The undoubted emotional culmination of the night came thanks to a violin performance, which saw the recent viral video of young virtuoso violinist Illia Bondarenko playing the old Ukrainian folk song “Verbovaya Doschechka” from a crowd of 94 biophysicists. with a moving live performance in the room by Nicola Benedetti. This unique musical performance was praised by two testimonial readings by British actors Tamsin Greig and Eddie Marsan, which describe the real experiences of Artem and Natalya who were forced to flee their homes as a result of the conflict. Ukrainian singer Jalama, winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 for her country, performed the success of “1944”, while powerful short films from the television stations Mel Giedroyc and Rob Rinder appeared on their recent trips to Eastern Europe with humanists. as part of the show. Sir Trevor McDonald addressed the public and spectators at home to pay tribute to those who work in Ukraine and the difficult conditions they face. The recent Grammy winners, Billie Eilish and Finneas, also sent a video message of support during the show. Each song in the concert was chosen specifically for its meaning and messages. Snow Patrol opened the show with their single on Top Ten “Run” and Tom Odell performed a provocative “Another Love”, the song that has been adopted by Ukrainians as a symbol of resilience and hope. The Kingdom Choir, Becky Hill and Camila Campello covered some exciting and uplifting songs. the Choir sings a version of Ben E King’s “Stand By Me”, Becky sings Candi Staton’s The Source & “You Got The Love” and Camila sings Coldplay’s “Fix You” before embarking on her latest song “Bam Bam”, for which Ed Sheeran was on stage with her – who had previously performed a double set of “Perfect” and “Bad Habits”. Other artists in the series were Anne-Marie with “Beautiful”, Emeli Sandé with “Brighter Days” (accompanied by the Kingdom Choir), Manic Street Preachers “If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next”, Gregory Porter “Revival” and Paloma Faith ‘Only Love Can Hurt Like This’. Nile Rodgers & Chic closed the concert with a happy set of “Everybody Dance” and “We Are Family”.
