The Ukrainian group KAZKA already has the experience of participating in the National Selection for Eurovision. In 2019, they competed for the right to represent the country, but lost to the singer Maruv, whose participation in the competition caused a scandal due to performances in Russia. In the end, Ukraine refused to participate in that year altogether.
The band's frontwoman Sasha Zaritska admits that she dreams of returning to Eurovision, but under one condition. In an interview with the blogger Okay Eva, she frankly stated:
"If they told me: 'Alexandro, you will win. We love you very much. Could you introduce our country right away?' I would say yes, okay, I will. And yes, I will not sit with these minors."
These words indicate that it is important for the singer to avoid the stress of competition and to guarantee herself support on the way to the international stage.
The national selection of 2019 became one of the most scandalous in the entire history of the competition in Ukraine. Maruv, who won, refused to participate due to criticism of her concert activities in Russia. After that, Freedom-jazz girls band and KAZKA got a chance to go to Eurovision, but both teams refused. As a result, Ukraine missed the competition for the first time in many years.
Despite her undisguised gestalt, Sasha Zaritska made it clear that she would return to the competition only under the conditions of a guarantee of victory in the National Selection. Such a position can be perceived ambiguously, because the National Selection has always been an open competition designed to determine the most worthy representative of Ukraine.
Will the band get a second chance? This question remains open. However, given the brilliance of KAZKA on stage and their success in Europe after the release of the song "Crying", they can still become a strong representative of Ukraine on the international stage.
