The day after its Eurovision victory on Saturday, the Ukrainian group Kalush Orchestra unveiled the clip of its title Stefania shot in several cities seriously affected by the Russian attack.
“Hi friends, today the long-awaited music video ‘Stefania’ was released. We shot it in Bucha, Irpen, Gostomel and Borodyanka. It hurts deeply and painfully,” reads the group’s Instagram account.
“The clip is based on real events that occurred during the military aggression in Ukraine in 2022,” it is explained in the description of the video on YouTube.
“I once dedicated this song to my mother, and when the war broke out, the song took on new meanings,” explained the group’s leader, rapper Oleh Psiouk. “Although there was not a word about the war in the song, many people started associating the song with mother Ukraine. Plus, society has started calling it our wartime anthem! But if Stefania is now the anthem of our war, I would like her to become the anthem of our victory,” he added.
The members of the group mobilized again
Some of the lyrics of the song, which mixes hip-hop and traditional music, have indeed taken on another dimension with the news: “I will always find the way home even if all the roads are destroyed.”
The Kalush Orchestra group won Saturday night in Turin as predicted by the bookmakers. “Please help Ukraine and Mariupol! Help Azоvstal,” Kalush Orchestra vocalist Oleh Psiuk called on stage. “This victory is very important for Ukraine, especially this year. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Glory to Ukraine!”, said the singer.
“Our courage impresses the world, our music conquers Europe”, reacted President Volodymyr Zelensky on Facebook before expressing the wish that the next edition of the competition be held in 2023 in a city of Mariupol “free, peaceful and rebuilt “.
While this victory is a small ray of sunshine in the broken hearts of Ukrainians, the war continues. All of fighting age, the members of the group, who had benefited from a special exemption to come and defend the Ukrainian colors on the Eurovision stage, are now called upon to return to the country to take up arms.