Now we will be turning our attention to a country which started to take part in the prestigious contest quite recently debuting their presence in 2003 with the entry "Hasta La Vista" sung by Olexandr Ponomaryov. They have also become winners of the contest in 2004 when Ruslana and her song "Wild Dances" ran to victory. Their win came before those of veterans Portugal, Malta as well as Cyprus amongst others. I am speaking about Ukraine a very successful nation in this music festival.

The eastern country has went for something a bit darker than usual this year with their choice of Svetlana Loboda and her entry "Be My Valentine". This years' entry is penned by Yevgeny Matyushenko and composed by the singer herself. It will be interpreted in position number 17.

The Selection
Svetlana Loboda will sing the Ukrainian entry with the song “Be My Valentine”. The national final consisted of a semi final (which was judges internally) and a final with fourteen songs. Svetlana Loboda was declared the winner on 8th March 2009.

The Artist
The 26 year old Svetlana Loboda has had quite an extensive career she has been a leading role actress in musical, TV host, designer, photographer, singer in Ukraine’s, Russia’s and CIS most popular girls and now finally a solo singer. In Novemebr 2005 she released her debut solo album Ty Ne Zabudesh (You Won’t Forget).  In 2008 she wrote the script for a music video Za Chto (For What).
 
The Song
Anybody following in the steps of Ani Lorak would have a difficult job. "Be My Valentine" has lively backing music, but sadly this about the only thing I like about this song. Clumsy lyrics and the tendency to gargle the English language make it difficult to understand what she is singing, especially in the live version at the national final.  The performance is lively an energetic and Svetlana seems to really enjoy herself but sadly that’s where it ends. She has a decent enough voice but the song is a big disappointment as Ukraine has been one of the most successful Eurovision countries in the last five years, finishing twice two years in a row. However, I don’t think they will be so successful this year.

We wish Svetlana Loboda the best of luck in Moscow hoping to go one better than the last two years bringing it back home to Ukraine.

Удачи !!

HOW