EUROVISION singer Danylo Leshchynskyi sparked concern as he looked dazed and unwell after intense backlash to his song.
Ziferblat bandmember Danylo Leshchynskyi, 29, remained motionless as his bandmates leapt with joy upon learning they had secured a place in Saturday night’s final.
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During Tuesday night’s first semi-final, the Ukrainian musician stood still, staring blankly ahead before slowly approaching the camera and peering into the lens.
The group have faced a wave of criticism over their entry, Teresa & Maria, which fans have called chaotic, unpolished, and out of touch with Ukraine’s usual strong Eurovision form.
Others have criticised the styling and staging as confusing, with social media users saying the performance lacked cohesion.
Tonight’s second semi-final will see 16 acts take to the stage at Eurovision, which is being held this year in Basel, Switzerland.
Once they have all performed, votes will be thrown open and 10 will be picked to go through to Saturday night’s Grand Final 2025.
The UK is one of ‘the big five’ that has already made it through.
Danylo’s somber appearance wasn’t the only hiccup during Tuesday’s broadcast.
Viewers were left puzzled when a camera appeared to crash mid-performance during Switzerland’s slot.
Swiss artist Zoë Më delivered a hauntingly beautiful performance of Voyage, featuring an artistic single-camera shot throughout.
The 24-year-old, seated as she sang, used armography to express emotion.
However, as she reached the bridge, the camera swung around her side and seemed to drop away unexpectedly.
It quickly returned to her face as she stood for the dramatic climax, singing: “Faire un, faire un voyage, Faire un, faire un voyage, Faire un, faire un voyage, Avec moi.”
The broadcast then showed several freeze frames before cutting to a front-facing shot that spun to reveal Zoë from behind, singing to the audience illuminated by phone lights.
The camerawork left many viewers confused, as the maneuver appeared unplanned. Instructions to the audience to “Please turn on your phone light now” briefly appeared on the stage archway.
Commentator Rylan Clark addressed the glitch, saying: “Gorgeous song from Zoë – she’s like a young Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games. There were a couple of little tech problems with that one single-shot camera.”
Despite Rylan’s attempt to downplay the issue, Eurovision fans took to X, formerly Twitter, demanding “justice” for Zoë.
One wrote: “Oh no Switzerland staging is really cool but they had some problems with the cameras,” along with a crying emoji.
A second suggested: “JUSTICE FOR ZOE ME AND KALEEN ROBBED DIVAS WITH THE CAMERAS.”
“The cameras breaking???”, enquired a third user.
While someone else excitedly posted. “THE CAMERAS CRASHED.”
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Another joked: “Not the Swiss delegation’s Head of Finance unplugging all the cameras at the end of Zoe’s performance.”
And a sixth fan added: “Oh no. It went a bit wrong with the cameras there.”
Fortunately, the issue won’t affect Zoë’s chances, as Switzerland has already qualified for the final.
From Tuesday’s semi-final, ten acts advanced to the final: Albania, Estonia, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, San Marino, favourites Sweden and Ukraine.
Five acts were eliminated: Azerbaijan, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, and Slovenia.
The second Eurovision semi-final airs on BBC One this Thursday at 8pm.
Alongside the 16 competing acts, the UK’s entry, Remember Monday, will perform their song What The Hell Just Happened.
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