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Their entry "Stefania", sung in Ukrainian,
fuses rap with traditional folk music and is a tribute to
frontman Oleh Psiuk's mother.
The bookmakers have made it the clear favourite for the annual
contest, which normally draws a television audience of close to
200 million, based on the plight of Ukraine following Russia's
invasion in February.
"Any victory in any aspect is very important for Ukraine these
days, so winning the Eurovision Song Contest of course would
lift the spirits of so many Ukrainians while we don't have much
good news these days," Psiuk told Reuters in an interview on
Thursday.
The band takes its name from the Western Ukrainian city of
Kalush. It finished second in the country's national song
contest but replaced winner Alina Pash after controversy over a
visit she made to Crimea in 2015, a year after it was annexed by
Russia.
"We are here to showcase Ukrainian culture because attempts are
being made these days to kill Ukrainian culture, and we want to
show that Ukrainian culture is alive, it's unique, and it has
its own beautiful signature," Psiuk added.
One of the regular band members has stayed behind in Ukraine to
help defend Kyiv, according to Psiuk, who added that he planed
to return home after Eurovision and resume work with a volunteer
group trying to find accommodation and medicine for his
compatriots.
"Even here, outside Ukraine, we are worried about our family
members that stay there, and you wake up every morning without
being sure whether everyone you love is still alive and where
another missile could hit," he added.
Russia, which says it is conducting a "special military
operation" in Ukraine, has been excluded from the contest this
year.
Italy is hosting after winning last year with Maneskin's rocky "Zitti
e Buoni" (Shut Up and Behave).
The contest is decided by a combination of votes by the official
jury and viewers from participating nations.
Eurovision fans, converging on Turin for an event that combines
glitz, energy and a fair dollop of eccentricity, welcome the
chance to let their hair down.
"Eurovision is like a bridge to that normal life we had before
the war started," Vitalii Lirnyk, a member of the official
Ukrainian Eurovision fan club, said in Turin.
"And maybe, for like a couple of minutes, for an hour a day, we
can just feel safe and normal," added Lirnyk, who has lived in
the United States for the past few years.
(Reporting by Tara Oakes and Cristiano Corvino in Turin; Writing
by Keith Weir; Editing by Janet Lawrence and Alex Richardson)
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