Look up dolce in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Dolce means "sweet" in Italian and may refer to:

Places[link]

• Dolcè, an Italian municipality located in the Province of Verona
• Dolce (Plzeň-South District), a village in the Czech Republic

People[link]

• Christine Dolce
• Lodovico Dolce, Italian humanist of the Renaissance
• Joe Dolce, singer/songwriter
• Dolce dell'Anguillara, an Italian condottiero

Music[link]

• Dolce, sweet, gentle
• Dolce (album), album by J-Pop artist Ami Suzuki

Other[link]

• Dolce (satellite television), Romanian satellite television provider
• Dolce, a Pomeranian owned by tennis star Maria Sharapova, featured in a 2007-2008 Canon ad campaign.^[1]
• Dolce & Gabbana, Italian Fashion house
• DOLCE: Descriptive Ontology for Linguistic and Cognitive Engineering
• La Dolce Vita, the sweet life
• La Dolce Vita (TV series)
• Dolce Stil Novo, sweet new style

References[link]

Dolce Social Ballroom (Toronto, Canada)

See also[link]

• Dulce (disambiguation)

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Chael Sonnen
Chael Sonnen at UFC 115 in Vancouver, Canada, on June 11, 2010.
Born	Chael Patrick Sonnen (1977-04-03) April 3, 1977 (age 35) West Linn, Oregon, United States
Other names	The Foreman American Gangster[1] The People's Champ[2]
Nationality	American
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight	185.5 lb (84 kg; 13 st 4 lb)
Division	Middleweight (185 lb) Light Heavyweight (205 lb)
Reach	74 in (188 cm)
Stance	Southpaw
Fighting out of	Portland, Oregon, United States
Team	Team Quest
Wrestling	NCAA Division I Wrestling Olympic Alternate Greco-Roman wrestling
Years active	1997, 2002–present (MMA)[3][4]
Mixed martial arts record
Total	39
Wins	27
By knockout	7
By submission	4
By decision	16
Losses	11
By knockout	2
By submission	8
By decision	1
Draws	1
Amateur career
Total	2
Wins	2
By knockout	2
Other information
Occupation	Mixed martial artist, promoter and entrepreneur
University	University of Oregon
Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog
last updated on: October 11, 2011

Chael Patrick Sonnen^[5] (pronounced /ˈtʃeɪl ˈsʌnən/; born April 3, 1977) is an American mixed martial artist who competes as a middleweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He was an NCAA Division I All-American wrestler at the University of Oregon, a silver medalist at the 2000 Greco-Roman World University Championships,^[6] as well as a two-time Dave Schultz Memorial International Greco-Roman winner.

As of October 2011^[update], Sonnen is ranked as the No. 2 middleweight in the world by Sherdog.^[7]

Early life[link]

Sonnen was born Chael Patrick Sonnen on April 3, 1977 in West Linn, Oregon.

Mixed martial arts career[link]

Sonnen started his MMA career at the age of 19 in 1997 by defeating Ben Hailey in Vancouver, Washington. His second fight was against future ICON Sport Middleweight Champion and Strikeforce Middleweight contender Jason "Mayhem" Miller. Sonnen went 6–0 in his first six fights, until his loss to Trevor Prangley, which he later avenged in 2006 at UFC Ultimate Fight Night 4. He also fought The Ultimate Fighter winner and former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Forrest Griffin.

UFC[link]

Sonnen made his UFC debut against former IFC and Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Renato Sobral at UFC 55, where Sonnen fought for his first time at Light Heavyweight. He lost via triangle choke in the second round. Afterwards, he avenged his first ever MMA defeat by defeating Trevor Prangley at UFC Ultimate Fight Night 4 by unanimous decision. Then, for a third time, he fought Jeremy Horn at UFC 60 and lost via armbar. Having gone 1–2 in the Octagon, Sonnen was released from the UFC.

