Basel, Switzerland - Even in the European Network Contest, Ukrainian musicians could not escape the war.

The rock band Ziferblat represents their country in Basel, Switzerland, when they learned that the home of singer Khrystyna Starykova in a top-notch region in eastern Ukraine was destroyed by Russian shelling.

"She is so strong," said guitarist Valentyn Leshchynnskyi. "She is only 19 years old, but the impact of this situation - I don't think she will give up.

“Of course, it’s hard when you need to be calm while keeping your composure to celebrate here, because it’s a music festival and it has nothing to do with war.”

The band will compete with Ukraine in Saturday's Eurovision Finals, which included "Bird of Prayer", a song that vocals and avant-garde rock sounds thanks to the 1970s - the bell-tone pink suit Daniil Leshchynskyi was worn in Tuesday's semi-finals.

Valentyn Leshchynskyi said the lyrical message of loss and hope centered on the phoenix-like bird has sparked the experiences of the Ukrainians in recent years.

"We want to build a dream on the stage - even for three minutes, for the Ukrainians, it's like the war will end in the near future," he told the Associated Press.

Ukraine is a long-time rival to European TV networks, as is its neighbor Russia. Both see their relationship with the popular mainland competition that took place three years ago in Moscow's full invasion.

Russia was driven out of European TV. Less than three months after the invasion, the Ukrainian folk rap band Kalush Orchestra won the 2022 competition. Winning brings the right to host the game in the second year. When the war made this impossible, Liverpool made its way to the European TV network with a distinct Ukrainian flavor, decorating the British city with blue and yellow Ukrainian flags.

Even before the full invasion, Ukraine used European television networks for cultural diplomacy in order to tell the world about the history, music and language of its country. Ukrainian singer Jamala won the competition in 2016, Russia's illegal victory in Crimea two years later, and his song tells the song "Stalin expelled from Crimean Tatars in 1944 by Stalin. The song "Stefania" won by Kalush Orchestra is a blend of Ukrainian narratives and avoids Ukrainian rap on traditional Ukrainian style instruments.

The message now is that Ukraine is still standing and fighting.

Daniel admitted to feeling "a little bit of pressure" before Saturday. But he said it was "so privileged" to represent Ukraine.

“We have two missions here,” his brother Valenburn said. One is on Saturday's 26-year musical showdown or on top or near. The other is "remind the Europeans about war."

As part of its Eurovision tour, the band is raising funds to buy robots’ mining systems to help clear a region in Ukraine, which he says is 3 1/2 times that of Switzerland.

Ziferblat's European TV tour coincides with Vyshyvanka Day (the third Thursday of May), when Ukrainians around the world wear traditional embroidered shirts as symbols of national pride.

The band members joined the Ukrainians in the carefully stitched Vyshyvanka in Basel Park, singing Borscht in the band before Saturday’s final, singing Ukrainian songs and cheering on the band.

"It's a day that brings all the Ukrainians together," Valenben said. "In Kiev, the capital, everyone wears these shirts and goes to the streets to celebrate, and you feel like a United Nations."

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Associated Press reporter Kwiyeon Ha contributed to the story.