This year's Eurovision in Turin, Italy, does not seem to have any intrigue: representatives of the Kalush Orchestra from Ukraine are firmly in the lead in the predictions of bookmakers to win: the band was given 43% chance of taking the first place. After Ukraine, the second place is given to Italy with 14% and the third - to Sweden with 11%.

Kalush Orchestra will perform in the first semifinal on May 10 at number 6. The song of representatives from Ukraine has already gone viral before the official performance: at first it was dedicated to the mother of the band's frontman, but with the beginning of the war "Stefania" became one of the musical symbols of Ukrainians' sorrow. "Mother" from the song began to be associated with Ukraine itself. The track was added everywhere on social networks, sang, actively listened to on YouTube (already 12 million views on the official channel of artists) and other platforms. Authentic bagpipes and the Ukrainian language of performance, which Europeans have already fallen in love with at Eurovision, have added even more visibility to Ukrainian participants: YouTube's video reactions to the band's performance confirm the bookmakers' bets.

Until recently, it was unknown whether the Kalush Orchestra would be able to perform live in Turin, originally they planned to perform online. However, the band managed not only to get to Italy, but also to organize a promotional tour around Europe and raise funds to help Ukraine. 

During the first rehearsal, the audience noticed changes in the performance: costumes and special effects faded yellow and blue, black and red appeared on the clothes of some musicians. The front man's signature pink panama hat and Hutsul vests of the singers remained unchanged.

The main disgrace - Russia - was removed from participation this year. Russians have even been denied the opportunity to vote for other countries. There are fears that this will not be the only year of Russia's exclusion from the competition - Eurovision 2023 has every chance to take place in Kyiv, where the barbarous neighbors will not be waited for.