Ukraine are a mixed bag when it comes to Junior Eurovision, with a few top results including their win back in 2012, but on the flip side, a whole bunch of fairly average results. Coming off an undeserved 14th place in 2016, Ukraine is hoping to improve things and return to a top position, and the lucky act to represent the nation is Anastasiya Baginska with the song Don’t Stop. The last time an Anastasiya represented Ukraine was 2012, when Ukraine won the contest, so could we be seeing another winning Anastasiya?
Unfortunately, I don’t know if this song will be enough to bring Ukraine back to the top spot. Admittedly, this is one of the songs that I’ve listened to the least out of the 2017 songs, so perhaps it will grow on me as I listen to it more, but right now, I find it to be a bit underwhelming. I don’t think it’s a bad song by any means, and there are some really redeeming features of the song. Usually I’m one to criticise the additions of English to a song, but in this case it really adds something to the song and it really shows off her wonderful voice. That’s one thing I can’t criticise, and that’s her voice. If she pulls off all the big notes on stage, this could climb up the results table.
Despite that, I still think this falls just short. At first, I didn’t love the 2016 entry, but after the contest it grew on me incredibly, but the differences between the two entries is that the 2016 entry had more of a cultural flair than the entry from this year. I think they’ll need to improve on staging from the national final, as it’s a bit forgettable, but knowing Ukraine, they’ll bring an irrelevant prop like a giant umbrella…
Overall, I find this song to be a bit average. I can see the appeal, and there are certainly some redeeming features of the song, but overall I find it to be lost in the crowd. Again, this is one of those songs that perhaps it’s just me who doesn’t enjoy it as much, and it could by any means reach the Top 5 or win the contest, I just personally don’t know if it can do that considering a handful of the entries I feel are significantly strong. This is one of those songs that only time will tell how successful it will be.
I’m going to give it a 5/10.
If you want to check out all the previous entries from Ukraine at Junior Eurovision, make sure to check out our Junior Best of the Bunch: Ukraine!
