| Ruslana Lyzhychko (born May 24, 1973 Ukrainian: Руслана Степанівна Лижичко) is the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 from Lviv, Ukraine.
Born in 1973, she is a singer, dancer, producer, composer, conducter, and piano player. She writes, composes and produces her own songs and music videos.
Ruslana started her career as a winner of Slavyanskiy Bazar song competition in 1996. Her first album, Myt' vesny (Мить весни, A Moment of Spring, Ukr) received high praise from the critics. It was a relative success given the overall state of Ukrainian music market of that time. Still, wider recogintion didn't come until 1998 with the song Svitanok (Sunrise) and the album Myt' Vesny - Dzvinkyj Viter Live. Svitanok was the first big video clip in Ukraine. In 1999 she worked on the Christmas musical Ostanne rizdvo 90th (The Last Christmas of the 90's), which won the Ukrainian Movie of the Year award. Her album Dyki Tantsi (Wild Dances) which was issued in 2003 went double platinum in Ukraine, selling over 200,000 copies. According to the latest sales results (as of 2005), over 500 000 of "Dyki Tantsi" were sold in Ukraine, making the album 5xPlatinum.
She won the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 with the song Wild Dances, which earned 280 points, receiving points from 34 of the 35 other countries participating in the contest (the exception being Switzerland).
The Same Star single cover
The Same Star single cover
In 2004's disputed Ukrainian presidential elections, she declared her support for Viktor Yushchenko. She was one of the scores of prominent figures that addressed the mass crowds rallying in support of Yushchenko's demand that his original defeat be declared fraudulent. At one stage she was even quoted as saying she was ready to go on hunger strike for the cause.
In 2005, Ruslana appeared at the Eurovision Song Contest held in Kyiv. She performed her new single On Fire. The performance included her carrying a torch-blower. She also interviewed contestants in the green room area during the voting part of the show.
Ruslana designed the cover for Jonathan Safran Foer's "The Unabridged Pocket Book of Lightening" which was produced as part of Penguin Books' 70th birthday celebrations.
In 2006, she is a candidate for Yushchenko's party, Our Ukraine, in the Parliamentary elections in March |
