Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011

The Ukrainian national final took place in Kyiv and consisted of five heats held between 31 October and 28 November 2010, three semi-finals on 5, 12 and 26 December 2010 and a final on 26 February 2011. All shows in the competition were broadcast on Pershyi Natsionalnyi as well as online via NTU's official website 1tv.com.ua.[2] The final was broadcast online at the official Eurovision Song Contest website eurovision.tv.[3]

The selection of the competing entries for the national final and ultimately the Ukrainian Eurovision entry took place over four stages. In the first stage, artists and songwriters had the opportunity to apply for the competition by attending a scheduled audition during designated dates. Thirty-five acts were selected and announced on 22 August 2010. The second stage consisted of the televised heats which took place between 31 October and 28 November 2010 with six to seven acts competing in each show. Four acts were selected to advance from each heat based on the votes from a public televote and an expert jury consisting of Walid Arfush (producer), Kamaliya (singer), Ruslana Pysanka (singer), Anton Tseslik (Kiss FM Ukraine CEO) and Iryna Zhuravska (model, Miss Ukraine 2008 winner).[4] The expert jury first selected three entries to advance to the semi-finals and the remaining entries faced the public televote which commenced after each heat and closed before the following heat where an additional entry qualified. The expert jury also selected four wildcard acts for the semi-finals out of the remaining non-qualifying entries from the heats.[5] The third stage consisted of the semi-finals which took place on 5, 12 and 26 December 2010 with eight acts competing in each show. Seven acts were selected to advance from each semi-final based on the votes from a public televote and an expert jury. The expert jury first selected five entries to advance to the final and the remaining entries faced the public televote which commenced after each semi-final and closed before the following semi-final where an additional two entries qualified. The third stage was the final, which took place on 26 February 2011 and featured the twenty-one acts that qualified from the semi-finals vying to represent Ukraine in Düsseldorf. The winner was selected via the combination of votes from an internet vote (10%), a public televote (45%) and an expert jury (45%). The internet vote, the public televote and the expert jury each assigned scores ranging from 1 (lowest) to 21 (highest) and the entry that had the highest number of average points following the combination of these scores was declared the winner.[1] Viewers participating in the public televote during the live shows had the opportunity to submit their votes for the participating entries via SMS. In the event of a tie during the final, the tie was decided in favour of the entry that received the highest score from the jury.[6]

Artists and composers had the opportunity to submit their entries by attending auditions held at the Olmeca Plage in Kyiv between 19 August 2010 and 21 August 2010. A seven-member selection panel consisting of Walid Arfush (producer), Vlad Baginsky (NTU music producer), Ruslana Pysanka (singer), Yuliya Magdych (fashion designer), Anton Tseslik (Kiss FM Ukraine CEO), Igor Likhuta (composer and producer) and Kamaliya (singer) reviewed over 200 received submissions and shortlisted thirty-five entries to compete in the national final.[7][8] On 22 August 2010, the thirty-five selected competing acts were announced.[9] Among the competing artists was former Eurovision Song Contest contestants Verka Serduchka, who represented Ukraine in 2007 with the song "Dancing Lasha Tumbai", and Anastasia Prikhodko, who represented Russia in 2009 with the song "Mamo".[10][11] On 14 October 2010, Verka Serduchka, who was to gain direct entry into the competition's final, withdrew from the national final due to scheduling issues and was replaced by Pavlo Tabakov.[12][13]

The first heat took place on 31 October 2010 at the Dovzhenko Studios in Kyiv, hosted by Tatyana Goncharova and Timur Miroshnychenko. Seven entries competed and the top three entries following the votes from an expert jury advanced to the semi-finals of the competition. The remaining four entries then faced a public televote held between 31 October and 7 November 2010 which determined an additional qualifier with the remaining three entries being eliminated. "Victim of My Love" performed by Kristina Kim, "Why Didn't I Say Goodbye?" performed by Alyona Korneeva and "Infinity" performed by Dasha Medova were the jury qualifiers, while "Superhero (U-la-la)" performed by Zaklyopki was the public televote qualifier. "Moya nadezhda" performed by El Kravchuk was selected as a wildcard and also advanced to the semi-finals.

