29. He took to Instagram to announce that he was 'devastated' to have to cancel or reschedule the six US shows, due to take place in the next eight days. 'I have to cancel and reschedule my next six concerts in June as I continue to recover from the flu,' he wrote. 'So sorry my friends. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sir Rod Stewart (@sirrodstewart) 'I'm devastated and sincerely apologise for any inconvenience to my fans. I'll be back on stage and will see you soon.' He signed off 'Sir Rod' along with the heartbreak emoji. He also listed the four shows he was cancelling – in Las Vegas and Stateline, Nevada – as well as two he plans to reschedule – in California. The 80-year-old musician recently announced he will reunite with his former Faces bandmate Ronnie Wood for his much-anticipated set at Glastonbury. He told That Peter Crouch Podcast he was only due to play for an hour and a quarter on the Pyramid Stage. 'But I've asked them 'Please, another 15 minutes' because I play for over two hours every night and it's nothing,' he said. In 2024, he promised he would not retire but confirmed his 2025 European and North American shows would bring an end to his 'large-scale world tours', with his next slate to be held at more intimate venues. Sir Rod's best known solo songs include Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?, Every Beat Of My Heart, and Maggie May. Last month he was presented with a prestigious lifetime achievement award by five of his children at the American Music Awards (AMAs).
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
David Attenborough's 'Ocean' is a brutal, beautiful wakeup call from the sea
NICE, France (AP) — An ominous chain unspools through the water. Then comes chaos. A churning cloud of mud erupts as a net plows the seafloor, wrenching rays, fish and a squid from their home in a violent swirl of destruction. This is industrial bottom trawling. It's not CGI. It's real. And it's legal. 'Ocean With David Attenborough' is a brutal reminder of how little we see and how much is at stake. The film is both a sweeping celebration of marine life and a stark exposé of the forces pushing the ocean toward collapse. The British naturalist and broadcaster, now 99, anchors the film with a deeply personal reflection: 'After living for nearly a hundred years on this planet, I now understand that the most important place on Earth is not on land, but at sea.' The film traces Attenborough's lifetime — an era of unprecedented ocean discovery — through the lush beauty of coral reefs, kelp forests and deep-sea wanderers, captured in breathtaking, revelatory ways. But this is not the Attenborough film we grew up with. As the environment unravels, so too has the tone of his storytelling. 'Ocean' is more urgent, more unflinching. Never-before-seen footage of mass coral bleaching, dwindling fish stocks and industrial-scale exploitation reveals just how vulnerable the sea has become. The film's power lies not only in what it shows, but in how rarely such destruction is witnessed. 'I think we've got to the point where we've changed so much of the natural world that it's almost remiss if you don't show it,' co-director Colin Butfield said. 'Nobody's ever professionally filmed bottom trawling before. And yet it's happening practically everywhere.' The practice is not only legal, he adds, but often subsidized. 'For too long, everything in the ocean has been invisible,' Butfield said. 'Most people picture fishing as small boats heading out from a local harbor. They're not picturing factories at sea scraping the seabed.' In one harrowing scene, mounds of unwanted catch are dumped back into the sea already dead. About 10 million tons (9 million metrics tonnes) of marine life are caught and discarded each year as bycatch. In some bottom trawl fisheries, discards make up more than half the haul. Still, 'Ocean' is no eulogy. Its final act offers a stirring glimpse of what recovery can look like: kelp forests rebounding under protection, vast marine reserves teeming with life and the world's largest albatross colony thriving in Hawaii's Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. These aren't fantasies; they're evidence of what the ocean can become again, if given the chance. Timed to World Oceans Day and the U.N. Ocean Conference in Nice, the film arrives amid a growing global push to protect 30% of the ocean by 2030 — a goal endorsed by more than 190 countries. But today, just 2.7% of the ocean is effectively protected from harmful industrial activity. The film's message is clear: The laws of today are failing the seas. So-called 'protected' areas often aren't. And banning destructive practices like bottom trawling is not just feasible — it's imperative. As always, Attenborough is a voice of moral clarity. 'This could be the moment of change,' he says. 'Ocean' gives us the reason to believe — and the evidence to demand — that it must be. 'Ocean' premieres Saturday on National Geographic in the U.S. and streams globally on Disney+ and Hulu beginning Sunday. ___ Follow Annika Hammerschlag on Instagram @ahammergram. ___ The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of AP's environmental coverage, visit Annika Hammerschlag, The Associated Press
