Hard to believe it, but by the time the weekend wraps up, we’ll have our first song for the Eurovision 2014 roster.  While we’ve already heard artist announcements from San Marino, Austria, Macedonia, Montenegro, and the Netherlands, Ukraine will present the first National Final of the year at 11:15am CET this Saturday on NTU.  (So, that’s 10:15am GMT, and 4:15am here in Minnesota.  I’ll put on the coffee.)  Coming on the heels of a silver at Junior (hosted in Kiev) and a bronze in Malmö, will the country’s next representative keep the hot streak going?

This year’s participants are (with previews, if available):

• Anatoly Shparev – “Waiting for You”
• Anna Hodorovska – “Yesli yest lyubov” (“If There is Love”)
• Anna-Maria – “5 Stars Hotel“
• Denis Lyubimov – “Love“
• Evgeny Litvinkovich – “Strelyanaya ptitsa” (“Wounded Bird”)
• Illaria – “I’m Alive“
• Lissa Wassabi – “No Fear”
• Marietta – “It’s My Life“
• Mariya Yaremchuk – “Tick Tock“
• Nataliya Valevska – “Love Makes You Beautiful“
• neAngely – “Courageous“
• Roman Polonsky – “Wanted Dead Or Alive“
• Shanis – “Moya dusha” (“My Soul”)
• Stas Shurins – “Why“
• Tania BerQ – “Believe Me“
• Tatiana Shirko – “Let Go“
• Uli Rud – “Tsvetok” (“Flower”)
• Viktor Romanchenko – “Na krayu propasti” (“At the Edge of the Abyss”)
• Viktoria Petryk – “Love Is Lord“
• Volodimir Tkachenko – “Byti tam, de ti” (“To Be Where You Are”)

There are a few somewhat familiar names on the list of this weekend’s competitors. Marietta and Mariya Yaremchuk both took part in last year’s National Final, coming in 15th and 5th, respectively.  Evgeny Litvinkovich, Volodymyr Tkachenko, and Viktor Romanchenko all took part on the Ukrainian version of “The X Factor”.  Stas Shurins won the third season of “Fabrika Zirok”, the local version of “Star Academy”, as well as the local edition of “Strictly Come Dancing”.  Most notably to Eurovision fans, however, is likely young Viktoria Petryk, who represented her homeland at age 11 in Junior Eurovision 2008, coming in second place with “Matrosy (Sailors)“.  (Her younger sister, Anastasiya, bested her record, winning JESC in 2012 with “Nebo“.)

Who will succeed the lovely Zlata Ognevich in Copenhagen, and will he, she, or they do as well as their predecessor?  (Insert obligatory joke about last year’s presentation leaving large shoes to fill…)