Bodog Fight[link]

After leaving the UFC, Sonnen was signed by Bodog Fight. He earned his first victory in Bodog Fight by defeating Tim Credeur via TKO. After that he fought Alexey Oleinik to a unanimous decision victory, and defeated Tim McKenzie via brabo choke within the first 15 seconds of the opening round. After quickly dismantling McKenzie, Sonnen fought UFC and Pride veteran Amar Suloev and won via TKO. After Bodog, Sonnen defeated future Ultimate Fighter member Kyacey Uscola at SuperFight 20: Homecoming.

World Extreme Cagefighting[link]

In December 2007, Sonnen fought Paulo Filho for the WEC middleweight championship. Sonnen lost via submission at 4:55 of the second round. There was controversy stemming from the fight stoppage, however. Sonnen did not tap out but yelled out, and the referee took that as a verbal submission and stopped the fight. In his post-fight interview Sonnen said that he told the referee not to stop the fight, and continually said "No" when the referee asked if he wanted to submit.^[8]

A rematch between the two was scheduled for March 26, 2008, but was cancelled due to Paulo Filho checking himself into a rehabilitation clinic for an unknown substance abuse problem.^[9] Sonnen instead faced undefeated WEC middleweight contender Bryan Baker and dominated him for three rounds, winning a unanimous decision.^[10] Sonnen and Filho eventually met again on November 5, 2008, where Sonnen soundly defeated Filho by unanimous decision. Prior to the fight, Filho did not make weight, weighing in at close to seven pounds over 185, thus making the bout a non-title match and taking away the chance for Sonnen to rematch for the WEC title. After Filho lost, he announced he would ship Sonnen the championship belt.^[11]

Return to UFC[link]

Following the dissolution of the WEC's middleweight division Sonnen was moved back over to the UFC, in his first fight in the promotion since UFC 60, he lost via triangle choke to Demian Maia at UFC 95.

Sonnen defeated Dan Miller at UFC 98 on May 23 via unanimous decision. Sonnen showed his willingness and toughness as a fighter and came in as a late replacement for Yushin Okami when Okami sustained a torn ligament in training.^[12] Sonnen took the fight on 22 days notice and lost 36 pounds to compete.^[13] Incidentally in his next fight, Sonnen out-wrestled Okami at UFC 104 to a unanimous decision victory.^[14] The weeks proceeding the fight, Okami trained with Chael Sonnen and his camp for a number of weeks. Chael Sonnen commented on Okami's size, strength and skill set as well as his relationship with Okami as something close to a brother.

Sonnen was expected to face Nate Marquardt on February 21, 2010 at UFC 110, but the fight was moved up and the two fought at UFC 109 on February 6, with Sonnen winning via unanimous decision after out-wrestling the heavily favored Marquardt for three rounds. Marquardt caught Sonnen in two very deep guillotine chokes in the first and third rounds; however, Sonnen managed to get free. With the victory, Sonnen solidified his position as the next fighter in line to challenge Anderson Silva for the UFC Middleweight Championship.

Middleweight Championship Fight[link]

Sonnen fought Anderson Silva for the UFC Middleweight Championship on August 7, 2010 at UFC 117.^[15] Sonnen trash talked during the build up to the fight, which caused some controversy, as he stated that he was going to retire Silva.^[16][17][18] Sonnen won each of the first four rounds on all of the judges' scorecards, with the score heading into the fifth round being 40–34, 40–35, and 40–36.^[19][20] However in the final round Sonnen found himself caught in a triangle/armbar combination by the champion. Sonnen tapped and lost the fight by triangle at 3:10 in the fifth round. Sonnen later stated in an interview it was the choke, not the armbar, that had caused him to submit.

