Ukraine 2024: Alyona Alyona and Jerry Heil with ‘Teresa and Maria’

The 1.1 fav came through in Vidbir giving us much to discuss…

I've been on a bit of a journey already with Ukraine this year in being shocked at the opening prices to be being concerned over the Vidbir field. Indeed "an Alyona Alyona vs Melovin battle doesn't appeal" apparently but the girl has delivered perhaps with some thanks to Jerry Heil who did hold some promise after last year's song.

We have our first contender of the season here with a really impactful and instantly memorable song that is hugely atmospheric. There's an interesting mix of strength and sorrow here and whilst the war with Russia has become a much lesser focus of European consciousness, this has all the ingredients to hit the powerful diaspora and neighbouring countries hard.

On the drawbacks side, these things matter less and less in public perceptions but it would be remiss of me not to mention that Alyona Alyona in particular ticks a lot of the old danger boxes and Jerry hasn't always engaged with the camera that great or appeared a real powerhouse of an artist. I do feel however that together they are a good partnership and complement each other well. Alyona is the more composed of the pair and delivers the rap expertly, but this does more hinge on Jerry as the main hook throughout. Audio issues are assumed with the removal of her earpiece so I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt over some of the more ad libbed parts.

There's also no traditional structure here, something which despite the massive differences in style between them, all winners have shared. I don’t personally see an issue but just something to note.

Ukraine are for my money the single best country at staging even if the last couple of years have had room for improvement. This national final performance also had room for improvement but maybe that's the scary thing; Goosebumps are still felt when this is in studio form or at 75% in vidbir. If suspline are able to get this to 100%… well good luck to everyone else. The religious symbolism or interpretation commented on by Jamala does not cause an issue and doesn't feel exclusive should they decide to stick with something similar, which I assume they do given the son’s meaning. Besides such imagery has stood the test of time and better writers than I have proposed the need to buy into something in the artist you vote for (see here for a deep dive theoretical piece - I'm a somewhat sceptical Hippo in the comments btw, with a great Italy prediction lower down)

A decade ago this would feel more like a 3rd-7th type of entry than a winner but in the modern contest where the televote is looking for more substance and juries more open minded there is definitely room for this to take a victory, particularly considering Ukraine's recent overacheivements and it will only trend upwards. I'd be very surprised if any of the songs selected so far, set to be selected tonight or that are floating around end up topping Ukraine and that's well over half the field so this is a justified short priced favourite for now.

Personal Rating: 10/10

Competitve Rating: 9/10

Early Prediction: Semi Final 1st-3rd, 1st-5th in the final.