According to Natalia Franchuk, the head of the National selection for «Eurovision» (STB TV channel), Konstantin Meladze, the music producer of the two previous National selections, plans to seriously engage in his own projects, which will prevent him from fully focusing on the selection of a representative from Ukraine.
This season, the functions of the music producer and judges will be divided; Ruslan Kvinta will only be responsible for the composition of the semi-finalists and, if necessary, will assist the artists with arrangements and reworkings of the songs.
- We consciously took this step so that in the semi-finals of the National selection all the jury members had a fresh look at the participants, and they evaluated the competition songs, so to speak, «from scratch». Applications from artists will be accepted through a form on the STB website, from where it will immediately go to the music producer; there will be no online voting this year, - adds Natalia Franchuk.
The live broadcasts of the National selection-2018 will take place in February simultaneously on STB and UA:FIRST TV channels. 2 semi-finals (February 10 and 17) and the final (February 24) are planned, during which the name of the representative from Ukraine will be determined.
The 63rd «Eurovision» contest will take place on May 8, 10 and 12, 2018 in Lisbon (Portugal).
You can find the rules of participation in the National selection on the websites of STB and UA:FIRST.