Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006

Ty – Zirka! (Ukrainian: Ти – Зiрка!) was the Ukrainian version of the Irish music competition series You're a Star which selected the Ukrainian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2006. The competition commenced on 28 January 2006 and concluded with a final on 11 March 2006. All shows in the competition took place at the NTU Studios in Kyiv, hosted by Maria Orlova and Igor Posypaiko and broadcast on Pershyi Natsionalnyi.[3]

The competition and ultimately the selection of the Ukrainian Eurovision entry took place over three stages. In the first stage, singers had the opportunity to apply for the competition by attending a scheduled audition during designated dates. Twelve acts, two from each audition, were selected and worked with a professional team of stylists, choreographers, vocal teachers and psychologists throughout the process.[4] The second stage consisted of the televised elimination shows which took place on 28 January, 11 February and 25 February 2006. Each of the contestants performed cover versions of famous world and/or national hits, and three contestants were eliminated per show based on the 50/50 combination of votes from a public televote and an expert jury. The third stage was the final, which took place on 11 March 2006 and featured the remaining three acts vying to represent Ukraine in Athens. Each finalist performed their candidate Eurovision songs and the winner was selected via the 50/50 combination of votes from a public televote and an expert jury.[5] Both the public televote and the expert jury assigned scores ranging from 1 (lowest) to 12 (highest) during each of the shows based on the number of contestants in the respective show. Viewers participating in the public televote during the four live shows had the opportunity to submit their votes for the contestants via telephone or SMS.[6] In the event of a tie, the tie was decided in favour of the contestant/entry that received the highest score from the public televote.[7]

Singers had the opportunity to attend auditions that were held between 6 December 2005 and 23 December 2005 in the following six cities: Chernihiv, Poltava, Dnipro, Odesa, Chernivtsi and Kyiv.[8] A five-member selection panel consisting of Olena Mozgova (director of music and entertainment at NTU), Serhiy Kuzin (general director of Hit FM), Eduard Klim (general director of Lavina Music), Olga Strukova (stylist) and an additional member per audition: Natalya Mogilevskaya (Chernihiv), Andriy Kuzmenko (Poltava), Alena Vinnitskaya (Dnipro), Iryna Bilyk (Odesa), Viktor Pavlik (Chernivtsi) and 2003 Ukrainian Eurovision entrant Oleksandr Ponomaryov (Kyiv), reviewed the 360 candidates and shortlisted twelve contestants for the competition.[9][10]

The three elimination shows took place on 28 January, 11 February and 25 February 2006. Twelve contestants competed by performing Ukrainian hit songs in the first show, world hits in the second show and past Eurovision Song Contest entries in the third show. Three acts were eliminated per show as determined following the combination of votes from a public televote and an expert jury. Due to the withdrawal of Olga Sviridenko following the first show due to health reasons, only two were eliminated in the second show.[11] 65,700 votes were registered by the televote over the three elimination shows.[12] In addition to the performances of the contestants, 2006 Slovenian Eurovision entrant Anžej Dežan performed the 2006 Slovenian entry "Mr Nobody" as a guest during the third show.[13]

The final took place on 11 March 2006. The three finalists competed by performing their candidate Eurovision entries. The winner, "I Am Your Queen" performed by Tina Karol, was selected through the combination of votes from a public televote and an expert jury.[14] Ties were decided in favour of the entries that received higher scores from the public televote. 12,811 votes were registered by the televote during the show.[7] In addition to the performances of the competing entries, 2006 Belarusian Eurovision entrant Polina Smolova performed the 2006 Belarusian entry "Mum" as a guest.[15]

The selection of Tina Karol as a contestant of Ty – Zirka! led to accusations of bias due to NTU's decision to allow an established act to compete against amateur singers.[14][16] A group of Ukrainian artists led by the Head of the Institute for Musical Art Oleksandr Chunikhin made a formal complaint about the selection process to President Viktor Yushcenko, mentioning the unprofessionalism of its jury and, allegedly, manipulation of the televote.[17][18] It was also claimed that the most famous specialists in Ukraine were prohibited from being involved in preparing the contestants, and that the selection of contestants lacked transparency making public participation symbolic.[17] In response, Head of the jury Olena Mozgova stated that the jury "works transparently" with their votes being "documented and certified by a state notary public".[19]

Following Tina Karol's victory at Ty – Zirka!, it was suspected that "I Am Your Queen" was "too suspiciously similar" to the 2005 Eurovision winning song "My Number One". NTU later stated that the song would undergo significant changes for the contest.[20]

"I Am Your Queen" was retitled and revamped as "Show Me Your Love" for the Eurovision Song Contest, featuring new arrangement and lyrics.[21] The official music video of the song, directed by Herman Hlynsky and filmed in Kyiv at the Kayf restaurant and the Pomada Club, was released on 30 March.[22]

Tina Karol during a rehearsal before the semi-final

Tina Karol took part in technical rehearsals on 12 and 14 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 17 and 18 May.[25] The Ukrainian performance featured Tina Karol performing on stage in a white corset dress with a red ribbon, a pleated skirt and knee-high boots designed by Victoria Hres together with five dancers.[26] The stage displayed predominantly red lighting, while the performance featured the dancers performing a gymnastic dance routine, which included picking up a long chain rope and skipping through one by one, as well as spinning around in patterned folk skirts during the bridge. The performance was concluded with the performers holding tambourines in the air.[27]

At the end of the show, Ukraine was announced as having finished in the top 10 and subsequently qualifying for the grand final. It was later revealed that Ukraine placed seventh in the semi-final, receiving a total of 146 points.[28]

The draw for the running order for the final was done by the presenters during the announcement of the ten qualifying countries during the semi-final and Ukraine was drawn to perform in position 18, following the entry from Finland and before the entry from France. Tina Karol once again took part in dress rehearsals on 19 and 20 May before the final and performed a repeat of her semi-final performance during the final on 20 May. Ukraine placed seventh in the final, scoring 145 points.[29]

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Ukraine and awarded by Ukraine in the semi-final and grand final of the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to Russia in the semi-final and the final of the contest.