Crimean Tatar singer Susana Jamaladinova (2nd L), known as Jamala, and Ukrainian singer Ruslana Lyzhychko (2nd R) attend the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 semi-final draw in Kyiv, Ukraine on January 31, 2017. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich /File Photo

LVIV, Ukraine, March 14 (Reuters) – Topping the Eurovision Song Contest is a dream for many international musical groups, but for Ukraine’s Kalush Orchestra, the glitz of the song contest still seems a long way off.

Operating from western Ukraine, singer Oleh Psiuk left the stage to lead a group of 20 volunteers, providing medicine and helping people flee war. One of his band members serves in the home defense unit.

On Monday, betting aggregation site Oddschecker placed the band among the favorites to win this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, but Psiuk isn’t ready to celebrate.

“I can’t enjoy it as long as I’m worried about my loved ones. The war separated me and my girlfriend. She’s 300 km (186 miles) from me. We can’t meet because it’s is very dangerous,” he told Reuters.

“She’s been sitting in a bunker while I’m here and the air raid sirens are constantly on.”

He said his girlfriend was making Molotov cocktails as part of the defense effort.

The band members are rehearsing separately, but plan to meet soon in Lviv to practice their entry “Stefania,” which Psiuk said had become an anthem for Ukrainians during the war.

“No matter under what circumstances we will go to Eurovision, I will try to be useful to Ukraine. Even if the (war) is over in the near future, it will not be easy anyway because we will need a lot of it is time to rebuild. The country is in ruins,” he said.

The Eurovision final, one of the biggest TV events in the world, takes place in Turin, Italy on May 14.

If Kalush Orchestra wins, Ukraine will win the right to host the 2023 contest. The country won Eurovision in 2016, when Crimean Tatar Susana Jamaladinova from Ukraine, known as Jamala, triumphed with a song about former Soviet leader Joseph Stalin’s deportation of hundreds of thousands of people from his Black Sea homeland, two years after Russia annexed the territory.

The following year, the host Ukraine banned Russia from participating. Russia was also banned from the 2022 contest, after Ukraine and European public broadcasters called for their expulsion.

Tensions with Russia had cast a shadow over Ukraine’s entry into 2022 even before Moscow launched what it describes as a “special operation” to demilitarize its neighbor. Kalush Orchestra replaced original act from Ukraine, Alina Pash, after a row over her visit to Crimea in 2015.

For Psiuk, the notoriety of Kalush Orchestra at Eurovision is an opportunity to raise awareness.

“If you think it won’t happen to your country, there’s no guarantee for it. We also thought it wouldn’t happen to us. That’s why let’s stop this as soon as possible,” he said. he declares.

“We want peace to finally come to Ukraine.”

Reporting by Margaryta Chornokondratenko; Additional reporting by Tara Oakes; Written by Tara Oakes, edited by Ed Osmond

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