Eurovision-2018: Melovin to represent Ukraine

On February 25, 2018, Melovin was named the winner of Ukraine’s national selection for the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest. The victory means the performer will represent Ukraine in Lisbon, Portugal, where the contest is scheduled to take place. Melovin is set to perform the upbeat song “Under the Ladder” during the second half of the second semi-final on May 10.

According to reports at the time, Melovin previously won the Ukrainian version of the television show X Factor in 2015, after which he began working on his debut album, “Face To Face.” This was his second attempt at representing Ukraine in the song contest, having previously competed in the 2017 national selection without success.

The 2018 national selection was organized through a collaboration between broadcasters UA:PBC and STB. The final round of the competition featured performances by Kadnay, Tayanna, The Erised, Laud, Vilna, and Melovin. The voting was split, with Tayanna topping the jury vote and Melovin winning the public televote to secure his overall victory.

The jury for the selection consisted of the 2016 Eurovision winner Jamala, composer and artist Adrii Danylko, who is also known as Verka Serduchka, and sound producer Yevhen Filatov. During the live broadcast of the final, Danylko used profanity on television, which generated headlines. Filatov previously served as a sound producer for the band ONUKA, which performed as the interval act during the 2017 Grand Final in Kyiv.