CSAC Suspensions and Appeals[link]

Drug tests conducted at the time of his match with Anderson Silva showed that Sonnen had an elevated testosterone/epitestosterone (or T/E) ratio which fell outside the allowable range. Specifically, Sonnen’s urinalysis showed that his T/E ratio was 16.9:1. By comparison, an average man has a T/E ratio of 1:1, and testing bodies such as CSAC may allow for a variance as high as 4:1 for athletes—meaning Sonnen's T/E ratio was nearly 17 times that of a normal man and more than four times higher than the allowed maximum for an athlete.^[21] Sonnen was fined $2,500 and suspended for one year (until September 2, 2011) by CSAC.^[22] Sonnen's scheduled rematch with Silva was cancelled in light of the suspension.^[23][24]

Initial Appeal[link]

Sonnen filed an appeal from CSAC's decision,^[25] and that hearing was held on December 2, 2010. The principal grounds of Sonnen's appeal were that: (i) he had a medical justification for taking testosterone; and (ii) he believed that he had already taken the necessary steps to disclose the condition and treatment to CSAC. Specifically, Sonnen testified that in 2008 he had been diagnosed with hypogonadism and was undergoing Testosterone replacement therapy (or TRT) in the form of synthetic testosterone which he self-injected twice weekly.^[26] Sonnen was joined at the hearing by his family physician, Dr. Mark Czarnecki, who confirmed that he had diagnosed Sonnen with hypogonadism and had prescribed the twice weekly testosterone injections in 2008.

In his further sworn testimony, Sonnen claimed to have been previously approved for TRT by the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC), and to have spoken directly to NSAC's Executive Director, Keith Kizer, who allegedly informed Sonnen that he was approved for TRT and should not again disclose the treatment on the pre-bout medical disclosure statements required by NSAC.^[27] Sonnen testified that he believed Keith Kizer's alleged advice about omitting his TRT on Nevada disclosure forms applied equally to the forms of other state Athletic Commissions.^[27] Additionally, Sonnen testified that he had previously disclosed his condition to CSAC, specifically citing his UFC 104 bout against Yushin Okami, which took place in Los Angeles on October 24, 2009.^[28] Based on the above sworn testimony, CSAC voted to re-characterize Sonnen's transgression as a failure to properly disclose a medical treatment, and correspondingly reduced his suspension from 12 to six months, ending March 2, 2011.

Keith Kizer has since publicly responded to Sonnen's testimony, stating that NSAC had never approved Sonnen for TRT, that Sonnen had never applied for the approval process, and that he "[had] never talked to Chael Sonnen in [his] life."^[23][29][30] At a subsequent meeting between the UFC, Sonnen, and NSAC, Kizer confronted Sonnen about the false testimony he had given at the December 2, 2010 CSAC hearing. According to Kizer, Sonnen initially deflected Kizer's questions, but when pressed further, admitted that no such conversation had occurred, explaining that "My manager and you talked about therapeutic exemptions, and therefore, I just used the wrong word. I should have said 'my' instead of 'I.' As in 'my manager' instead of 'I'" which Kizer said was a "strange story" and a "ridiculous explanation"^[31] Incidentally, Kizer has acknowledged speaking with Sonnen's manager, Matt Lindland, about TRT, but stated that the conversation concerned only the procedure itself, not the application of any particular fighter.^[32]

CSAC Executive Director, George Dodd has also contradicted Sonnen's testimony, stating that CSAC has no documentation evidencing that Sonnen was approved for TRT, either for October 24, 2009 fight with Okami, or at all.^[33]

As of January 2012^[update], there is no documented approval by CSAC, NSAC or any other state Athletic Commission to corroborate Sonnen's testimony that he has ever been approved for TRT.

