Ruslana

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Ruslana (Руслана)
Ruslana in 2008.
Ruslana in 2008.
Background information
Birth name Ruslana Stepanivna Lyzhychko (Руслана Степанівна Лижичко)
Also known as Ruslana (Руслана) , Rusiya
Born May 24, 1973 (1973-05-24) (age 34)
Lviv, Ukrainian SSR
Origin Ukraine
Genre(s) pop, pop folk, dance , rock , electro, Folk rock,
Occupation(s) singer, politician, dancer, producer, composer, conductor, pianist
Instrument(s) piano , guitar, drum
Voice type(s) Soprano
Years active 1996—present
Label(s) EMI , Warner Music Group , Comp Music
Website www.ruslana.com.ua
Notable instrument(s)
Piano , Drums , Trembita , Guitar

Ruslana Stepanivna Lyzhychko (Ukrainian: Руслана Степанівна Лижичко, Ruslana Stepanivna Lyžyčko; born May 24, 1973) is a World Music award winning artist and the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2004.

Born in 1973, she is a singer, dancer, producer, composer, conductor, and pianist. 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) received high praise from the critics. It was a relative success given the overall state of Ukrainian music market of that time. Still, wider recognition 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 5x platinum.[citation needed]

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).

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 Heart On Fire. The performance included her carrying a blow torch.

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 March 2006, she was elected to parliament in Our Ukraine party list as № 5.[1]. On June 19, 2007 she terminated her mandate.[2]

She hosts the fictional radio station Vladivostok FM in the video game Grand Theft Auto IV.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Ruslana was born on 24 May 1974 in Lviv, Ukrainian SSR (now Ukarine) to Ukrainian parents Nina and Stepan Lyzhichko. She was raised in Lviv Oblast (province).

[edit] Career

[edit] Znayu Ya (Знаю я)

Znayu Ya(I Know) is a work about the Ukrainian Carpathians, the first video clip filmed and arranged for demonstration in modern movie theaters. Personnel of 250 workers. 7 studios of 5 countries, 4 kilometers of video tape footage, sound by Dolby Digital 5.0 (licensed by Dolby Laboratories, London). Color by DigitalFilmFinland, Helsinki. Record-breaking high budget, lots of trick effects and technical equipment. Unique video shooting of Carpathian mountains from helicopter, numerous scenes in Mountains, video fragments of a true Hutsul wedding in ethnic costumes, incredible national color of Hutsul culture. Filming of a concert on a bandstand installed in the middle of a mountain waterfall. shooting of Ruslana on top of a rock (1600 meters above sea-level) with neither a dubbing actor nor assistance.

[edit] Dyki tantsi

December 2002 - Ruslana signed the contract with Comp Music/ EMI (majot label’s EMI’s licensee in Ukraine) and started the new record sessions for Dyki Tantsi right away. The English proffy[clarify] had shown interest in the music of the singer and Ruslana obtained the invitation to make mixing of the album at the British studio Real World which belongs to Peter Gabriel. The album was released on June 11th in 2003 in Ukraine. Dyki Tantsi – was the modern compilation of the ancient ethnic hutsul tunes (rhythms & dances) and new trends in in pop and rock music , is the fundamental ethnic rhythms together with ultra-contemporary styles.

October 3, 2003 – Ruslana’s new album Dyki Tantsi reached the platinum status, that means that the official sales are 100’000 copies. Besides this result was reached during 100 days without the supporting tour! It was really historical event for Ukraine.

December 17, 2003 was the day when Ruslana was awarded with Platinum CD prize for Dyki Tantsi. It was the first Ukrainian Prize Prize. Stefan Kravchek (regional director of international organization IFPI, Brussels) presented the award to Ruslana. The success of the album is not only the Ruslana’s victory but it is the challenge to the audio piracy in the country. It was the case when in August and September of 2003 the biggest quantity of different and numerous pirate copies of Dyki Tantsi CDs and Mp3s were registered. Сomp music/EMI together with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the professional who deal with IFPI have accomplished the special actions in order to control and cease the expansion of counterfeit products.

[edit] Ruslana in the Eurovision Song Contest

[edit] 2004

Ruslana was elected by NTU, using an internal selection, to represent Ukraine at the Eurovision Song Contest 2004. Before the contest she was a hot favorite for victory by the bookmakers. At the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 she performed her self-composed song, Wild Dances and won the contest receiving 280 points (the highest amount of points received by a winner of the Eurovision Song Contest from the first 50 editions of the contest). Also, she received points from every country in the semi final and from every country except Switzerland in the final. Wild Dances was number one in Belgium (for 10 consecutive weeks), Greece and Ukraine.

[edit] 2005

Ruslana performing The Same Star at the Eurovision Song Contest 2005
Ruslana performing The Same Star at the Eurovision Song Contest 2005

Ruslana opened the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 with the song Heart on Fire. At the interval act she performed The Same Star which became a hit as soon as it was released, entering most of the music charts all around Europe. The song Heart on Fire will be released on her new album Wild Energy.

[edit] 2006

Ruslana's song Wild Dances was named the Best of Eurovision by the Germans. On the television program Grand Prix Hitliste, Wild Dances was presented as the winner, ahead of famous songs, such as Waterloo and Germany's only winner, Ein bisschen Frieden, which finished sixth and twelfth, respectively. The program was viewed by a television audience of approximately six million people in Germany.[3]

[edit] 2008

Ruslana was a guest performer at the national final of Azerbaijan with her Wild Energy show. Azerbaijan will make its debut in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008.

