- Title: UKRAINE: UKRAINIAN DELIGHTED THAT THEIR ENTRY HAS WON THE EUROVISION SONG CONTEST
- Date: 16th May 2004
- Summary: (EU) LVIV, UKRAINE (MAY 16, 2004) (REUTERS) 1. CLOSE OF INTERIOR OF RADIO STATION WITH PEOPLE IN STUDIO 0.06 2. SCU DJ ANNOUNCING SUCCESS OF EUROVISION WINNER RUSLANA 0.10 3. WIDE OF WOMAN DJ AT AUDIO PANEL 0.23 4. CLOSE OF AUDIO PANEL WITH RUSLANA SONG IN BACKGROUND 0.28 5. CLOSE OF SOUND LEVEL METER 0.33 6. SCU OUNDBITE (Ukrainian) DJ EVGEN FESHAK SAYING "To be honest, when the Eurovision started we were believing that we will be in the top four or at least five. But we didn't expect the victory. On the other hand we wanted it a lot. In the exact moment when Ukraine won, I remember the commentator made a pause, and it was felt by everyone who watched the show. For example, my friends, there were a lot of us watching, we were very anxious but after there was an explosion of emotions. I received a lot of sms's and calls from all over the world with congratulations. To be honest it was just fantastic." 1.15 7. CLOSE OF COMPUTER WITH RUSLANA SONG PLAYING 1.27 8. WIDE OF MUSIC STORE 1.34 9. SMV MAN PICKING RUSLANA RECORD OFF DISPLAY SHELF 1.41 10. CLOSE OF RUSLANA RECORD ON DISPLAY 1.46 11. SCU SOUNDBITE (Ukrainian) SELLER PAVLO DMYTRYSHAK SAYING "Today we sold a few records already, but you could hear that the rating of Ukraine grew since Ruslana won in this contest. Sales are medium now but you can see they are growing because people talk about it so much." 2.10 12. WIDE OF MUSIC STORE 2.14 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 31st May 2004 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: LVIV, UKRAINE
- Country: Ukraine
- Reuters ID: LVA9Y8700MJ50YPA2IECSKDDD0UW
- Story Text: Ukrainians are delighted that they won the
Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday.
Ukraine won the Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday
(May 15), delighting fans with an eye-catching mix of
frenetic dancing, skimpy leather costumes and passionate
vocals in a song called "Wild Dance".
Singer Ruslana, a cult figure in the former Soviet
republic, was accompanied by a group of dancers in warrior
costumes intended to evoke the Carpathian mountains.
"All of us are making a positive image of Ukraine. I
want my country to open up before you with friendship and
hospitality," an ecstatic Ruslana told a news conference
after the show.
The Eurovision Song Contest, hosted for the first time
by Turkey, winner of last year's event, attracts an annual
worldwide audience of more than 100 million people.
With its victory Ukraine earns the right to stage the
50th Eurovision Contest in 2005.
"Wild Dance" was taken from her best-selling album of
the same name, which was the first ever to go platinum in
Ukraine.
The song, sung partly in Ukrainian and partly in
English, is described as a modern take on traditional
Ukrainian ethnic music based on ancient rhythms and dances,
mixing rock with ethnic dance music.
The music industry was optimistic about the Ukrainian
victory on Sunday (May 16).
"Today we sold a few records already, but you could
hear that the rating of Ukraine grew since Ruslana won in
this contest. Sales are medium now but you can see they are
growing because people talk about it so much." said seller
Pavlo Dmytryshak.
"To be honest, when the Eurovision started we were
believing that we will be in the top four or at least five.
But we didn't expect the victory. On the other hand we wanted it a
lot.
In the exact moment when Ukraine won, I
remember the commentator made a pause, and it was felt by
everyone who watched the show. For example, my friends,
there were a lot of us watching, we were very anxious but
after there was an explosion of emotions. I received a lot
of sms's and calls from all over the world with
congratulations. To be honest it was just fantastic," said
DJ Evgen Feshak.
This year's Eurovision produced its usual mixed bag of
talent, corny lyrics, flamboyant performances and partisan
voting which are part of the competition's enduring
popularity.
Turkey stood out from among the mixture of romantic
ballads and disco numbers with the youthful Athena, one of
the country's best known bands, who play a mixture of ska
and punk music.
They won the loudest applause of the night from an
enthusiastic local crowd waving red and white Turkish
flags.
Last year's winner Sertab Erener, accompanied by
"whirling dervish" dancers, launched the show with the song
that won last year's contest in Riga, Latvia.
The performance by Serbia and Montenegro, which landed
second place, began with a reed flute solo and included a
violin solo with a strong Balkan folk flavour.
Greek heart-throb Sakis Rouvas came in third.
Many countries set aside politics when awarding their
votes. Turkey gave high points to historic rival Greece and
Croatia awarded its top marks to Serbia and Montenegro, its
ex-partners in the old Yugoslavia.
It was the biggest-ever competition with 36 countries
taking part in a two-stage event. Ten nations battled
through from a qualifying round to join 14 countries
already in the final.
Just seven competed in the inaugural year of 1956.
Many established artists steer well clear of Eurovision
fearing it will do more harm than good to their reputation.
But it has also produced superstars like Sweden's Abba who
won in 1974 with "Waterloo".
Security was tight for the event. Istanbul experienced
four devastating bomb blasts last November blamed on
Islamist militants in which 61 people were killed.
Next month, the city will host U.S. President George W.
Bush and other Western leaders for a NATO summit.
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