“Stefania”, the winning song, Oleg Psjoek wrote -even before the war- as a tribute to his mother. But since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it has become a battle song, an ode to all Ukrainian mothers and to the Ukrainian “motherland”. With phrases like “I will always find my way home, even if all the roads are destroyed”, it’s not so surprising.
With a mix of traditional Ukrainian folk music and contemporary hip-hop, Kalush Orchestra wants to show that Ukraine has its own music and culture. “We are here to show that Ukrainian culture and music are very much alive and have a special individuality,” says singer Oleg Psjoek.
Like the other five band members, he returns to Ukraine after the Eurovision Song Contest, where young men have to keep themselves available for the army. One of the band members was not there in Turin, because he is fighting in the war.
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