1+1 media's Big Brave Events team created the opening number of the Eurovision Song Contest Grand Final in Liverpool, featuring Princess Kate Middleton of Wales

In May 2022, for the third time in the history of the competition, Ukraine became the winner. Kalush Orchestra won first place with their song "Stefania", which became a symbol of resistance and the fight for freedom during the full-scale invasion.  According to the rules, the winning country is supposed to host the next contest, but due to the full-scale aggression by Russia that has been going on for more than a year, Eurovision 2023 was held in Liverpool, UK, on behalf of Ukraine. 

"Big Brave Events, namely the Voice of the Country team, was honoured to create the number that opened the Eurovision Grand Final. The number was created in collaboration with world-renowned Eurovision director Tim Van Someren, who worked on the Oscar red carpet, directed the opening of the Olympic Games, the opening ceremony of the 2022 UEFA Champions League final, etc. In the video, last year's Eurovision winners Kalush Orchestra appear in the Kyiv metro, at the iconic Maidan Nezalezhnosti metro station, and turn the place into a concert venue. The shooting took place at night so as not to interfere with the free movement of Ukrainians in Kyiv. The second part of the number was filmed in the UK. 

"The video was shot in Kyiv in early March. In those days, winter returned to the capital and there was a real blizzard, but we needed to create the impression that it was a beautiful spring in Kyiv, and we succeeded. The location for the room was a legendary place for all Ukrainians - Independence Square. This metro station became a shelter for millions of Ukrainians at the beginning of the Russian military aggression. The Banksy mural also became a symbol of invincibility, which symbolises the belief of Ukrainians in victory," says Volodymyr Zavadiuk, producer of Big Brave Events.

The opening number featured an animation of Maria Prymachenko's 1982 painting "A Dove Spreads Her Wings, Wants Peace on Earth". The producer added that this work brought together two legendary artists to show that Ukraine is not giving up and is rapidly moving towards victory. 

"In this work, we have brought together two artists who lived and live in different eras - street style artist Banksy and the symbol of Ukrainian art Maria Prymachenko. Each of them is associated with courage and a special handwriting of their country. Through Banksy we wanted to show the sad truth of military Kyiv, and through Maria Prymachenko we wanted to show faith in Ukraine's victory over the occupiers," says Big Brave Events producer Volodymyr Zavadiuk. 

It was also a surprise for Ukrainians that Princess Kate Middleton of Wales appeared in the show. The future queen played a fragment of Stefania's song on the piano in the crimson living room of Windsor Castle. The princess wore a luxurious blue dress by Jenny Packham. She complemented her look with earrings from the collection of Queen Elizabeth II.

Director Tim Van Someren says that the idea behind the number is to unite artists from different countries through the power of music, as the band was joined by British soul superstar Joss Stone and London-based composer Andrew Lloyd Webber.

"The idea for this number was created to showcase this year's Eurovision slogan 'United by Music'. I imagined the 2022 winners Kalush Orchestra performing on Maidan Nezalezhnosti in Kyiv, and their performance has such incredible energy that musicians and artists in the UK join in, even if they are thousands of miles away. We created a collaboration where all the performers were literally united by music. Since the idea required filming the Kalush Orchestra's performance in Ukraine, we asked 1+1 Media to provide production services," says Eurovision director Tim Van Someren. 

The opening number showed many different locations in Liverpool - from the iconic Liver Building to the most famous recording studios. 

"Of course, we had to show the city where the Eurovision Song Contest was held - Liverpool - so we invited one of the British artists to the roof of the iconic Liver Building to present his unforgettable guitar solo. We filmed other artists in places that were familiar to them. We didn't want the work to be too staged, because we wanted the artist to feel as if they were at that location when they were inspired to join Kalush Orchestra. One artist was on a rooftop near her home, another in a famous recording studio near her base, and the dance group performed in the beautiful Battersea Arts Centre exhibition space," says the director. 

Tim says that he was very inspired by Ukrainian culture, so he dreams of coming back after Ukraine's victory and meeting everyone who worked on the production.

"I have made a lot of friends from the incredible 1+1 Media team while filming this work. I really wish I had been able to go to Ukraine to shoot in Kyiv, so I hope that soon Ukraine will have peace and I will be able to go there and meet all the wonderful people who helped create this opening number," says Tim. 

You can watch the opening number here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8QtKIMOM3k 

As a reminder, the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 was Loreen from Sweden. Ukraine was represented this year by Tvorchi, who took sixth place. 

Showrunner - Vladimir Zavadyuk
Executive producer - Victoria Zagura 
Director - Lesia Podolianko 
Cameraman - Yevhen Usanov
Star producer - Anastasia Spyridenko 
Choreographer - Gordienko Konstantin
Gaffer - Kutnyk Yaroslav 
Steadicam operator - Salo Maxim 
Focus-puller - Andriy Suhenkyi
Chief stylist - Olga Slon
Casting director - Kateryna Shishkina
Casting manager - Marina Zakharchenko
Post-production producer - Gennadiy Aksyutenko