What do I think of this?

Ukraine have had a bit of a 'mare this year with their selection. Having had the most complicated selection procedure since the philosphical convention on "with which hand do you wipe your bottom with", they fnally came up with Aloysha and decided very appropriately to film the video in the heart of the Chernobyl disaster area, a place called Prypiat. Initially a bloke (I forget his name) won their TV pre-selection. Then some wheat oligarch decided he didn't like it, so they had another go a week before the EBU deadline. Then it was discovered that the song chosen had been released before and they realised outsiders may consider them corrupt. In the true spirit of friendliness however, they were given a third go at it by the authorities, and came up with "Sweet People", a real dog of a track.
Putting aside the colourful journey to the competition, "Sweet People" is a simple black and white message piece, dealing with the futility of war, or something like that. It's shrill, unecessary, awful, and without one of the best vocals of the year they would have been staring down the double barrel of a semi final exit. Low mid table.

Biography

Alyosha (Olena Kucher) will be Ukraine's participant in this year's Eurovision Song Contest where she will perform Sweet People.
Alyosha (Olena Kucher) was born on May 14th, 1986 in Zaporozhie. Since childhood she demonstrated a love for music: since the 5th form she sang in a school choir and since the age of 15 she attended the Yunost studio .
When she became 18, Alyosha dared for major changes in her life. She moved to Kyiv and got enrolled to the Kyiv National University of Culture and Art, Faculty of Pop Vocal. At the same time she opened her own recording studio together with some friends.
Alyosha is the author of many hits for popular singers. She worked at Fabrika Zvesd (Star Factory) as a vocal teacher, back-vocalist, sound producer, author and composer. She collaborated with Potap & Nastia Kamenskih, Natasha Mogelivskaya, Irina Bilyk, Alina Grosu and Ani Lorak.
In 2008 Alyosha signed a contract with the production center Catapult Music, which gave her life a sudden new swing. Alyosha filmed a clip to the song Sneg - this track was put on hot rotation on all radio channels. The singer's first album (recorded in English) was also released in the USA.