It’s a long way until February, but Ukrainian broadcaster Suspilne has now closed the submission window for Vidbir 2025 – the country’s Eurovision selection for Basel. In total, the broadcaster received 369 submissions with a total of 374 songs.
In a list featuring 232 solo artists and 72 groups, Suspilne has managed to rack up some notable Ukrainian stars for their national final. This includes some who are even collaborating together (taking inspiration from last year’s winners Jerry Heil and alyona alyona).
One of the biggest names among the confirmed participants in the selection appears to be ENLEO. The 22-year-old from Mariupol grew his fan base after posting covers of Tom Odell’s “Another Love” and Hozier’s “Take Me To Church”. He also met Tom Odell during a concert in Poland. Now, he wants to try his forces with an original song. Speaking to ENTER ESPORT NEWS, he explained:
“My first goal for this year is to end up in the national selection. The song is already written, the song is great. It’s maybe the best song I’ve written.”
Another better-known name on the list is Ziferblat. The band from Kyiv finished second in last year’s Vidbir and are now looking to go one step further. Earlier, the group’s guitarist Valentyn Leshchynskyi revealed to Vidbircast that they were looking at three songs, one of which drew inspirations from Ukrainian culture.
Last year, the group entered a submission in English titled “Place I Call Home”. However, as their earlier music featured Ukrainian lyrics, it seems their potential song could be anything — even things we haven’t heard from them before. Recently, they featured on Tina Karol’s Recording House, which might indicate that Vidbir 2025‘s creative director has a soft spot for them too.
Some people might also distantly remember Polina Dashkova from the country’s Junior Eurovision 2016 selection. However, most people in Ukraine know her for her song “Плакала Калина,” which was released in April 2022.
Her bid was previously confirmed by the Ukrainian music insider Roman Buturlakin on his Telegram channel.
Other bids to look out for are OKS, Zelenooka and MOLODI.
OKS gained fame from Holos Krainy, Ukraine’s answer to The Voice, and popularly covered one of Tina Karol’s most famous songs from the 2000s.
Zelenooka is a folktronica artist originally from Izium who is rapidly growing a following in Ukraine, while MOLODI are a two-piece band who can be seen as Ukraine’s answer to Twenty One Pilots.
Vidbir 2025 format and dates
As Suspilne’s tender documents reveal, Vidbir 2025 will likely be broadcast on 8 February. Nine acts will battle it out to be Ukraine’s representative. A combination of jury voting and Diia app voting will decide the winner.
Last year, the broadcaster pre-recorded the national final to increase the quality and return to the same studio feel the show had before. In November 2022, the selection was held in a secret location somewhere in the Kyiv metro system, 90 metres below the surface.
For this edition, Suspilne is leaning into a new direction again. In summary, according to the tender documents, the format looks like this:
- On 7 February: Suspilne intends to record a full national final including jury voting in secrecy. The jury votes will be registered, similar to last year’s arrangement.
- On 8 February: Only if it were safe to do so, Suspilne will hold a live national final with a new round of jury voting. The jury voting on 7 February will no longer count in that case. The Diia app voting will decide the public’s choice. If it were not safe to hold a live broadcast from a location, Suspilne intends to show a repeat of the recording made on 7 February. Viewers can vote through the Diia app on their favourites during the show.
Who do you want to see at Vidbir 2025? Which artists do you think has a chance to end up in Basel next year? Let us know in the comments down below!
