Kalush Orchestra will represent Ukraine at the Eurovision Song Contest in Turin this week as the Russian invasion of their home nation continues.
They are favourites to win the competition with their song Stefania, despite not being the first choice to perform.
The group will take to the stage in the first semi-final on Tuesday, beginning at 8:00pm on RTÉ One and the RTÉ Player.
Irish Eurovision hopeful Brooke Scullion will compete in the second semi-final on Thursday for a place in Saturday's grand final.
Alina Pash was originally chosen to represent Ukraine through a televised national selection show and was due to sing her song, Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors.
However, she withdrew after facing scrutiny over a reported 2015 visit to Russia-occupied Crimea.
She was replaced by hip-hop act Kalush Orchestra, whose song blends modern rap and classical Ukrainian folk music.
Formed in 2019, the group consists of founder and rapper Oleh Psiuk, multi-instrumentalist Ihor Didenchuk, and dancer Vlad Kurochka.
The lyrics to Stefania are an ode to mothers and the trials they face raising families, and the band's live performance features synchronised dance moves, breakdance, and flutes.
Russia was banned from the 2022 event following its invasion of Ukraine in February, before it had announced its act.
It won in 2008 with Dima Bilan singing Believe, and in turn hosted the 2009 contest in Moscow.
Tensions between Russia and Ukraine played out around the event in 2017 when Julia Samoylova was chosen to represent Russia at the contest, which that year took place in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv.
She was blocked from the country because she had reportedly toured Crimea without entering it through the border with Ukraine.
Russian television station Channel One then announced that it would not broadcast the contest or take part.
Source: Press Association