Subsequent Suspension by CSAC[link]

Sonnen's abbreviated CSAC suspension expired on March 2, 2011. However, in the third week of April 2011, after working out the details with Kizer, the CSAC announced they had reversed their decision to lower his sentence, placing him on indefinite administrative suspension, due to his conviction for money laundering (see below), and his possibly false testimony during the hearing of December 2, 2010.^[32] Sonnen appeared before the Commission on May 18, 2011 to request that the suspension be lifted. After hearing testimony from Keith Kizer via streaming video, as well as Sonnen and his supporters, CSAC voted 4–1 to uphold Sonnen's indefinite suspension. Two days later, CSAC clarified that the applicable regulations only allowed for Sonnen to be suspended until his existing license expired (i.e., June 29, 2011).^[34] CSAC has stated that should Sonnen apply for a new license after June 29, 2011, he would have to re-appear before CSAC and it remained within the Commission's discretion to deny Sonnen's application.^[35]

Return to UFC[link]

After the expiration of his suspension related to his elevated testosterone/epitestosterone ratio, Sonnen returned to the UFC, defeating Brian Stann in the second round via arm triangle choke on October 8, 2011 at UFC 136.

With Silva expected to be sidelined until mid 2012 recovering from various injuries, Sonnen was expected to face Mark Muñoz on January 28, 2012 at UFC on Fox 2.^[36] However, Muñoz was forced out of the bout with an injury and replaced by Michael Bisping.^[37] He won the fight via unanimous decision.^[38]

A rematch with Anderson Silva was expected to take place on June 23, 2012 at UFC 147.^[39] However, on April 20, according to a published report from Sherdog.com, the bout is now expected to take place on July 7, 2012 at UFC 148, while the expected co-feature of the Brazilian event, a rematch between Vitor Belfort and Wanderlei Silva would headline that event. The changes are due to a scheduling conflict with the UN Conference, Rio+20, which will be occurring during the same time frame as the UFC event.^[40]

Money laundering conviction[link]

Sonnen pled guilty to charges of money laundering in connection with mortgage fraud on January 3, 2011. The maximum sentence is 20 years in prison and a $500,000 fine,^[41] but as a result of his plea and agreeing to cooperate with the investigation into a ring of mortgage fraud (cooperating as a witness against others involved^[42]), Sonnen is expected to receive two years probation, a $10,000 fine, and the revocation of his realtor license.^[43] Sonnen, a licensed realtor in the State of Oregon, admitted that a financial transaction he conducted was designed to conceal or disguise the ownership and control of the proceeds of wire fraud.^[44]

As the agent for a home sale, Sonnen told the title company to pay a plumbing company owned by Sonnen's mother^[45] for repairs, even though he knew that they would not be carried out.^[46] After the mortgage company agreed to the loan, the plumbing company was paid $69,000, and then the plumbing company, at Sonnen's direction, paid the home buyer $65,000.^[47]

Sonnen was fined $10,000 and sentenced to two years of probation.^[48]

Championships and accomplishments[link]

Amateur wrestling[link]

• National Collegiate Athletic Association
  • NCAA Division I All-American out of University of Oregon (1998)^[49][50]
  • NCAA Division I 190 lb – 8th place out of University of Oregon (1998)^[51]
  • Pac-10 Conference 190 lb – 5th place out of University of Oregon (1997)^[52]
• Oregon Wrestling Classic
  • Oregon Wrestling Classic 190 1b – 5th place (1997)^[52]
• University National Greco-Roman Championships
  • University National Greco-Roman Championships 190 1b – 3rd place out of University of Oregon (1997)^[52]
• World University Championships
  • World University Championships Greco-Roman Seniors 85 kg – second place (2000)^[53]
• Dave Schultz Memorial International
  • Dave Schultz Memorial International Greco-Roman Seniors 85 kg – winner (2000)^[54]
  • Dave Schultz Memorial International Greco-Roman Seniors 97 kg – winner (2001)^[55][56]
  • Dave Schultz Memorial International Greco-Roman Seniors 84 kg – third place (2002)^[57]

Mixed martial arts[link]

