"Heart of Steel" is a song by Ukrainian electronic duo
Tvorchi
Tvorchi (stylised in all caps; from , ) are a Ukrainian electronic music duo from Ternopil, formed in 2018 by producer ( uk, Андрій Гуцуляк, links=no; born 21 February 1996) and vocalist (alias Jeffery Kenny; born 30 September 1 ...
. The song
represented Ukraine in the
Eurovision Song Contest 2023
The Eurovision Song Contest 2023 is the upcoming 67th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It is set to take place in Liverpool, United Kingdom, after , winner of the with the song "Stefania" by Kalush Orchestra, was unable to meet the demand ...
after winning ''Vidbir 2023'', Ukraine's national selection.
Background and composition
According to the duo, the song warns about the dangers of
nuclear warfare
Nuclear warfare, also known as atomic warfare, is a theoretical military conflict or prepared political strategy that deploys nuclear weaponry. Nuclear weapons are weapons of mass destruction; in contrast to conventional warfare, nuclear ...
. In an interview, the duo alluded to the purpose of the
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...
's creation as one of the inspirations for the song, saying that "we looked into the past of this contest.
he Eurovision Song Contestwas created after the
Second World War to unite Europe. Today, while some are
playing with nuclear threats, our people with steel hearts are protecting all of Europe."
The song has a message of not giving up in the face of adversity, with a powerful beginning to symbolize the message. In the official music video for the song, a portal between reality and an
afterlife
The afterlife (also referred to as life after death) is a purported existence in which the essential part of an individual's identity or their stream of consciousness continues to live after the death of their physical body. The surviving ess ...
is prominently featured, with the band saying that humanity chooses what awaits them for the future.
Production
Tvorchi member Andrii Hutsuliak started writing "Heart of Steel" in 2022, during the
siege of Mariupol. After watching videos of the Ukrainian army defending the
Azovstal Iron and Steel Works, he was inspired to write a song based on the determination of not giving up the area.
Eurovision Song Contest
''Vidbir 2023''
''2023'' was the seventh edition of , the competition that determines the Ukrainian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest. The competition took place in the
Maidan Nezalezhnosti metro station in
Kyiv, and consisted of a final on 17 December 2022.
Ten entries competed and the winner was selected through the combination of votes from a public televote and an expert jury. Ties would be decided in favour of the entries that received higher scores from the public televote.
At ''Vidbir'', the song performed last out of the ten competing songs. Both members were dressed in costumes similar to
hazmat suits, with Hutsuliak wearing a black suit and Kehinde wearing a yellow suit. A video screen behind them showed the dangers of nuclear warfare, and two background dancers also appeared, both wearing gas masks.
At Eurovision
According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "
Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. As the winning country of the , Ukraine automatically qualified for the final.
Tvorchi performed in position 19 and came in 6th place, with 243 points.
Charts
Monthly charts
Year-end charts
References
{{Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest
2022 songs
2022 singles
Eurovision songs of Ukraine
Eurovision songs of 2023
English-language Ukrainian songs
Songs about nuclear war and weapons
Songs about the Russian invasion of Ukraine