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Ukraine’s victory on the Eurovision Music Contest introduced nationwide satisfaction, pleasure and creative status to the nation amid the devastation of battle. Now, it should additionally assist provide drones to the Ukrainian military.
Kalush Orchestra, the Ukrainian band that gained Eurovision after sweeping the phone-in well-liked vote, put its trophy and the pink bucket hat worn by its lead singer throughout the contest up for public sale, and the objects netted greater than $1.2 million, the band’s spokeswoman mentioned in an announcement on Monday.
“We consider that that is solely the primary victory earlier than our largest victory over the Russian aggressor,” Oleh Psiuk, the band’s lead singer, mentioned in a Telegram message.
The cash goes to the Serhiy Prytula Charity Basis, a corporation based by a Ukrainian TV presenter, and can be used to purchase three drones that the military can use for surveillance, mentioned 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 mentioned.
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 an enormous quantity, however we perceive that the purpose is far greater,” mentioned Margarita Populan, a spokeswoman at WhiteBIT, including that her firm had labored to offer and coordinate assist for Ukraine for the reason that 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. Greater than 30,000 individuals participated, elevating greater than $300,000.
Volodymyr Onyshchuk, a Ukrainian IT engineer dwelling within the Czech Republic who’s a daily donor to Mr. Prytula’s charity, gained the prize. He mentioned in a cellphone interview that he had purchased a number of tickets as a result of he thought it was “a cool scenario,” including that he deliberate to take a “image for Fb” with the hat earlier than donating it to a museum in Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, or in Kalush.
After successful Eurovision, Kalush Orchestra urged its followers to indicate assist by donating to assist the Ukrainian military. “Each euro you donate will assist save the lives of Ukrainian troopers!” the band wrote in an Instagram publish selling the public sale.
Eurovision’s guidelines state that it’s a “nonpolitical occasion,” however the competitors has by no means been really remoted from world politics.
Kalush Orchestra’s successful music, “Stefania,” was written to honor Mr. Psiuk’s mom. Whereas 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 exhibits wrecked buildings and ladies troopers carrying kids amid the rubble, in a transparent reference to the battle. It has been considered almost 20 million occasions.
“If Stefania is now the anthem of our battle,” Mr. Psiuk wrote within the video’s caption, “I would love it to turn out to be the anthem of our victory.”
John Ismay contributed reporting.
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