• Ultimate Fighting Championship
  • Fight of the Night (Two times)
• Gladiator Challenge
  • Gladiator Challenge Light Heavyweight Championship (One time)^[50]
• Hitman Fighting Productions
  • Hitman Light Heavyweight Championship (One time)^[50]
• Danger Zone
  • Danger Zone Light Heavyweight Championship (One time)^[50]
  • Danger Zone Light Heavyweight Tournament Winner
• Rumble at the River
  • Rumble at the River Tournament Winner^[50]
• World MMA Awards
  • Fight of the Year (2010) – Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen
• Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
  • Best on Interviews (2010)^[58]

Mixed martial arts record[link]

See also[link]

• List of male mixed martial artists
• List of sportspeople sanctioned for doping offences

References[link]

External links[link]

• Professional MMA record for Chael Sonnen from Sherdog
• Chael Sonnen profile at the National Wrestling Hall of Fame
• Official UFC Profile
• Mixing Martial Arts Profile

Joe Dolce
Joe Dolce, 2005
Background information
Born	1947 (age 64–65)
Origin	Painesville, Ohio, United States of America
Genres	pop
Occupations	singer-songwriter
Years active	1978–current
Labels	Full Moon/Astor, Hammard, PolyGram
Associated acts	Joe Dolce Music Theatre,
Website	joedolce.net

Joseph "Joe" Dolce^[1] ( /ˈdoʊltʃeɪ/, originally /ˈdoʊlts/; born 1947 in Painesville, Ohio) is an American-born, Australian singer/songwriter who achieved fame with his multi-million-selling song, "Shaddap You Face", released under the name of his one-man show, Joe Dolce Music Theatre, in 1980.^[2][3][4] The single reached number one in 15 countries,^[5] it has sold more than 350,000+ copies in Australia, remaining the most successful Australian produced single in music history for thirty-two years and selling an estimated six million worldwide.^[6] It reached No. 1 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart for eight weeks from November 1980.^[4] The track kept Ultravox's "Vienna" off the number one singles spot in the United Kingdom.^[7]

Biography[link]

Dolce was born in 1947 in Painesville, Ohio and formed various bands including Headstone Circus.^[2] with Jonathan Edwards (musician) who subsequently went on as a solo artist to have a charting hit song in the US 'Sunshine'. Dolce relocated to Melbourne, Australia in 1978 and his first single there was "Boat People"—a protest song on the poor treatment of Vietnamese refugees—which was translated into Vietnamese and donated to the fledgling Vietnamese community starting to form in Melbourne. His one-man show, Joe Dolce Music Theatre, performed in cabarets and pubs with various line-ups including Lin Van Hek as singer/performance artist.^[2]

In July 1980 he recorded the self-penned "Shaddap You Face",^[1] for Full Moon Records label at Mike Brady's new studios in West Melbourne.^[2][6] When in Ohio, Dolce would sometimes visit his Italian grandparents—they supplied the inspiration with "What's the matter, you?" and "Eh, shaddap".^[6] He wrote the song about Italians living in Australia and first performed it at Marijuana House, Brunswick Street, Fitzroy in 1979.^[6] Dolce paid A$500 for the recording and spent $1000 on the music video clip, which was created by Melbourne filmmaker, Chris Lofven. It became a multi-million-selling hit, peaking at No. 1 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart for eight weeks from November 1980,^[4] in UK from February 1981 for three weeks,^[2][7] also No. 1 in Austria,^[8] New Zealand^[9] and Switzerland.^[10][11] Dolce received the Advance Australia Award in 1981.^[12]

Follow up single, "If You Want to Be Happy" charted in Austria (No. 7) and New Zealand (top 40) but not in Australia.^[4][8][9] Dolce's subsequent singles included "Pizza Pizza", "Christmas in Australia" and "You Toucha My Car I Breaka You Face" and he released two albums during this period, 'Shaddap You Face' and 'The Christmas Album'. With Lin Van Hek, he formed various performance groups including Skin the Wig, La Somnambule (1984) and the ongoing Difficult Women (1993).^[2][3] Van Hek and Dolce co-wrote "Intimacy",^[13] for the 1984 film, The Terminator's soundtrack.^[14] He has continued to perform solo shows and with his longtime partner, Van Hek, as part of their music-literary cabaret Difficult Women.

