1. Ruslana is a World Music Award and Eurovision Song Contest winning recording artist, holding the title of People's Artist of Ukraine.
56 Facts About Ruslana
1. 2.
Ruslana is a former MP serving as deputy in the Ukrainian parliament for the Our Ukraine Party.
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Ruslana is recognized as the most successful Ukrainian female solo artist internationally and was included in the top 10 most influential women of 2013 by the Forbes magazine.
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Ruslana has been named an honorary citizen of her hometown Lviv and was nominated to receive the title Hero of Ukraine.
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Ruslana writes, composes and produces her own songs and music videos.
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Ruslana was the first artist 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.
7.
Ruslana won the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Wild Dances" receiving 280 points, which at that time was a record of points.
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Ruslana's winning song "Wild Dances" dominated the European charts for 97 weeks peaking at number one in Belgium for 10 consecutive weeks.
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Ruslana's Eurovision winning song was included on the official compilation album called The Very Best of Eurovision celebrating the 60th anniversary of the contest.
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Ruslana's repertoire includes songs performed mainly in Ukrainian and English, but she recorded cover versions in Spanish and Latin languages.
11.
Ruslana was born on 24 May 1973 in Lvov, Ukraine, then part of the Soviet Union.
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Ruslana started her career as the winner of the Slavianski Bazaar song competition in Vitebsk, Belarus in 1996 with the song Oj, letili dyki husi.
13.
Since her early career, Ruslana's producer was Oleksandr Ksenofontov, whom she married in 1995.
14.
In 1998, Ruslana was awarded Person of the Year, the song Svitanok was awarded Song of the Year and its accompanying music video was awarded Music Video of the Year.
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In 1995, Ruslana graduated from the Lviv Conservatory as professional conductor and classical pianist.
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Ruslana was the student of one of the most prominent Ukrainian composers and conductors, Mykola Kolessa who is regarded as 'the father of the Ukrainian conducting school'.
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Ruslana used to be a part of the student choir of the Lviv Music Academy.
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Ruslana's father is from the West-Ukrainian area of the Hutsuls, the dwellers of the Ukrainian Carpathian Mountains.
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Ruslana was internally selected by the NTU to represent Ukraine at the Eurovision Song Contest 2004.
20.
Ruslana had been initially chosen to host the semi-final and the grand final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2005.
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Therefore, Ruslana appeared at the event only as a guest star.
22.
Ruslana performed a medley of Wild Dances and Heart on Fire at the opening ceremony being accompanied by the Zhyttia ballet and the Ukrainian drums ensemble ARS Nova.
23.
Also in 2005, Ruslana designed the cover for Jonathan Safran Foer's The Unabridged Pocket Book of Lightning which was produced as part of Penguin Books' 70th birthday celebrations.
24.
In June 2006 Ruslana presented the new single and video Wild Energy in a unique fantasy style.
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On this release Ruslana creates her own distinctive technique of incorporating ancient ethnic styles of the Carpathian Mountain people with modern popular music.
26.
In Grand Theft Auto IV, Ruslana lends her voice as the host of Vladivostok FM.
27.
Ruslana's act was met with great enthusiasm by the Asian public who didn't know her until that moment.
28.
In 2011, Ruslana was appointed as one of the judges of the Ukrainian version of The Voice show.
29.
The album on which Ruslana had worked for four years was produced in the US, Sweden and Ukraine produced by Vlad Debriansky and Ruslana and features musicians such as Rusty Allen, Victor Little, George Benson, Brian Coller and others.
30.
Ruslana integrated old Slavic circle dances, liturgies and elements of classic pieces of Russian composers including Glinka, Tschaikowsky, Mussorgsky, and Rachmaninow.
31.
The new material shows how versatile Ruslana is as an artist as she completely changed her style since the Wild Energy project, from a wild Amazon to an Urban pop princess.
32.
The Swedish singer Loreen won the event with the song Euphoria, one month after Ruslana had released her Ukrainian album and song of the same name.
33.
Ruslana was invited to perform at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2013 which took place in her country's capital Kyiv.
34.
Ruslana was one of the coaches of the first season of the Clash of the Choirs TV show in Ukraine.
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Ruslana was invited as music expert for Eurosong, the Belgian selection for the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest in order to choose the best candidate to represent Belgium at the Eurovision Song Contest 2014.
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Ruslana originally planned on performing only one show however as the tickets sold out within hours, it was decided that she would perform a second concert the next day.
37.
Ruslana was a judge at Vidbir, Ukraine's National Selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2016.
38.
In late 2016, after Jamala's victory at Eurovision in Stockholm, Ruslana played 3 concerts in Western Europe.
39.
The original, exotic manner of singing which forms the basis of the soundtrack Ruslana acquired on sometimes extreme expeditions into the Carpathian Mountains.
40.
Ruslana's aim is the preservation of the Carpathian primeval forests, their unique wildlife, and exceptional culture.
41.
Ruslana declared her support for Viktor Yushchenko during the disputed Ukrainian presidential elections.
42.
Ruslana became one of the prominent figures that addressed the mass crowds rallying in support of Yushchenko's demand that his original defeat be declared fraudulent.
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Ruslana endorsed Yulia Tymoshenko during the 2010 Ukrainian presidential election and actively supported her candidature during the election campaign.
44.
Ruslana was one of the leading figures of the pro-EU protests known as Euromaidan.
45.
In total Ruslana spent at least 100 days and 100 nights on the Maidan stage during the cold winter inspiring the crowds, giving speeches and singing the Ukraine national anthem every hour day after day and night after and night, often sleeping just a couple of hours on the floor of the Trade Union building occupied by the protesters.
46.
When during the night of 30 November 2013 the riot police wanted to clear the occupied Maidan and started beating up peacefully sleeping activists, Ruslana rushed for help and managed to seek shelter with about 100 students, some of them wounded, in a nearby monastery.
47.
From January 2014, Ruslana started to meet with key EU and US politicians asking for support for Ukraine.
48.
Ruslana received numerous death threats on her phone, her car was followed and she couldn't live in her house for several weeks because it was constantly observed.
49.
Ruslana had noted the presence of paid provocateurs who have instigated fights in the otherwise peaceful protests.
50.
On 24 May 2014, the day before the presidential election in Ukraine which happened to be her birthday, Ruslana organized a global joint prayer which involved one million people in several countries highlighting the unity of Ukrainians across the world and the global support for Ukraine.
51.
Ruslana herself read the prayer "For Ukraine, for peace and quiet" and performed the Ukraine national anthem in 12 languages on Mount Khomyak in the Carpathian Mountains.
52.
In 2004 to 2005 Ruslana was appointed Good Will Ambassador of Ukraine by the UNICEF and combats trafficking in human beings.
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Ruslana released two video clips which aim to make potential victims aware of the dangers of human trafficking.
54.
In February 2008 Ruslana performed at an anti-human trafficking event in Vienna, Austria, organized by UN.
55.
Ruslana has staged numerous charity concerts benefiting Children's hospitals in Kyiv, Lviv and Dnipropetrovsk.
56.
Ruslana wants to make people aware of the dangers of global climate change.