Stefania (song)
"Stefania" (, ) is a 2022 song by Ukrainian folk-rap group Kalush Orchestra, co-written by all group members alongside Ivan Klymenko and was released through Sony Music Entertainment. The song represented Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin, Italy, which it won. "Stefania" has been described as an alternative hip hop and folk song. It is the third song sung entirely in Ukrainian to represent Ukraine at Eurovision, but the second to compete at the contest following the cancellation of Eurovision 2020. The song won the contest with 631 points, becoming the first rap song and the first song sung entirely in Ukrainian to win. "Stefania" charted in twenty-two music markets, topping the charts in Ukraine and Lithuania, while also reaching the top ten within Finland, Croatia, Iceland, Hungary and Sweden. Background and composition "Stefania" has been described as an ode to a mother, with the narrator speaking of good memories of his own mother. The song initially talks about how much his mother has aged, invoking a nostalgic past. The song later addresses the hardships of a mother, with the narrator realizing how much the mother has done for him. A "lullaby", within the end of each rap verse, brings the narrator back to when his mother took care of him. The song is dedicated to frontman Oleh Psiuk's mother, who is also named Stefania. Two days after Kalush Orchestra was chosen to represent Ukraine in Eurovision, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and "Stefania" subsequently became a popular wartime soundtrack on social media. Two traditional Ukrainian woodwind instruments are featured in the song: the sopilka and the telenka. Music video On 10 March 2022, the video of the performance of "Stefania" from was posted on the Eurovision YouTube channel. The music video for the song, directed by Max Ksjonda, was released on 15 May, shortly after the song won Eurovision. The video was filmed in April in the cities of Bucha, Irpin, Borodianka, and Hostomel, all of which had been attacked during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The video depicts military women in destroyed cities taking numerous children away from burning and bombed-out buildings, and returning them to their mothers. Eurovision Song Contest Vidbir 2022 "Stefania" was an entry in , a televised music competition used to determine Ukraine's entrant for the Eurovision Song Contest 2022. The selection of the competing entries for took place over three stages. In the first stage, artists and songwriters had the opportunity to apply for the competition through an online submission form. Twenty-seven acts were longlisted and announced on 17 January 2022. The second stage was a scheduled audition at designated dates and featured the twenty-seven acts in the longlist. Eight acts were selected to advance, which were announced on 24 January 2022. The third stage was the final, which took place on 12 February 2022 and featured the eight acts vying to represent Ukraine in Turin. The winner was selected via a 50/50 combination of votes from a