OVSC28

## OrbisVision Song Contest #28

 A symphonic rendition of the Ukrainian national anthem, arranged by Yuri Shevchenko and performed by the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra
 "Melody" by Myroslav Skoryk, performed by the Kyiv-Classic Orchestra
 **Grand Final:**
 Ukrainian folk ensemble "Vyshnya"
 Ruslana performing "Wild Dances"

## Participants

### Returning

 Albania
  Barbados
  Cyprus
  Czechia
  Denmark
  France
  Georgia
  Gibraltar
  Hungary
  Jersey
 Latvia
  Luxembourg
  North Korea
  Palau
  Poland
  Puerto Rico
  Serbia
  Slovenia

### Withdrawing

 Åland Islands
  Angola
  Armenia
  Belgium
  Bosnia and Herzegovina
  Bulgaria
  Egypt
  Estonia
  Ireland
  Israel
  Italy
  Liberia
  Malaysia
  Morocco
  New Zealand
  Philippines
  San Marino
  US Virgin Islands
  Wallis and Futuna

## Voting

### System

Each country awards a set of 1 - 7 points, followed by 8, 10 and 12 points for their top 3 favourite songs

### Winner

 Australia
 "Padam Padam" by Kylie Minogue

After their unprecedented victory in Trondheim, the 28th OrbisVision Song Contest came to the Ukrainian capital Kyiv for the first time!

This was Ukraine's first time hosting the contest, as well as the 14th time the contest was hosted in Europe and only the 2nd time a former Soviet state hosted the contest.

The contest consisted of 3 shows, 2 semi-finals and a Grand Final.

44 countries have confirmed their participation.

The contest was won by Australia with the song "Padam Padam" by pop icon Kylie Minogue. This was the third time Australia had won the contest and the fifth time a country in Oceania had claimed victory. Australia also becomes the first country in OVSC history to win (and host) three times.

## Location

### Host city

Kyiv (**Київ** in Ukrainian) is the capital and largest city of Ukraine with - officially - approximately 3 million inhabitants (unofficially up to 4 million inhabitants). The city was founded on the banks of the Dnipro River.

    Ukrainians are very proud of their capital's role in establishing European civilization in Eastern Europe.

    Kyiv is one of the oldest cities in Eastern Europe, dating back to the 5th century, although settlements at this location existed much earlier.

By the late 9th century, Kyiv had become the de facto capital of an emerging Eastern Slavic state.

Between the 10th and early 13th centuries, the city reached its golden age as the capital of the first Ukrainian state known today as Kyivan Rus.

This state created the religious and cultural foundations for modern Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia.

In the middle of the 13th century, Kyivan Rus was overrun by the Mongols. Later that century, Kyiv became part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

In 1569 the city was absorbed into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and in 1654 it was liberated from that Commonwealth by the Cossack, Bohdan Khmelnytskyi, who then promptly signed the city over to Russia.

    This action continues to be a sore point for Ukrainian nationalists.
In 1775, Kyiv was annexed by the Russian Empire. The city remained under Russian rule, with brief but uncertain periods of independence between 1918 and 1920.

    Over these two centuries, Kyiv experienced growing Russification and Russian immigration.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, it became the capital of independent Ukraine and is now discovering its place as a large European capital.

Kyiv became the centre of the ideological battle between Ukraine’s pro-European west and its Russophile east.

    Tens of thousands took to the streets of the capital to protest widespread fraud and ballot-stuffing in the November 2004 presidential election, in which Russian-backed candidate Viktor Yanukovych defeated pro-Western candidate Viktor Yushchenko.

Yushchenko, who had narrowly survived an attempted poisoning during the campaign, rallied his supporters in a movement that became known as the Orange Revolution.

The Ukrainian Supreme Court overturned the election result, and Yushchenko was victorious in the subsequent rerun.

    Another wave of protests rocked Kyiv in 2013 and 2014, when Yanukovych, who had succeeded Yushchenko as president, backed out of a planned association agreement with the European Union at the eleventh hour.

Pro-EU demonstrators set up a camp in Independence Square and occupied the city hall.

Scores were killed in February 2014 when police and security forces opened fire on crowds of protesters. Downtown Kyiv became a battlefield, and the buildings surrounding the square were scorched by petrol bombs.

Abandoned by his political allies and under threat of impeachment, Yanukovych fled to Russia, and the protesters, dubbed the Euromaidan movement, ushered in a pro-Western government.

With the overthrow of Yanukovych, Russian President Vladimir Putin was deprived of his main lever in Kyiv, and Putin quickly moved to destabilize the interim Ukrainian government.

The invasion and annexation of the Ukrainian autonomous republic of Crimea marked the beginning of an extended Russian hybrid warfare campaign against Ukraine.

A Russian-backed separatist uprising was engineered in eastern Ukraine, and Kyiv was subjected to repeated cyberwarfare attacks.

In 2015 and 2016 hackers, widely believed to be in the employ of Russian intelligence, disrupted the electrical grid in Kyiv, plunging parts of the city into darkness for hours.

In February 2022 Putin announced the beginning of a “special military operation” against Ukraine, a war which is still going on to this day, and cruise missile strikes preceded a wholesale invasion of Ukrainian territory.

The Ukrainian military checked the Russian advance at multiple points, however, and thousands of civilians took up arms to defend the capital.

### Venue

The International Exhibition Centre in Kyiv is the largest exhibition centre in Ukraine.

Located in the western portion of Livoberezhna microdistrict, the center was opened in October 2002, and the head of the center since its construction was Anatoly Tkachenko.

The idea of building the complex was from Viktor Tkachenko, then director of the Palace of Sports.

Current director of the center, Ukrainian architect Yanush Wig designed the complex, and Eduard Safronov was the head of its construction.

The location for construction was at the left bank of Kyiv, in the times of Soviet Union it was planned to build a futuristic public center in that area, but the project wasn't completed in its full scale.

The first pavillon of the exhibition center was built between 1999 and 2002; it was opened in October 2002. The IEC was built according to the modern standards and became one of the leaders of forum organizers, holding almost fifty events in 2003.

During 2004 and 2005 two new pavilions were built, resulting in the exhibition centre now being able to hold more than 100 events per year.

In 2013, the centre held the 20th OSCE Ministerial Council, getting the OSCE Certificate for a high quality organization. In May 2017, the IEC was the host venue for the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest.

In 2017 it was decided to expand the exhibition centre. The project included new exhibition halls, underground parking, concert hall and a 13-storey hotel. The new two-storey hall was built from 2017 to 2019.

## Participating countries

### Semi-final 1

The United States, Norway and Germany will vote in this semi-final. Qualifiers are marked in blue.

### Semi-final 2

Spain, Ukraine and Argentina will vote in this semi-final. Qualifiers are marked in blue.

### Grand Final

1. ↑  Contains lyrics in French and Arabic.
2. ↑  The introduction of this song is in Spanish.