Eurovision 2026: Director LELÉKA has accused the organisers of the performance’s failure
This was discussed in an interview with Dutsyk on the YouTube channel ‘Good afternoon, studio!’. LELÉKA represented Ukraine at Eurovision 2026 with the song ‘Ridnym’.
According to the director, the team had provided the organisers with a detailed production plan in advance. This set out camera movements, editing transitions, lighting, the use of lasers and other stage elements.
Problems became apparent even before the Ukrainian delegation arrived. After the first rehearsal with the extras, the team realised that the camera movements and editing did not match the agreed plan. At first, the Ukrainians were assured that this was a normal situation and that all the shortcomings would be rectified.
Instead of 27 shots, they ended up with around 60
The directors had planned to structure the performance around 27 shots to ensure smooth transitions and that the narrative was perceived as a cohesive whole. According to Dutsyk, the organisers made around 60 cuts.
As a result, the performance looked considerably more dynamic and chaotic than the Ukrainian team had intended.
Furthermore, only two lasers were set up on stage instead of the agreed number. One of them was supposed to create a graphic line that visually ‘cut’ the performer in half and became part of her interaction with the stage. During the rehearsal, this element did not work properly.
“Absolutely nothing is right. The lighting’s wrong. Why is it orange? It should be closer to red. The laser isn’t working; the laser’s intensity is wrong. The first rehearsal is simply a disaster,” said the director.
LELÉKA was covered by a 1.5-kilogram piece of fabric
One of the central elements of the production was to be large pieces of fabric that would billow in the air currents. Initially, the necessary pieces of fabric were not on stage at all.
When the fabric was finally added, the technical team switched on the blowers incorrectly. As a result, LELÉKA was covered by a piece of fabric weighing about one and a half kilograms.
Dutsyk noted that after the first run-through, the Ukrainian delegation spent about an hour explaining to the organisers exactly what changes needed to be made. However, by the time of the subsequent rehearsals, only about half of the suggested changes had been implemented, whilst some of the key elements remained faulty or were not working properly.
The Ukrainians were unable to bring their own specialists
The Ukrainian delegation was unable to set up the equipment themselves, as the contest rules prohibited them from bringing their own technical team to work on the stage systems.
According to the director, the person in charge of the lighting admitted that they did not know anything about lasers. There was no specialist on site who could have set up this element properly.
“The day before the semi-final, my expectations dropped from ‘doing a really good job’ to ‘doing an okay job so as not to be embarrassed’,” said Dutsyk.
Could Ukraine’s performance have been deliberately sabotaged?
The director suggested that the organisers might not have taken the performance seriously enough because of its serious subject matter. In his view, there is a prevailing preference at the contest for light-hearted and entertaining acts.
Dutsyk also stated that the Ukrainian delegation may have caused discontent due to its constant desire to speak out about Russia’s war against Ukraine.
At the same time, the director emphasised that he had no evidence of deliberate sabotage. He does not believe that the organisers deliberately set out to sabotage the performance, but does not rule out that the personal attitudes of individual team members may have affected the quality of the work.
The Eurovision organisers have not publicly responded to Dutsyk’s statements.
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