[edit] Club'in

[edit] Wild Energy Project

Ruslana's new project takes us into a future city which experiences a global energy crisis, far more threatening than lack of oil and gas. The inhabitants of the synthetic city are lacking their will for life, their energy of the heart - the fuel for people. Wild Energy combines the art of music and video production, literature and social commitment in an extraordinary way and will cover the whole creative year of the singer. On June 15 2006, Ruslana presented her new single and video Wild Energy. These are the first single and video from Ruslana’s new project, based on the fiction novel by Maryna and Sergij Diachenko Wild Energy. Lana. The unique video in a fantasy style, which is a screen version of a part of the novel, set a new record in the field of musical video making by its scale and technologies. The singer herself appears in the new video in a rather unexpected image, as she is blonde. The first people to see and listen to Ruslana’s Wild Energy will be the Ukrainian mass media and the singer’s fan club members, who will attend the presentation as the special guests. In the autumn of 2006, Ruslana will be producing her new album, Wild Energy. Next day Ruslana went on a FIFA World Cup 2006 tour in Germany to support the Ukrainian national football team. She performed in Hamburg, Cologne, Berlin, Leipzig, and Nuremberg.

[edit] Discography

Ruslana discography
The CD single Wild Dances topped the Ultratop 50 chart for 10 weeks
The CD single Wild Dances topped the Ultratop 50 chart for 10 weeks
Releases
↙Studio albums 9
↙Singles 5
↙Music videos 21
↙Collaborations 4

[edit] Albums

[edit] Singles

[edit] Soundtracks

Soundtracks containing Ruslana songs.

  • 2007: "Heartbreak Hotel" Soundtrack - "Dance with the Wolves"
  • 2007: "Heartbreak Hotel" Soundtrack - "Wild Dances Part II"

[edit] Music Videos

[edit] Tours

The following is a list of tours that Ruslana has made since the spring of 2004.

[edit] See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
v • d • e
Ruslana
Studio albums Myt' Vesny - Dzvinkyj Viter  · Ostanne rizdvo  · Najkrashche  · Diki Tantsi  · Wild Dances  · Amazonka  · Wild Energy
Remix albums Club'in
EPs Dobrij vechir, tobi...
Main singles "Wild Dances" · "Dance with the Wolves"  · "The Same Star"  · "Moon of Dreams"  · "Not for Sale "  · "New Energy Generation"
Ukrainian singles "Dyka Enerhija"
Other songs "Heart on Fire"  · "The Girl That Rules" (feat. Missy Elliott)  · "Dva Puti, Dva Shlakhy"  · "Wind Song"  · "Znaju Ja"  · "Oj, Zagraimy, Muzychenku"
Related articles Discography  · Music videos  · Eurovision Song Contest 2004  · Wild Energy. Lana  · Ruslana's Charity Concert  · Grand Theft Auto IV
v • d • e
Eurovision winners
1950s Lys Assia • Corry Brokken • André Claveau • Teddy Scholten
1960s Jacqueline Boyer • Jean-Claude Pascal • Isabelle Aubret • Grethe and Jørgen Ingmann • Gigliola Cinquetti • France Gall • Udo Jürgens • Sandie Shaw • Massiel • Frida Boccara • Lenny Kuhr • Lulu • Salomé
1970s Dana • Séverine • Vicky Leandros • Anne-Marie David • ABBA • Teach-In • Brotherhood of Man • Marie Myriam • Izhar Cohen & Alphabeta • Gali Atari & Milk and Honey
1980s Johnny Logan • Bucks Fizz • Nicole • Corinne Hermès • Herreys • Bobbysocks • Sandra Kim • Johnny Logan • Celine Dion • Riva
1990s Toto Cutugno • Carola • Linda Martin • Niamh Kavanagh • Paul Harrington & Charlie McGettigan • Secret Garden • Eimear Quinn • Katrina and the Waves • Dana International • Charlotte Nilsson
2000s Olsen Brothers • Tanel Padar, Dave Benton & 2XL • Marie N • Sertab Erener • Ruslana • Elena Paparizou • Lordi • Marija Šerifović

[edit] References

  1. ^ People's Union Our Ukraine candidate list (Ukrainian). Ukrainian parliamentary election, 2006 website. Central Election Commission of Ukraine.
  2. ^ Ruslana Lyzhychko (Ukrainian). Deputies of Verkhovna Rada.
  3. ^ Busa, Alexandru (2007-07-04). Ruslana - The best of Eurovision. esctoday]. Retrieved on 2006-05-24.

[edit] External links

[edit] Listening

Awards
Preceded by
Sertab Erener		 Winner of the Eurovision Song Contest
2004		 Succeeded by
Elena Paparizou
Preceded by
-		 Best Ukrainian Act - World Music Awards
2004		 Succeeded by
-
Preceded by
Oleksandr Ponomaryov		 Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest
2004		 Succeeded by
GreenJolly


Persondata
NAME Stepanivna, Ruslana Lyzhychko
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION Ukrainian singer
DATE OF BIRTH May 24, 1973
PLACE OF BIRTH Lviv, Ukraine
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruslana"
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