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Playlist The Semi-Final of the
ESC Istanbul 2004:
http://smarturl.it/x6vxzy
Writer(s): Aleksandr Ksenofontov
Composer(s):
Ruslana
Ruslana Stepanivna Lyzhychko (
Ukrainian:
Руслана Степанівна Лижичко,
Ruslana Stepanivna Lyžyčko; born on 24 May
1973), known mononymously as Ruslana, is a
World Music Award winning and
MTV Europe Music Award nominated artist, and the winner of the
Eurovision Song Contest 2004.
Holding the title of
People's Artist of Ukraine. She is also a former MP serving as deputy in the
Ukrainian parliament (
Verkhovna Rada) for the
Our Ukraine Party. Ruslana is the
UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in
Ukraine. She is recognized as the most successful Ukrainian female solo artist internationally.
She is a singer, songwriter, producer, musical conductor, pianist, dancer, voice actress and social activist. She writes, composes and produces her own songs and music videos. Since
28 December 1995 she has been married to
Oleksandr Ksenofontov, a Ukrainian record producer.
Together they have run the company Luxen
Studio since
1993, producing radio and film trailers.
Ruslana was the first artist emerging from the former
Soviet Union to officially receive a platinum disc, her
Dyki tantsi album selling more than 170,
000 copies in the first
100 days after its release even without a supporting tour. This album is the best selling Ukrainian album to date, together with its
English version, more than 800,000 copies being sold solely in Ukraine.
She won the
2004 Eurovision Song Contest with the song
Wild Dances receiving 280 points, which at that time was a record of points.
Following her victory, she rose to fame in
Europe and became one of the biggest pop stars from the Eastern part of the continent. Her winning song Wild Dances has dominated the
European charts for 97 weeks peaking at number one in
Belgium for 10 consecutive weeks.
Later that year, she received a World Music Award in
Las Vegas.
Also in 2004, she was among the top 15 performers in a ranking conducted in Belgium with her
singles "Wild Dances" and "
Dance with the Wolves". Ruslana was named the most popular person in Belgium, the sexiest girl in
Greece, the most influential public person in Ukraine and was the first foreigner who received the award of the
Federation of Journalists in
Turkey.
In
2006, her song "Wild Dances" has been named the best ever Eurovision winning song by a survey arranged by the
German public television broadcaster
ARD. During 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 (at the time),
Ein Bißchen Frieden, which finished sixth and twelfth, respectively. The programme was viewed by a television audience of approximately six million people in Germany.
In 2008 she was elected by
Rockstar Games to act as DJ Ruslana in the world famous
American video game
Grand Theft Auto IV. The Ukrainian version of her song Wild Dances has been featured on the soundtrack of the game and became one of the most popular tunes among the fans. Grand Theft Auto IV broke the
Guinness World Records for "
Highest grossing video game in 24 hours" and "Highest
Revenue Generated by an
Entertainment Product in
24 Hours". It sold 3.6 million copies on day one, which equalled roughly $
310 million in revenue. Also in 2008, she signed a major contract with
Warner Music for the worldwide release of her second international album called
Wild Energy.
In 2009, she was invited to attend the 6th
Asia Song Festival which took place in
Seoul, Korea. Even if she was supposed to receive only an award for her contribution to the cultural exchange between Ukraine and
Asia in music, in the end she also won the main award of the festival, receiving the golden statue for the best artist of the Asia Song Festival 2009.
The song was remembered for an energetic performance, which Ruslana gave in a leather outfit, inspired by ethnic tradition of Ukraine.The work on the song lasted for about 3 months. Editing and sound engineering was done by Ruslana together with specialists from
Kiev,
London and
New York. The recording was done together with a guitarist from
Cool Before, and an ex-trumpet player from
Zdob Si Zdub.
The wild drumming part (in terms of drive and rhythm) was done by Ruslana herself. Ukrainian and English lyrics of the song, as well as the chorus and melody, suffered significant changes since the initial stage.
The song was bought with exclusive copyright in
Vietnam by
Hồ Quỳnh Hương, a very famous
Vietnamese female pop star who performs it in Vietnamese as Vũ điệu hoang dã.
American gymnast and
2011 world champion
Jordyn Wieber uses this song for her floor exercise music.
Official Web
Site: http://www.eurovision.tv
© 2004
European Broadcasting Union.
All rights reserved.
- published: 17 Oct 2013
- views: 79676