Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! etc.

We all know Ruslana Lyzhychko ( Ukr. Руслана Лижичко, Rus. Руслана Лыжичко) as the crazy shouty, stompy, bangey woman who won Eurovision for Ukraine in 2004. Her 2003 album Wild Dances (Ukr. Дикі танці – Dyki tantsi) was the first ever album to be certified platinum in Ukraine, selling over 100,000 copies. Interestingly this is probably also the number of times Ruslana shouts ‘hey!’ on the album. Talking of ‘hey’, Ukrainians seem to enjoy it so much so there is even a verb heykaty ‘to shout hey’ and a noun heykannya ‘the crying out of hey’. Also, ‘hey’ (гей) in Russian is pronounced and means ‘gay’ (the letter Г is G in Russian, but H in Ukrainian), which lead to some confusion when I was reading through the lyrics of the album and wondering why Ruslana was shouting ‘gay!’ in every song. She does love the gays though probably because she is a closet lesbian, appearing at a number of pride events across Europe and summer camp for gay teens in the Netherlands, something she was widely criticised for in Ukraine.

A fierce Ukrainian nationalist, Ruslana refuses to sing in Russian, and was one of the most high profile supporters of pro-Western Viktor Yushchenko (the one with the face) in the ‘Orange Revolution’ of 2004. Currently she is possibly the most famous woman in Ukraine after intrinsically haired ex-premiere Yuliya Tymoshenko.

Since winning Eurovision she has succeeded in butchering the Wild Dances album by translating it into English and making it more palatable to the Western audience. While t.A.T.u.’s accent has made their English music interesting and given it edge, Ruslana’s (admittedly stronger) accent seems to detract from hers.

www.ruslana.com.ua

LEFT Click to Download Proshchannya z dysko

LEFT Click to Download Wild Dances

LEFT Click to Download Znayu ya

More Ruslana songs



They is limited speculation that Ruslana (who is married) may be a closet lesbian, but there is a Ukrainian singer who’s sexuality is indisputable. That is Andriy Danylko ( Ukr. Андрій Данилко, Rus. Андрей Данилко – Andryey Danilko) who, as his alter ego Verka Serdyuchka (Верка Сердючка), is Ukraine and Russia’s most famous drag act. He sings in Russian and Ukrainian, but mostly in a mixture of both, known as Surzhyk. More flamboyant than Boy George and camper than Graham Norton, it is suprising that Danilko has never openly admitted to being gay and has even denied it.

http://v-serduchka.com/

LEFT CLick to Download Kha-ra-sho (in Russian)

LEFT Click to Download A ya u hay khodyla (in Ukrainian)

More Verka Serdyuchka songs

Don’t worry! I will get back to Russian music soon!

From Russia Israel with Pop

24 year-old Israeli songstress Shiri Maimon (Heb. שירי מימון) landed her country a respectable 4th place at the 2005 Eurovision song contest in Kyiv with the rousing power ballad Hasheket Shenish'ar (Heb. השקט שנשאר, Eng. Time to Say Goodbye). She rose to fame on Israel's version of Pop Idol, Kochav Nolad (Eng. Reach for the Stars), where she secured second place. She went on to win the Israeli Eurovision selection show, Kdam, and become one of the country's biggest stars. In September 2005 she released her self-titled debut album which was a critical and commercial hit. It's a mix of europop, rock and r'n'b. And one of the songs sounds exactly like Kylie Minogue's Red Blooded Woman.

Shiri's Official Site (Hebrew only)

Some Shiri Songs (Zip file)


Sharona and Daniela Pick (Heb. שרונה ודניאלה פיק) known as the Pick Sisters have recently thrown in the musical towel. Their electro stomper Hello Hello was pipped to the post by Shiri Maimon to represent Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest in Kyiv, apparently because they sounded shite live. Oh, and their mother Zvika wrote Dana International's Diva.

Download Hello Hello