Countdown to Eurovision 2017 - Ukraine's first time hosting Eurovision 2005

Ukraine’s entry for 2005, the year they first hosted Eurovision, was Razom nas Bahato by GreenJolly.

Razom nas bahato, nas ne podolaty (Разонм нас багато, нас не подолати) was the unofficial anthem of the Orange Revolution, which in late 2004 swept out (temporarily as it turned out) the corrupt election-rigging regime of Victor Yanukhovych, and swept into power the infamously poisoned Victor Yushchenko along with his soon-to-be nemesis, the glamorous and aggressive Yulia Tymoshenko.

Tensions ran high on May 21st, 2005, when Kyiv hosted the event on the 50th anniversary of the Eurovision Song Contest.

Ukrainian TV had decided that the motto for the 2005 contest would be Awakening, reflecting on the country's dramatic political shifts the year before.

Eurovision organizers insisted that the performer, the Ukrainian hip-hop band Greenjolly, remove political elements from the lyrics, in particular Yushchenko’s name.

Greenjolly complied, garnering Ukraine its lowest ranking to date, but still a reasonably respectable #19. It was Ukraine’s lowest score for any Eurovision entry.

Here is Greenjolly with Razom Nas Bahato ... the Eurovision version, and the original version.

To hear about all of Ukraine's top ten place finishes in Eurovision, check out the podcast of the April 29th, 2017 Vancouver edition of Nash Holos Ukrainian Roots Radio here.