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For Ukraine, Eurovision is about more than just winning – although that is exactly what they did last year.

And it’s always a big task to come back and try to win again, especially when your country is at war.

But those hopes rest on the shoulders of electronic duo Tvorchi, who will enter their track Heart of Steel for this year.

They described their selection to represent Ukraine at the contest as a “shock”, adding they were “happy to present something new and something different for Ukraine in Eurovision”.

Andrii and Jimoh have said previously their song is about the dangers of nuclear war – a clear signal to those in Moscow.

They have also revealed they drew inspiration from the siege of Mariupol, and specifically the defence of the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works.

They told Sky News the song can be described in three words – “strength, confidence, and positivity”.

“We want to inspire all people around the planet to be stronger, be more confident, be more positive.

“We show that a lot of people have troubles in their lives… so we want to say no matter how bad the situation is, just be in a good attitude, stay strong, go forward and everything will be okay.

“Look at Ukraine – we are fighting. The situation is not good, but we are doing that, we don’t give up. So take this as an inspiration.”

TVORCHI rehearsing Heart of Steel for Ukraine at the Second Rehearsal of the Grand Final at Liverpool Arena. Pic: EBU/Sarah Louise Bennett
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Pic: EBU/Sarah Louise Bennett

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The pair met by chance, literally on the street

The pair met in Ternopil, in eastern Ukraine, where they both studied at pharmacy college.

Since then, they’ve released a number of tracks in the country, going on to have success there.

“It was a random day, I was coming back from football, and I was going back home,” Jimoh, who was born in Nigeria, told Sky News about the pair’s chance meeting.

“I remember passing Andrii on the street and I remember he… just like tapped my shoulder from the back. I was like, ‘What’s going on, bro?’.

“He was like, ‘Oh, I want to, practice my English’.

“I also I didn’t know much Ukrainian at that time… and I said, ‘Okay. I would like to learn Ukrainian as well’.”

He added: “I guess the synergy kind of looked worked out pretty well… we figured out we can make music together.”

Andrew Hutsuliak and Jeffery Augustus Kenny formed the band while at medical school. Pic: Eurovision
Image:
Andrew Hutsuliak and Jeffery Augustus Kenny formed the band while at medical school. Pic: Eurovision

‘I don’t think they are people’

When asked what their message was to Russia, Andrii told Sky News: “They don’t deserve any words.

“They are just happy when their missiles hit civilian buildings. People die and they laugh.

“I don’t think they’re people.”

Despite winning in 2022, the contest simply could not be held there – something Tvorchi understands.

“Every time you think, ‘maybe the next missile to come in [to] your family or your friend or even your pet’.

“We would be happier if this can happen in Ukraine, and we didn’t experience the war and full scale invasion.

“But, we want to say a huge thanks to the United Kingdom for hosting it and for all the support we receive – this means a lot to us, to the whole country, and we’re very thankful for everything.”

Tvorchi perform in the grand final on Saturday 13 May.

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R Kelly rushed to hospital after prison ‘overdose’ plot, his lawyers say

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R Kelly rushed to hospital after prison 'overdose' plot, his lawyers say

R Kelly was hospitalised after prison officials gave him an overdose of medication, his lawyers have claimed – as part of what they say is an ongoing assassination plot.

Kelly, whose full name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, is currently serving time at the Federal Correctional Institute in Butner, North Carolina, after being convicted of sex trafficking and racketeering in 2021.

A year later, he was found guilty on three charges of producing child sexual abuse images and three charges of enticement of minors for sex.

The 58-year-old was taken to hospital on Friday after prison staff “administered an overdose of his medication”, according to a court document filed by his lawyer.

The document, filed on Tuesday, reads: “Mr. Kelly’s life is in danger, and that danger is coming from Bureau of Prisons officials and their actions.

“Mr. Kelly needs this Court’s intervention. His life actually depends on it.”

Nicole Blank Becker, one of Kelly’s lawyers, said he is in solitary confinement and that she spoke with him on Monday.

“What is happening right now with him is insane,” she said. “I hope that this really results in someone, somewhere, somehow getting ahold of him today and getting him back in the hospital.”

A spokesperson for the Bureau of Prisons said in a statement that “for privacy, safety, and security reasons, we do not discuss the conditions of confinement for any incarcerated individual, including medical and health-related issues”.

“Additionally, the Bureau of Prisons does not comment on pending litigation or matters that are the subject of legal proceedings,” they added.

The allegation is the latest in a line of similar claims from the singer’s legal team, who last week filed a motion accusing the Bureau of Prisons of instructing another inmate to kill Kelly.

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A motion filed by Kelly’s legal team claimed Mikeal Glenn Stine, who is alleged to be a member of the Aryan Brotherhood gang and has a terminal cancer diagnosis, was given a chance to “to live out the last of those months as a free man” in exchange for killing the singer.

The next day, his legal team filed additional material saying he had been moved to solitary confinement and denied access to his lawyer.

Prosecutors rejected the claims as “repugnant”.

Their written response said: “Kelly has never taken responsibility for his years of sexually abusing children, and he probably never will.