The second heat took place on 7 November 2010 at the Dovzhenko Studios in Kyiv, hosted by Tatyana Goncharova and Timur Miroshnychenko. Six entries competed and the top three entries following the votes from an expert jury advanced to the semi-finals of the competition. The remaining four entries then faced a public televote held between 7 and 14 November 2010 which determined an additional qualifier with the remaining two entries being eliminated. "Berega" performed by Eduard Romanyuta, "Ave Maria" performed by Ivan Berezovskiy and "Yeyo imya" performed by Bahroma were the jury qualifiers, while "Sever-Jug" performed by Nek$i was the public televote qualifier.[14] "Gliadi" performed by Para Normalnyh was selected as a wildcard qualifier and also advanced to the semi-finals.

The third heat took place on 14 November 2010 at the Dovzhenko Studios in Kyiv, hosted by Tatyana Goncharova and Timur Miroshnychenko. Seven entries competed and the top three entries following the votes from an expert jury advanced to the semi-finals of the competition. The remaining four entries then faced a public televote held between 14 and 21 November 2010 which determined an additional qualifier with the remaining three entries being eliminated. "Myself" performed by Oleksiy Matias, "Kamenniy tsvetok" performed by Shanis and "Hero" performed by Zhemchug were the jury qualifiers, while "My Expression" performed by Vitaliy Galay was the public televote qualifier.[15] "Allo, allo" performed by A.R.M.I.YA & Vera Varlamova was selected as a wildcard qualifier and also advanced to the semi-finals.

The fourth heat took place on 21 November 2010 at the Dovzhenko Studios in Kyiv, hosted by Tatyana Goncharova and Timur Miroshnychenko. Seven entries competed and the top three entries following the votes from an expert jury advanced to the semi-finals of the competition. The remaining four entries then faced a public televote held between 21 and 28 November 2010 which determined an additional qualifier with the remaining three entries being eliminated. "The Kukushka" performed by Zlata Ognevich, "Action" performed by Anastasia Prikhodko and "Angel" performed by Mika Newton were the jury qualifiers, while "Goodbye" performed by Mila Nytych was the public televote qualifier.[16] "Love" performed by Vladislav Levitskiy was selected as a wildcard qualifier and also advanced to the semi-finals.

The fifth heat took place on 28 November 2010 at the Dovzhenko Studios in Kyiv, hosted by Tatyana Goncharova and Timur Miroshnychenko. Six entries competed and the top three entries following the votes from an expert jury advanced to the semi-finals of the competition. The remaining four entries then faced a public televote which determined an additional qualifier held between 28 November and 5 December 2010 with the remaining two entries being eliminated. "Smile" performed by Jamala, "Aces High" performed by Denis Povaliy and "Vsyo resheno" performed by Tetyana Vorzheva were the jury qualifiers, while "Shake Your Body" performed by Pavlo Tabakov was the public televote qualifier.[17]

The first semi-final took place on 5 December 2010 at the Dovzhenko Studios in Kyiv, hosted by Tatyana Goncharova and Timur Miroshnychenko. Eight of the entries that qualified from the heats competed. The top five entries following the votes from an expert jury advanced to the semi-finals of the competition. The remaining three entries then faced a public televote held between 5 and 12 December 2010 which determined an additional two qualifiers with the remaining entry being eliminated. "Yeyo imya" performed by Bahroma, "Hero" performed by Zhemchug, "My Expression" performed by Vitaliy Galay, "The Kukushka" performed by Zlata Ognevich and "Love" performed by Vladislav Levitskiy were the jury qualifiers, while "Sever-Jug" performed by Nek$i and "Vsyo resheno" performed by Tetyana Vorzheva were the public televote qualifiers.