Over the last two years Dolce has achieved recognition as a serious poet and essayist winning the 25th Launceston Poetry Cup in Tasmania and having seventeen poems and eighteen new song-lyrics selected by Les Murray for publication in Quadrant (magazine). Quadrant also published two of his essays: "Biblical Imagery in the Songwriting of the Creative Infidels: Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Nick Cave and Paul Kelly" (Jan-Feb 2012) and "Hey Mr Cowbell Man: Sir Christopher Ricks' Dylan's Visions of Sin" (Mar 2012) with three more due to be published in 2012. He has had poetry, essays and song-lyrics published in Meanjin, Island, Cordite, Eye of the Telescope, Carmenta, Journey, Vine Leaves, Italian Essays and Divan. His first book of poetry HATBOX was released in 2010.

Discography & Books[link]

Albums[link]

• Shaddap You Face (Full Moon, 1981)
• Christmas in Australia (Hammard, 1981)
• Memoirs of a Mouth Organ (1997)
• Difficult Women (1998)
• Steal Away Home (1999)
• FreeLoveDays (2000)
• Flower (2001)
• The Wind Cries Mary (2007)

Singles[link]

• "Boat People" (1979)
• "Shaddap You Face" (Full Moon, 1980)
• "If You Want to Be Happy" (Full Moon, May 1981) AUT No. 7,^[8] NZL No. 33^[9]
  • "Reggae Matilda" (1981)
• "Christmas in Australia" (November 1981)
• "You Toucha My Car I Breaka You Face" (June 1982)
• "Pizza Pizza" (Fable, 1984)
• "Vaffanculo Polka" (February 1989)
• "Dead Cat Bounce" (November 2011)

Books[link]

• HATBOX poetry (2010)

Essays[link]

• Biblical Imagery in the Songwriting of the Creative Infidels: Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Nick Cave and Paul Kelly (2012)
• Hey Mr Cowbell Man: Sir Christopher Ricks' Dylan's Visions of Sin (2012)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Joe Dolce Countdown biography

• Joe Dolce at the Internet Movie Database

Ryan Paris (born Fabio Roscioli,^[1] 12 March 1953, Rome, Italy^[2]) is an artist who gained international popularity in 1983 for the worldwide hit single, "Dolce Vita". It was written and produced by Pierluigi Giombini. Paris continued to release records in the mid 1980s and 1990s, but was never quite able to duplicate the success of his previous hit.

In the United Kingdom the single reached Number 5 in the UK Singles Chart, was released on the Carrere Records label and spent ten weeks in the chart.^[3] Without further chart activity there, Paris remains a one-hit wonder.

See also[link]

• One-hit wonders in the UK

References[link]

External links[link]

• Ryan-paris.com - Official
• Discogs.com - Ryan Paris
• eil.com - Ryan Paris Discography
• FanMusik.com - Ryan Paris
• Fabio Roscioli at the Internet Movie Database

This article about an Italian musician is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Andriy Danylko
Background information
Birth name	Andriy Mykhailovych Danylko
Also known as	Verka Serduchka
Born	(1973-10-02) 2 October 1973 (age 38)
Origin	Poltava, Ukrainian SSR, USSR
Genres	Comedy, Parody, Pop
Occupations	Comedian, Singer
Instruments	Singing
Years active	1998 – present
Labels	CD Land, MamaMusic
Website	http://www.serduchka.com

Andriy Mykhailovych Danylko (Ukrainian: Андрі́й Миха́йлович Дани́лко) (born 2 October 1973 in Poltava, Ukrainian SSR), better known as his drag character Verka Serduchka (Ukrainian: Вєрка Сердючка), is a Ukrainian comedian and pop and dance singer. In the role of Serduchka, he represented Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 and finished in second place. In his career Serduchka has sold over 600,000 records in Ukraine.

