Ukraine’s victory on the Eurovision Song Contest introduced nationwide satisfaction, pleasure and inventive status to the nation amid the devastation of battle. Now, it can additionally assist provide drones to the Ukrainian military.
Kalush Orchestra, the Ukrainian band that gained Eurovision after sweeping the phone-in widespread vote, put its trophy and the pink bucket hat worn by its lead singer through the contest up for public sale, and the gadgets netted greater than $1.2 million, the band’s spokeswoman stated in a press release on Monday.
“We believe that this is only the first victory before our biggest victory over the Russian aggressor,” Oleh Psiuk, the band’s lead singer, stated in a Telegram message.
The cash goes to the Serhiy Prytula Charity Foundation, a corporation based by a Ukrainian TV presenter, and can be used to purchase three drones that the military can use for surveillance, stated Maria Pysarenko, a spokeswoman for the muse.
The trophy, a home made glass microphone designed by the Swedish artist Kjell Engman, was auctioned in cryptocurrency, Ms. Pysarenko stated.
WhiteBIT, a cryptocurrency alternate platform initially from Ukraine, secured the trophy on Sunday for $900,000 following competing bids within the final minutes of the public sale from businessmen from Kalush — the Ukrainian metropolis Mr. Psiuk is from — and a charity fund from Washington.
“It’s a big amount, but we understand that the aim is much bigger,” stated Margarita Populan, a spokeswoman at WhiteBIT, including that her firm had labored to present and coordinate assist for Ukraine because the starting of the battle.
The winner of the bucket hat “with the sweat and tears of Oleh,” as Mr. Prytula described it, was chosen at random in a separate raffle, the place every ticket value 200 Ukrainian hryvnia, or lower than $7. More than 30,000 individuals participated, elevating greater than $300,000.
Volodymyr Onyshchuk, a Ukrainian IT engineer residing within the Czech Republic who’s a daily donor to Mr. Prytula’s charity, gained the prize. He stated in a cellphone interview that he had purchased a number of tickets as a result of he thought it was “a cool situation,” including that he deliberate to take a “picture for Facebook” with the hat earlier than donating it to a museum in Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, or in Kalush.
After profitable Eurovision, Kalush Orchestra urged its followers to present assist by donating to assist the Ukrainian military. “Every euro you donate will help save the lives of Ukrainian soldiers!” the band wrote in an Instagram put up selling the public sale.
Eurovision’s guidelines state that it’s a “nonpolitical event,” however the competitors has by no means been actually remoted from world politics.
Kalush Orchestra’s profitable tune, “Stefania,” was written to honor Mr. Psiuk’s mom. While it doesn’t have overtly political lyrics, it has been reinterpreted as a patriotic hymn to Ukraine as a motherland.
After the competition, the band launched a music video for “Stefania” that reveals wrecked buildings and ladies troopers carrying youngsters amid the rubble, in a transparent reference to the battle. It has been seen almost 20 million instances.
“If Stefania is now the anthem of our war,” Mr. Psiuk wrote within the video’s caption, “I would like it to become the anthem of our victory.”
John Ismay contributed reporting.
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