Heart of Steel (Tvorchi song) explained

Heart of Steel
Cover:Heart_of_Steel_(Tvorchi_song).jpeg
Alt:The official cover for "Heart of Steel"
Border:yes
Type:single
Artist:Tvorchi
Ep:Heart of Steel
Language:English, Ukrainian
Released:1 December 2022
Length:2:36
Label:Best Music
Prev Title:Вимкни телефон
Prev Year:2022
Misc:
Embed:yes
Song: "Heart of Steel"
Year:2023
Country:Ukraine
Artist:Tvorchi
Languages:English, Ukrainian
Place:6th
Points:243
Prev:Stefania
Prev Year:2022
Prev Link:Stefania (song)
Next:Teresa & Maria
Next Year:2024
Next Link:Teresa & Maria

"Heart of Steel" is a song by Ukrainian electronic duo Tvorchi. The song represented Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 after winning Vidbir 2023, Ukraine's national selection.[1] [2]

Background and composition

According to the duo, the song warns about the dangers of nuclear warfare. In an interview, the duo alluded to the purpose of the Eurovision Song Contest's creation as one of the inspirations for the song, saying that "we looked into the past of this contest. [The Eurovision Song Contest] was 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."[3] 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 is prominently featured, with the band saying that humanity chooses what awaits them for the future.[4]

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.[5]

Eurovision Song Contest

See main article: Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023.

Vidbir 2023

Ukrainian: Vidbir 2023 was the seventh edition of Ukrainian: [[Vidbir]], 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.[6] [7] 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.[8] Tvorchi performed in position 19 and came in 6th place, with 243 points.

Charts

Chart (2023)! scope="col"
Peak
position
CIS (TopHit)[9] 171
Greece International (IFPI)[10] 84
Iceland (Plötutíðindi)[11] 10
Lithuania (AGATA)[12] 12
Poland (Polish Streaming Top 100)[13] 97
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[14] 65

Monthly charts

Chart (2023)! scope="col"
Peak
position
Ukraine Airplay (TopHit)[15] 7

Year-end charts

Chart (2023)! scope="col"
Position
Ukraine Airplay (TopHit)[16] 39

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 17 December 2022 . Ukraine: TVORCHI wins Vidbir with Heart Of Steel . 17 December 2022 . . en.
  2. Web site: 17 December 2022 . Переможцем нацвідбору на «Євробачення-2023» став гурт Tvorchi з піснею «Heart of Steel» . 17 December 2022 . STV . uk.
  3. Web site: Sulima . Valery . 17 December 2022 . "Євробачення-2023": TVORCHI здивували своїм номером у фіналі нацвідбору . 17 December 2022 . ТСН . uk.
  4. Web site: 10 December 2022 . TVORCHI – Heart of Steel: прем'єра потужного треку до Нацвідбору на «Євробачення 2023» . 17 December 2022 . Novy.
  5. Web site: Zuyeva . Karina . 17 December 2022 . Tvorchi: Хочемо показати на Євробаченні прогресивну електронну українську музику . 17 December 2022 . Fakty TVN.
  6. News: Kotubei . Olesia . 2022-12-16 . Нацвідбір на Євробачення-2023: де дивитися і слухати . uk-UA . suspilne.media . 2022-12-16.
  7. Web site: Gannon . Rory . 2022-10-05 . Vidbir 2023 to take place on December 17th . 2022-10-13 . That Eurovision Site . en-GB.
  8. 25 July 2022 . EBU, UA:PBC and BBC agree to host 2023 Eurovision Song Contest in the United Kingdom . 25 July 2022 . Eurovision.tv . EBU . en . https://web.archive.org/web/20220725131354/https://eurovision.tv/mediacentre/release/ebu-uapbc-and-bbc-agree-host-2023-eurovision-song-contest-united-kingdom . 25 July 2022 . live.
  9. Web site: Heart of Steel – Tvorchi. TopHit. 17 May 2023.
  10. Web site: IFPI Charts . ifpi.gr . 24 May 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230525081000/https://ifpi.gr/digital_iel.html. 25 May 2023.
  11. Web site: Tónlistinn – Lög. The Music – Songs. is. Plötutíðindi. 21 May 2023.
  12. Web site: 2023 20-os savaitės klausomiausi (Top 100). AGATA. lt. 19 May 2023. 19 May 2023.
  13. Web site: OLiS – oficjalna lista sprzedaży – single w streamie. OLiS. pl. 26 May 2023. Select week 12.05.2023–18.05.2023..
  14. Web site: Veckolista Singlar, vecka 20. Sverigetopplistan. 19 May 2023.
  15. Web site: Top Radio Hits Ukraine Monthly Chart March 2023. TopHit. 1 April 2023. 22 May 2023. 9 May 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230509192314/https://tophit.com/chart/top/radio/hits/ukraine/monthly/2023-04-01. dead.
  16. Web site: Top Radio Hits Ukraine Chart 2023. TopHit. 1 January 2024. 1 January 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240101000418/https://tophit.com/chart/top/radio/hits/ukraine/annual/2023-01-01. dead.