O.Torvald to represent host country Ukraine with rock song ‘Time’
After Ukraine’s win at the Eurovision Song Contest last year with Jamala’s track ‘1944’, the contest will take place in Kiev in May. The host country will be represented by the rock band O.Torvald with the track ‘Time’. The band won the Ukrainian national selection and gained the right to perform on the big stage in their home country. Does Ukraine stand any chance to host the contest two years in a row?

Well never say never, but it seems highly unlikely O.Torvald will pull off another win. Looking at the Bookmakers and other predictions, Ukraine does not really get mentioned, but having said that, they hardly ever end up in the bottom five. ‘Time’ is catchy pop rock with a powerful chorus which definitely will appeal to some and it does help that it is the only track in this genre in the competition. I personally do not really enjoy the raw vocal style of the lead singer and to me the song is not particularly memorable. The staging with the clock counting down is a nice touch, but I would not be surprised if half of Europe already lost interest before that clock marks the end of their 3 minutes of fame.

UPDATE – Review on final performance and result (24th):
Ukraine went from host country to bottom 5 country in one evening. O.Torvald brought the only rock song in the competition, with a decent performance, but nothing about it really stood out. The giant head behind them did not change anything about that. ‘Time’ is not a bad song, but it was clear from the beginning that Ukraine wasn’t willing to host the contest two years in a row. I thought it would end up higher than the 24th position, but a spot within the best 20 would not have been deserved I’d say.

Check all Eurovision 2017 reviews: Albania – Armenia – Australia – Austria – Azerbaijan – Belarus – Belgium – Bulgaria – Croatia – Cyprus – Czech Republic – Denmark – Estonia – Finland – France – FYR Macedonia – Georgia – Germany – Greece – Hungary – Iceland – Ireland – Israel – Italy – Latvia – Lithuania – Malta – Moldova – Montenegro – The Netherlands – Norway – Poland – Portugal – Romania – San Marino – Serbia – Slovenia – Spain – Sweden – Switzerland – Ukraine – United Kingdom