performed by Svetlana Loboda was selected as the winner following the combination of votes from a seven-member jury panel and a public televote.

Ukraine's least successful result had been 19th place, which they achieved during the 2005, with the song "Razom nas bahato" performed by GreenJolly.

Between 2005 and 2008, NTU had set up national finals to choose both or either the song and performer to compete at Eurovision for Ukraine, with both the public and a panel of jury members involved in the selection.

The third stage was the final, which took place on 8 March 2009 and featured the fifteen acts that qualified from the semi-finals vying to represent Ukraine in Moscow.

[4] On 8 February 2009, VV and Nikole withdrew from the national final and were replaced by Ira Poison and Tabu.

[11] The jury panel that voted during the semi-final consisted of Vasyl Ilashchuk (President of NTU), Roman Nedzelskyi (First Vice President of NTU), Oleksandr Ponomaryov (singer, represented Ukraine in 2003), Serhiy Kuzin (CEO of Russian Radio Ukraine), Andriy Yeromin (choreographer), Volodymyr Bebeshko (composer) and Taras Petrynenko (composer and singer).

[12] The final took place on 8 March 2009 at the National Palace of Arts, hosted by Maria Orlova and Timur Miroshnychenko.

[13][14] "Beauty Saves the World" performed by Nikita was withdrawn prior to the final due to contractual restrictions.

[15] The remaining fourteen entries that qualified from the semi-final competed and the winner, "Be My Valentine" performed by Svetlana Loboda, was selected through the combination of votes from a public televote and an expert jury.

[18] Following the semi-final of the Ukrainian national final, Anastasia Prikhodko and her manager Olena Mozgova claimed that neither the NTU nor the jury had used trustworthy methods to choose the finalists; jury member Roman Nedzelskyi previously admitted that they did not select Prikhodko for the final as a Russian version of "Za tebe znov" had already been performed during the talent show Fabrika Zvyozd, despite the competition rules not specifying that the song performed during the semi-final should also be performed in the final.

On 17 April, Loboda performed during the UKeurovision Preview Party, which was held at the La Scala venue in London, United Kingdom and hosted by Nicki French and Paddy O'Connell.

[25] On 18 April, Loboda performed during the Eurovision Promo Concert, which was held at the Café de Paris venue in Amsterdam, Netherlands and hosted by Marga Bult and Maggie MacNeal.

[26][27] According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Four" (France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top nine songs from each semi-final as determined by televoting progress to the final, and a tenth was determined by back-up juries.

[32] The stage featured a large mechanical device resembling three cog wheels with embedded lights as well as moving round metal ladders inside, known as the "Hell Machine".

Parts of the "Hell Machine", lips and Loboda's face appeared on the LED screens, while the performance also featured the use of smoke effects and fireworks.

[36][37] The stage director and choreographer for the Ukrainian performance was Alan Badoev, who also directed the music video for "Be My Valentine!

[39] At the end of the show, Ukraine was announced as having finished in the top ten and subsequently qualifying for the grand final.

This jury judged each entry based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act.