“Undeterred, Kelly now asks this Court to release him from incarceration indefinitely under the guise of a fanciful conspiracy.”

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Disgraced singer Gary Glitter to stay in jail as parole bid refused

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Disgraced singer Gary Glitter to stay in jail as parole bid refused

Gary Glitter will stay in prison after the Parole Board refused the disgraced singer’s bid to be released.

Glitter, 81, was recalled to jail less than six weeks after he was released halfway through his 16-year sentence in 2023 for breaching his licence conditions by allegedly viewing downloaded images of children.

He was sentenced to 16 years imprisonment in 2015 after being found guilty of sexually assaulting three schoolgirls between 1975 and 1980.

The Parole Board last year said it was “not satisfied that release at this point would be safe for the protection of the public” after a hearing held behind closed doors.

Pic: PA
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Glitter was jailed in 2015 Pic: PA

A spokesman on Tuesday said his release was refused again following a “paper review”.

“Parole Board decisions are solely focused on what risk a prisoner could represent to the public if released and whether that risk is manageable in the community,” a statement said.

“A panel will carefully examine a huge range of evidence, including details of the original crime, and any evidence of behaviour change, as well as explore the harm done and impact the crime has had on the victims.

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“Parole reviews are undertaken thoroughly and with extreme care. Protecting the public is our number one priority.”

Glitter, whose real name is Paul Gadd, will be eligible for a further review at a date set by the Ministry of Justice. His sentence expires in February 2031.

He was made bankrupt earlier this year after failing to pay more than £500,000 in damages to a woman who sued him for abusing her when she was 12 years old.

Richard Scorer, head of abuse law and public inquiries at Slater and Gordon, who represented the woman, told Sky News the Parole Board has made “the right decision”.

He added: “My client is relieved at this ruling but apprehensive about having to go through the merry-go-round of Gadd coming up for parole again, and the fear of him being let out on licence.

“This is unfair on victims and it would be better if they were assured that he would serve the rest of his sentence.”

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Glitter was first jailed for four months in 1999 after he admitted possessing around 4,000 indecent images of children.

He was expelled from Cambodia in 2002, and in March 2006 was convicted of sexually abusing two girls, aged 10 and 11, in Vietnam, where he spent two-and-a-half years in prison.

Glitter was automatically released from HMP The Verne, a low-security prison in Portland, Dorset, in February 2023 after serving half of his fixed-term determinate sentence.

But he was back behind bars weeks later after reportedly trying to access the dark web and images of children.

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How Clean Is Your House? presenter Kim Woodburn dies

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How Clean Is Your House? presenter Kim Woodburn dies

Kim Woodburn – a former cleaner who found fame presenting the hit TV show How Clean Is Your House? – has died.

Woodburn, who was 83, later became a contestant on Celebrity Big Brother in 2017, finishing as runner-up.

Kim Woodburn is evicted in third place during the Big Brother 2017 final at Elstree Studios in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire.
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Woodburn came third in Celebrity Big Brother 2017. Pic: PA

Her manager said in a statement: “It is with immense sadness that we let you know our beloved Kim Woodburn passed away yesterday following a short illness.

“Kim was an incredibly kind, caring, charismatic and strong person.

“Her husband, Peter, is heartbroken at the loss of his soulmate.

“We are so proud of the amazing things Kim achieved in her life and career.

“We kindly ask that Kim’s husband and close friends are given the time and privacy they need to grieve.

“We will not be releasing any further details.”

Aggie MacKenzie and Kim Woodburn.
Pic: PA
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Woodburn with Aggie MacKenzie (L). Pic: PA

On Tuesday, her husband shared a video montage of photos of Woodburn over the years, starting when she was just four years old, with the message: “My wonderful, beautiful, Kim passed away last night. God bless, my love, xx xx”

Known for her trademark tight, plaited bun, Kim was largely blind in her right eye, and had poor sight in her left eye, and earlier this year had told her followers she was undergoing emergency eye surgery.

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Woodburn, who had been selling video greetings to fans, shared her last Instagram post in February, when she posted a message saying “Kim is unable to record any further videos for the foreseeable future due to a health problem”.

She wrote: “No more videos for now, my loves, I need to get better!”

Woodburn, born Patricia Mary in Hampshire, left a turbulent home life aged 16, moving to Liverpool to become a live-in cleaner.

She revealed in her 2006 autobiography that, at the age of 23, she prematurely gave birth to a stillborn son and buried him in a park.

The revelation in her book led to a police inquiry, but no action was taken by officers.

In the same year as the stillbirth, she changed her name to Kim – after American actress Kim Novak.

Years later, she was scouted by a TV company looking for a cleaner with an engaging personality to front How Clean is Your House?

Paired with Scottish cleaner Aggie MacKenzie, the two professional cleaners fronted the show – a ratings hit and a pioneer for the home cleaning genre – from 2003 to 2009.

Woodburn went on to appear in Celebrity Big Brother, I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of here! and E4’s Celebrity Cooking School, as well as regularly contributing to ITV’s This Morning and Loose Women.

She also appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Big Brother’s Bit On The Side, Celebrity Come Dine With Me and A Place In The Sun.

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