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Via a recorded message, in English, and with a military green shirt with which it is common to see him since the invasion of Ukraine began. This has been the intervention of the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, at the ceremony of the 64th edition of the Grammys 2022 to be held in Las Vegas (United States) between the early hours of Sunday to Monday. After weeks of addressing the parliaments of various countries around the world via video call for their cooperation to end the war, Ukraine’s president wanted to send the same message to the most popular artists in the music world: “Silence Fill it with your music Fill it out today to tell our story.” His speech paved the way for a performance that brought John Legend and several Ukrainian artists together on stage at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
As can be seen in the video that accompanies the news, Zelensky recalled that since the war began on February 24, “more than 400 children have been wounded and 153 children have been killed.” Above all, his message focuses on asking for help: “Tell the truth about this war on your social networks, on television. Support us as much as you can.” But he also recalled the situation in which Ukrainian artists find themselves in stark contrast to those they met on stage in Las Vegas: “Our musicians wear bulletproof vests instead of tuxedos.”
After the President’s Message, John Legend Performs His New Song Live free, with Odessa native Syuzana Iglidan, Mika Newton, whose sister is serving in the Ukrainian army, and Lyuba Yamimchuk, a poet from Donbass who fled the war a few days earlier. They all wore blue or yellow, the colors of the Ukrainian flag. Photographs from the final days of the invasion are also shown during the display.
