LELÉKA has announced that she will be joined on stage at the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 by a bandura player.
Yaroslav Dzhus will join LELÉKA for her performance of “Ridnym” at the 70th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna. This will be the first time that a bandura performer has performed as part of a competing act at the Eurovision Song Contest. Posting on social media LELÉKA said:
“I want the beauty and uniqueness of Ukrainian culture to shine brightly across the whole world. And that’s exactly why in our performance, you’ll see the talented bandurist Yaroslav Dzhus and the bandura — an instrument whose sound, from the very first notes, brings back the feeling of home.
I’m so happy that our team is part of the moment when the Ukrainian «harp» will be seen by the entire world.
Let’s value ourselves and inspire one another. Sending you all stork-wing hugs”
The Ukrainian performance is being lead by Illia Dutsyk, with Halyna Pekha choreographing the performance. You can find out more about the Ukrainian performance here.
LELÉKA will represent Ukraine at the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 with “Ridnym”. She will perform slot 12 in the second semi-final on May 14.
You can find more about LELÉKA here:
Source: Suspilne
Ukraine first participated in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2003, when Oleksandr Ponomariov performed “Hasta la vista”. The following year, Ruslana brought the country their first win with the song “Wild Dances”. It was a feat that would be replicated in 2016 by Jamala with her song “1944”, which scored 534 points to take victory in Stockholm. In 2017, O.Torvald represented the country on home soil with the song “Time”. The group finished in 24th place, Ukraine’s worst result at the contest to date. Kalush Orchestra gave Ukraine their third victory in 2022 with “Stefania”. Ukraine is one of only two remaining countries with a 100% semi-final qualification record.
