has well and truly got started with an epic parade in Liverpool.
The Blue and Yellow Submarine Parade took over the city, and the unique procession featured a glitterball puffer fish, a drumming octopus, a crew of skating jellyfish, as well as voguing Sea Queens.
Plus of course, a blue and yellow submarine in honour of The Beatles’ hit song and movie Yellow Submarine, as well as the colours of the Ukranian flag.
Reigning champions opened the official Eurovision fan village with a performance of their winning song Stefania.
Additionally, there was a special performance from Welcome to Eurotopia at the ‘Eurovillage’ party – a supergroup made up of Liverpool and Ukrainian musicians.
Kalush Orchestra’s Tymofii Muzychuk spoke at the event about the UK hosting the event on Ukraine’s behalf.
As winners, Ukraine would usually host, but the organisers decided that it was too dangerous to host due to ’s invasion. The UK is stepping in as our entrant Sam Ryder came second.
‘It’s good that it’s being staged in the UK. We see lots of Ukrainian colours, and the main thing is safety,’ he told the .
He hopes that this year’s competition will send a reminder to the world to not forget about Ukraine.
‘The war in Ukraine is continuing. It’s not finished yet and we want to remind people that they shouldn’t lose track of it and it should be in the headlines.’
Tymofii is actually hoping that UK’s entrant Mae Muller takes the win for a special reason: ‘Of course we are sad that it’s not being staged in Ukraine but I hope that the UK entry wins, then we can swap and hold Eurovision in Ukraine.’
The Kalush Orchestra have a busy few upcoming days – they will be performing at London’s Brixton Jamm on Thursday 11 May, and then opening the grand final in Liverpool on Saturday 13 May.
Ahead of performing their song Voices of a New Generation at the Liverpool M&S Bank Arena, the band said: ‘We will perform for everyone in Ukraine to remind us that better days and our country’s victory is ahead, as well as to show the world what Ukraine is fighting for.’
Jake Shears, Fleur East and Jedward will all be performing at the Eurovision village over the coming week.