Biography[link]

Early career[link]

In 1990, Andriy Danylko started to create the character Verka Serduchka, a flamboyant middle-aged female railroad car steward from a rural family. At a humor contest in Poltava on 4 January 1991, he presented Verka Serduchka publicly for the first time. He invented the character's name by combining the randomly picked first name Verka and the last name of a former school classmate, Anya Serduk.^[1][2] Apart from pop and dance numbers, Danylko has also performed ambient musical compositions under his real name. His popularity, however, is firmly established on the stage personality of Verka Serduchka, and most of his performances are done under this stage name.

Following Verka Serduchka, Danylko created other characters, such as a militsioner, a soldier and a female ballet dancer. In such a fashion, the Danylko Theater was established, touring cities of Russia and Ukraine. In 2002, Danylko, along with his group, toured in the CIS and Baltic countries, showing the program "I am a Revolution" for the whole year. The next year, soon after the Danylko Theater's concert tour, "I Was Born for Love", Andriy Danylko received the title of Honored Artist of Ukraine.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s (decade) he hosted a talk show called "SV-show" ("SV" is an abbreviation for Russian: Спальный Вагон, "Spalniy Vagon", which means sleeping car) on various Ukrainian television channels.^[3]

Eurovision Song Contest 2007[link]

Verka Serduchka with his ensemble in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007.

Verka Serduchka was chosen to represent Ukraine at the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 in Helsinki, Finland, with the song "Dancing Lasha Tumbai",^[4] and the performance finished in second place. Ukraine had been guaranteed an appearance in the final because of the top-ten finish of the previous year's Ukrainian representative, Tina Karol, with her song "Show Me Your Love".

The participation of Andriy Danylko in Eurovision was not without controversy in Ukraine. One of the nationwide FM radio stations organized a protest action in February 2007 to express their disapproval with the selection of Serduchka to represent the country.^[5] Some Ukrainians and even members of the Ukrainian Parliament expressed their disapproval with Serduchka's participation in the contest, because they saw it as "grotesque and vulgar".^[6][7]

Serduchka's song "Dancing Lasha Tumbai" was sung in 4 languages: German, English, Ukrainian, and Russian. The invented words "lasha tumbai" caused some controversy after the performance, because many people noted the phrase's similarity to "Russia Goodbye". In early publicity appearances, Serduchka claimed that "lasha tumbai" was an expression in the Mongolian language for "whipped cream". However, several Mongols on a talk show by Channel One (Russia), which was shown just before the Eurovision Song Contest 2007, stated that there is no phrase "lasha tumbai" in their language, and one of them pronounced the correct Mongolian phrase for "whipped cream".^[8] The Mongolian embassy in Moscow also said that "lasha tumbai" was total gibberish.^[9]

During the performance, Verka Serduchka wore clothes made by the famous company Dolce & Gabanna.^{[citation needed]}

The single for "Dancing Lasha Tumbai" reached #6 in the French charts and went on to be #28 on The Official UK Singles Chart on 20 May 2007. This was the first time a non-UK non-winning Eurovision entry had made UK charts since 1974.

Danylko later made a brief phone-in appearance on the BBC's The Graham Norton Show, in which his comments made no sense whatsoever. Another call was made, but with a translator in the audience. In this instance, Danylko told guest Andrew Lloyd Webber he was "rubbish". However, in an interview with Andrew Williams in the 60 Seconds column of metro.co.uk (30 July 2007), Danylko clarified his meaning:

AW: Why did you call Andrew Lloyd Webber ‘rubbish’ on The Graham Norton Show? AD: Someone interpreted Serduchka wrongly. I meant I watched "Cats: the Musical" on TV. It was boring. You should watch a musical on the stage. Don't watch "Cats" on TV.^[10]

