Children of the revolution

Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians gathered in Kiev's main square chanting the lyrics of Green Jolly's song - Razom Nas Bahato (Together We Are Many) - as Viktor Yushchenko led the Orange Revolution.

Fast forward a few months and Green Jolly is Ukraine's representative at the Eurovision Song Contest, amid allegations that the band failed to take part in the prerequisite heats and were entered at the last minute by the Deputy Prime Minister, who now stands accused of vote rigging.

The management of singer Ani Lorak, who was widely expected to win, are among the accusers and her supporters believe she was discriminated against for her alleged support of Mr Yushchenko's political contender.

Relaxing on a sofa at the Vivaldi Hotel, in St Julians the Green Jolly trio look guilty of oversleeping maybe, but involvement in vote rigging?

"Our song became the anthem for the Ukrainian people struggling for justice. This whole debate has been sparked by politics and not created by the musicians. The whole thing has been overrated," said Roman Kalyn, the leader and creator of the band's creative ideas.

"We do not see Ani Lorak as coming from a different political camp. We see her as a great singer and our country's pride and joy; the perfect representative of what a young Ukrainian woman is. The fact she lost in this contest has nothing to do with politics - maybe we see her next year in the Eurovision."

Setting aside these allegations Green Jolly speak enthusiastically about the exhilarating experience of being part of their country's peaceful revolution, which was sparked off in November following the disputed presidential election.

"It was extraordinary performing in front of almost one million people. It is an unforgettable experience," said Roman Kostyuk, the band's artistic philosopher.

Their winning song included lyrics such as: "Yes, Yushchenko! No Lies! No falsifications! Yes, Yushchenko! He's our president! We are Ukraine's sons and daughters."

However, the Eurovision's organisers ruled that the rap was too political and had to be rewritten so Green Jolly penned new lyrics in English.

Were they upset that they had to tone it down and rewrite bits of their song, which had stirred such powerful emotions during the Orange Revolution?

"We actually believe it has been a positive thing to rewrite our lyrics because we wrote some in English and this way we can get our message across to many more people. This is not a song about politics and it is dedicated to all those who feel disadvantaged; it's about tolerance and peace," Mr Kalyn said.

Andriy Pisetskyi, the band's romantic dreamer, added they wanted to expand the song's association with Ukraine so that people who felt oppressed could adopt it as their anthem too.

Green Jolly, which means speeding wooden sledge in Ukrainian, shot to fame during the revolution but the band had been playing since 1992.

Mr Kalyn and Mr Kostyuk had first got together to play Ukrainian folk-like reggae music in the band Nemamarli (No Marley) but later changed the band's name to Green Jolly.

Mr Pisetskyi is the newcomer, having joined the band during the Orange Revolution, but the three have gelled and plan to produce a CD and record new material once the Eurovision is over.

The band, who are in Malta as part of their promotional tour across Europe prior to the 50th edition of the Eurovision on May 21, want to share their progressive democratic ideas with other Europeans and show them the Ukrainian way of thinking and the free spirit of today's Ukraine.

"Hopefully we can return to Malta one day and give a concert," the band enthused.