The second semi-final took place on 12 December 2010 at the Dovzhenko Studios in Kyiv, hosted by Tatyana Goncharova and Timur Miroshnychenko. Eight of the entries that qualified from the heats competed. The top five entries following the votes from an expert jury advanced to the semi-finals of the competition. The remaining three entries then faced a public televote held between 12 and 26 December 2010 which determined an additional two qualifiers with the remaining entry being eliminated. "Angel" performed by Mika Newton, "Kamenniy tsvetok" performed by Shanis, "Why Didn't I Say Goodbye?" performed by Alyona Korneeva, "Aces High" performed by Denis Povaliy and "Action" performed by Anastasia Prikhodko were the jury qualifiers, while "Ave Maria" performed by Ivan Berezovskiy and "Superhero (U-la-la)" performed by Zaklyopki were the public televote qualifiers.

The third semi-final took place on 26 December 2010 at the Dovzhenko Studios in Kyiv, hosted by Tatyana Goncharova and Timur Miroshnychenko. Eight of the entries that qualified from the heats competed. The top five entries following the votes from an expert jury advanced to the semi-finals of the competition. The remaining three entries then faced a public televote held between 26 December 2010 and 2 January 2011 which determined an additional two qualifiers with the remaining entry being eliminated. "Allo, allo" performed by A.R.M.I.YA & Vera Varlamova, "Moya nadezhda" performed by El Kravchuk, "Smile" performed by Jamala, "Berega" performed by Eduard Romanyuta and "Infinity" performed by Dasha Medova were the jury qualifiers, while "Goodbye" performed by Mila Nytych and "Myself" performed by Oleksiy Matias were the public televote qualifiers.

The final took place on 26 February 2011 at the Savik Shuster Studio in Kyiv, hosted by Savik Shuster, Gaitana, Irina Rosenfeld, Evgeniya Vlasova, Olesya Batsman, Iryna Zhuravska, Tatyana Goncharova and Timur Miroshnychenko. The twenty-one entries that qualified from the semi-finals were to compete, however 19 entries ultimately competed after "Allo, allo" performed by A.R.M.I.YA & Vera Varlamova and "Sever-Jug" performed by Nek$i were withdrawn from the final. An additional two entries were disqualified during the show: "My Expression" performed by Vitaliy Galay for using pre-recorded backing vocals and "Vsyo resheno" performed by Tanya Vorzheva for having over six performers on stage. The winner, "Angel" performed by Mika Newton, was selected through the combination of votes from a public televote, an internet vote held between 13 and 26 February 2011 and an expert jury.[7][18] Ties were decided in favour of the entries that received higher scores from the jury. The jury panel that voted during the final consisted of Ruslana (singer-songwriter, winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 for Ukraine), Egor Benkendorf (NTU President), Walid Arfush (producer), Hanna Herman (Deputy Head of Presidential Administration), Yan Tabachnyk (composer), Ani Lorak (singer-songwriter, represented Ukraine in 2008), Eduard Klim (producer), Yuriy Rybchynsky (poet) and Alyosha (singer-songwriter, represented Ukraine in 2010).[19] 75,310 votes were registered by the televote during the show and 221,682 votes were registered by the internet vote. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, Nek$i performed as a guest.

Following Mika Newton's victory at the Ukrainian national final, jury member Hanna Herman petitioned for a re-evaluation of the votes due to multiple votes being submitted from a single phone number which caused votes to be miscounted. On 28 February 2011, it was announced that a new final among the top three acts: "Angel" performed by Mika Newton, "The Kukushka" performed by Zlata Ognevich and "Smile" performed by Jamala would take place on 3 March 2011 with the winner being selected exclusively via a public televote. Viewers participating in the public televote would have the opportunity to submit a single vote per phone number for the participating entries via SMS.[20] However on 1 March, Jamala withdrew from the new final claiming that votes would again be rigged.[21] Zlata Ognevich also withdrew on the same day as she was due to take part in another television show the day the final would be held.[22] On 4 March 2011, NTU announced that the new final would be cancelled and "Angel" performed by Mika Newton would remain as the Ukrainian entry for the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest.[23]

Five years later, Jamala would go on to win the Contest for Ukraine while Zlata Ognevich achieved 3rd in 2013.

On 15 March 2011, a revamped version of "Angel" was presented to the public through the release of the official music video, directed by Alexander Ivanenko.[24]