Everything about Ruslana Lyzhichko totally explained
Ruslana Stepanivna Lyzhychko (; born
May 24,
1973)
(External Link
) is a
World Music award winning artist and the winner of the
Eurovision Song Contest 2004.
Born in
1973, she's 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 (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.
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.
Since 2005 she's the National Ambassador of Ukraine with
UNICEF.
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.. On
June 19,
2007 she terminated her mandate.
She hosts the fictional radio station
Vladivostok FM in the video game
Grand Theft Auto IV.
Biography
Early life
Ruslana was born on
24 May 1973 in
Lviv,
Ukrainian SSR (now Ukraine) to Ukrainian parents Nina and Stepan Lyzhichko. She was raised in
Lviv Oblast (
province). She is married to Ukrainian record producer
Oleksandr Ksenofontov.
Career
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.
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 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 isn't only the Ruslana’s victory but it's 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.
Ruslana in the Eurovision Song Contest
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.
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.
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.
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.
Club'in
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's 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.
Discography
Studio Albums
Other Albums
| Year |
Album |
| 2000 |
"Ostanne rizdvo 90-x" Christmas Album
|
| 2005 |
Club'in Remix album
Mainly contains remixes of songs from "Wild Dances"
|
Singles
Wild Dances (2004)
Dance with the Wolves (2004)
The Same Star (2005)
Wild Energy (2006)
My Budemo Pershi (2007)
Moon of Dreams ( featuring T-Pain) (2008)
Not for Sale (2008)
New Energy Generation (2008)
Soundtracks
Soundtracks containing Ruslana songs.
2007: "Heartbreak Hotel" Soundtrack - "Dance with the Wolves"
2007: "Heartbreak Hotel" Soundtrack - "Wild Dances Part II"
2008: "Grand Theft Auto IV - "Wild Dances"
2008: "Ultimate Eurovision Party" - "Wild Dances"
Music Videos
Ty
Myt' Vesny
Svitanok
Balada pro princessu
Kolyskova
Znaju Ja
Proschannya z disko
Dobrij vechir, tobi...
Kolomyjka
Oj, Zagraimy, Muzychenku
Wild Dances
Dance with the Wolves
The Same Star
В ритме сердца (U rytmi sercia)
Dyka Enerhija
New Energy Generation (My budemo Pershi)
Moon of Dreams (feat. T-Pain)
Vidlunnja mriy (Ukr. version of "Moon of Dreams"]
Not For Sale
Tours
The following is a list of tours that Ruslana has made since the spring of 2004.
2002 - The Castles of Ukraine Tour
2003 - Ukraine Tour
2004 - 2006 - Ruslana's world tourFurther Information
Get more info on 'Ruslana Lyzhichko'.
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