In the same interview, he stated that "lasha tumbai" was a somewhat made-up phrase that sounds like the Mongolian phrase for "milkshake" and that many Russians nevertheless managed to interpret it as saying "Russia goodbye!".^{[citation needed]}

In 2011, a writer from British newspaper The Guardian described "Dancing Lasha Tumbai" as the "best song never to win Eurovision" before going on to describe Serduchka as "an oven-ready Christopher Biggins".^[11]

Personal life[link]

Danylko is reluctant about discussing his private life, but he has stated that he lived with a woman for 8 years, that it was a hard experience for him, and that after the breakup he became more creative again.^[12]

Eurovision 2011[link]

Serduchka had planned to participate in the Ukrainian national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2011. He automatically qualified for the final,^[13] but withdrew his nomination in October 2010.^[14]

Political life[link]

Danylko announced in 2007 that he would front a new political party, "For Ours!", to compete in that year's Ukrainian parliamentary election, but he later abandoned the idea. A public opinion poll in July 2007 placed 'For Ours! Verka Serduchka' at 2% overall support.^[15][16]

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

• Я рождена для любви (Ya rozhdena dlya lyubvi, I was born for love) (1998)
• Гоп-гоп (Hop-hop) (2002)
• Чита дрита (Chita drita) (2003)
• Ха-ра-шо (Kha-ra-sho - Good) (2003)
• Жениха хотела (Zhenikha khotela - I wanted a husband) (2004)
• После тебя (Posle tebya - After you) (2005) (released under the name Danylko: instrumental music)
• Новые песни Верки Сердючки (Novye pesni Verki Serdyuchki - The new songs of Verka Serduchka) (2006)
• Tralli-Valli (2006)
• Dancing Europe (2007)
• DoReMi DoReDo (2008)
• Alles Gut Mamba (2011)

Singles[link]

• Я не поняла (Ya ne ponyala, I didn't understand) (2003)
• Всё будет хорошо (Vsyo budet khorosho, Everything will be fine) (2003)
• Гоп гоп (Hop hop,^[17] Jump jump) (2003)
• Пирожок (Pyrozhok, Pie) (2003)
• Горилка (Horilka) (2003)
• Контролер (Kontroler, Ticket collector) (2003)
• Чита Дрита (Chyta-dryta) (2004)
• Попала На Любовь (Ya popala na lyubov, I Fell in Love) (2004)
• Тук тук тук (Tuk tuk tuk, Knock Knock Knock) (2004)
• Хорошо красавицам ('Tis swell to be a belle) (2006)
• Tralli-valli (2006)
• А я смеюсь (And I'm laughin') (2006)
• Dancing Lasha Tumbai (2007)
• Kiss please (2007)
• I am Eurovision Queen (2008)
• До-ре-ми (Do Re Mi) (2008)
• Essen (2008)
• Dolce & Gabbana (2010)

Dancing Lasha Tumbai Chart position[link]

Other songs[link]

• Переполох (Perepolokh) with Philip Kirkorov (2007)
• Горбачев (Gorbachev) (2008)

• Kafeshka (Café) with Philip Kirkorov
• Kerubino (As Andriy Danylko)
• Новогодняя (Novogodnyaya, (happy) new year). As Andriy Danylko, with Alla Pugacheva and various artists
• Danylko Tango (As Verka Serduchka & Andriy Danylko)
• Dolce & Gabbana (2009)
• I Love You (2010)

DVD[link]

• The Best. Clips of various years (2009)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Verka Serduchka

• "Andriy Danylko's official website" (in English/Russian, it is coming soon as the site says). http://www.serduchka.com/. 
• "Biography" (in Ukrainian). KM Studio. http://www.kmstudio.com.ua/cheremshyna/serdiuchka.htm. 
• "Unofficial Verka Serducka's blog" (in Russian). http://serduchka.org/. 
• "The two faces of Verka Serduchka". Public Radio International. April 7, 2010. http://www.theworld.org/2010/04/the-two-faces-of-verka-serduchka/.