Solovey (Go A song)

"Solovey"
Single by Go_A
LanguageUkrainian
English title"Nightingale"
Released4 February 2020 (2020-02-04)
GenreFolktronica
Length2:55
Composer(s)
Lyricist(s)Kateryna Pavlenko
Go_A singles chronology
"Рано-Раненько"
(2019) 		"Solovey"
(2020) 		"Shum"
(2021)
Ukraine "Solovey"
Eurovision Song Contest 2020 entry
Country
Finals performance
Semi-final result
Contest cancelled
Appearance chronology
◄ "Siren Song" (2019)   
"Shum" (2021) ►

"Solovey" (Ukrainian: Соловей, transl. "Nightingale") is a 2020 song by Ukrainian folktronica group Go_A. The song had to represent Ukraine in Eurovision Song Contest 2020, but the competition was stopped by the COVID-19 pandemic.[1]

Background

[change | change source]

The musical genre of the song is folktronica, a mix between electronic dance music and folk.[2][3]

The song lyrics are about a girl, Katrusia (nickname for "Kateryna"), that lives in the Ukrainian countryside. She falls in love with a boy, Vaniusha (nickname for "Ivan"), but the mother does not approve it. The girl meets him at night and she asks a nightingale not to sing early, because the bird may wake up other people. Katrusia knows that their love is not possible and tries to forget him.[2][3]

The story is based on the singer Kateryna Pavlenko's personal story.[2][3]

The lyrics, all in the Ukrainian language, are in an iambic pentameter verse, the main metre in Slavic folk poetry and drama.[2]

Eurovision Song Contest

[change | change source]
See the main article: Eurovision Song Contest 2020

On 22 February 2020, "Solovey" won Vidbir 2020 with 12 points, the highest number of points in Vidbir.[4] The winner song of that competition becomes the representative Ukrainian song for Eurovision Song Contest. However, on 18 March 2020, Eurovision was stopped before it started because of the COVID-19 pandemic.[1] Go_A then went to Eurovision Song Contest 2021 with "Shum".[5]

"Solovey" is the first song in the history of the Eurovision Song Contest to be fully in the Ukrainian language.[3]

References

[change | change source]
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Eurovision 2020 in Rotterdam is cancelled". Eurovision.tv. 18 March 2020. Archived from the original on 16 May 2024. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Ten Veen, Renske (15 April 2020). "Go_A's "Solovey" lyrics describe a love story in the Ukrainian countryside". Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "2020 participants: Go_A". Eurovision.tv. Archived from the original on 10 March 2024. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
  4. ↑ "Go_A will represent Ukraine in Rotterdam". Eurovision.tv. 22 February 2020. Archived from the original on 1 June 2023. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
  5. ↑ "2021 participants: Go_A". Eurovision.tv. Archived from the original on 9 June 2024. Retrieved 9 June 2024.