Verka Serduchka

Infobox musical artist
Name = Andriy Danylko


Img_size =
Background = solo_singer
Birth_name = Andriy Mykhailovych Danylko
Alias = Verka Serduchka
Born = birth date and age|1973|10|2
Origin = Poltava, Ukraine
Instrument = Singing
Genre = Pop
Occupation = Singer
Years_active = 1998 – present
Label = CD Land
Associated_acts =
URL = http://www.serduchka.com

Andriy Mykhailovych Danylko ( _uk. Андрій Михайлович Данилко) (born 2 October 1973 in Poltava, Ukraine), better known as his drag character Verka Serduchka ( _uk. 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.

Biography

Early career

In 1990, Andriy Danylko started to create the character Verka Serduchka, a flamboyant middle aged woman and train conductor. At a humor contest in Poltava on 1991-04-01, 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 real last name of a former school classmate, Anya Serduk.cite web|url=http://www.kp.ru/daily/23171/25154/|title=Danylko become Serduchka because of school girlfriend|publisher=kp.ru|date=2003-12-04|language=Russian] [cite web|url=http://www.marusia.ru/show2000/12-02.html|title=Interview with Verka Serduchka-Danylko|first=Elena|last=Ryzancheva|language=Russian] Apart from pop and dance numbers, Danylko has also appeared under his real name, performing ambient musical compositions. 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, Andriy Danylko created other characters, such as a policeman, a soldier and a female ballet dancer. In such a fashion, the Danilko Theater was established, touring the cities of Russia and Ukraine. In 2002, Andriy 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 he hosted a talk show called "SV-show" ("SV" is an abbreviation for _ru. Спальный Вагон, "Spalniy Vagon", which means "sleeping car") on various Ukrainian television channels. [cite web|url=http://www.liveinternet.ru/users/serduchka/|title=Danylko's biogrpahy|language=Russian]

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" cite web|url=http://www.podrobnosti.ua/culture/music/2007/03/10/404185.html |title=Verka Serduchka went to the Eurovision-2007 song contest |accessdate= |accessmonthday=March 17 |accessyear=2007 |work=Podrobnosti.ua |language=Russian |publisher=] , and finished in second place. Ukraine was guaranteed an appearance in the final, thanks to the top-ten finish of the previous year's Ukrainian representative Tina Karol with the 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 [cite web|url=http://www.ntn.tv/news/ukraine/07/02/23/10/53.html |title=«No to Euroserduchka!» - protest action of an FM radio station|accessdate= |accessmonthday=May 10 |accessyear=2007 |publisher=NTN (Channel) |language=Ukrainian|publisher=] . Some Ukrainians and even members of the Ukrainian Parliament expressed their disapproval with Serduchka's participation in the contest, which they saw as "grotesque and vulgar." [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6516927.stm |title=Eurovision act angers Ukrainians |accessdate= |accessmonthday=May 11 |accessyear=2007 |work=BBC News |language=English|publisher=] [cite web|url=http://ua.korrespondent.net/main/68684 |title=Eurovision: Verka Serduchka will disgrace Ukraine |accessdate= |accessmonthday=May 11 |accessyear=2007 |publisher=Korrespondent |language=Ukrainian]

Serduchka's song "Dancing Lasha Tumbai" was sung in 5 languages: German, English, Ukrainian, Russian and the invented words "lasha tumbai". In early publicity, 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". [cite web|url=http://gpu-ua.info/index.php?&id=162058 |title=Russian Channel One Takes Offence at Verka Serduchka |accessdate= |accessmonthday=May 21|accessyear=2007 |work=Ukrainian Newspaper |language=Ukrainian|publisher=] The Mongolian embassy in Moscow also said that "lasha tumbai" was total gibberish. [" [http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/070512/entertainment/afpentertainment_ukraine Ukrainian drag queen a front-runner at Eurovision] " Retrieved on May 21, 2007.]

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 charted in the UK since 1974.

Danylko then made a brief phone-in appearance on the BBCs "The Graham Norton Show", in which his comments made no sense whatsoever. Another call was made, but with a translator in the audience, who 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. [cite web|url=http://www.metro.co.uk/fame/interviews/article.html?in_article_id=59149&in_page_id=11|title=60 SECONDS: Verka Serduchka|publisher=metro.co.uk]

In the same interview, he admitted 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!", which caused somewhat of a controversy in Russia as well.

Eurovision 2009?

Verka has confirmed that he would like to represent the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009. [http://www.esctime.com/news/1014]

Personal life

Danylko is known to be not too talkative about his personal life, but he stated that he has lived with a woman for 8 years, though that it was a hard experience for him, and after the breakup he became more creative again. [cite web|url=http://www.gay.ru/news/rainbow/2005/01/19c.htm |title=Andriy Danylko: "I had a difficult experience living together with a woman..." |accessdate= |accessmonthday=May 13 |accessyear=2007 |language=Russian |publisher=Gay.ru]

Political life

Danylko announced in 2007 that he would front a new political party, "For Ours!", to compete in that year's Ukrainian parliamentary election, but later abandoned the idea. A public opinion poll in July 2007 placed 'For Ours! Verka Serduchka' at 2% overall support. [cite web|url=http://www.pravda.com.ua/en/news/2007/7/31/8463.htm|title=Socialists Lose Their Rating|language=English|date=2007-07-31|publisher=Ukrayinska Pravda] [cite web|url=http://www.russiatoday.ru/news/news/13012|title=Ukraine’s election campaign: mired in scandal|language=English|date=2007-08-25|publisher=Russia Today]

Discography

Albums

* Я рождена для любви ("Ya rozhdena dlya lyubvi", "I was born for love") (1998)
* Гоп-гоп ("Gop-gop") (2002)
* Чита дрита ("Chita drita") (2003)
* Ха-ра-шо ("Kha-ra-sho" - "Good") (2003)
* Жениха хотела ("Zhenija khotela" - "I wanted a boyfriend") (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)

ingles

*Всё будет хорошо ("Vse budet horosho", "Everything will be fine") (2003)
*Гоп гоп ("Hop hop" [Also spelled "Gop gop"] , "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 lubov", "I Fell in Love") (2004)
*Тук тук тук ("Tuk tuk tuk", "Knock Knock Knock") (2004)
*Horosho krasavitsam (2006)
*Tralli-valli (2006)
*A ja smejus' (2006)
*"Dancing Lasha Tumbai (2007)
*"Kiss please" (2007)
*"I am Eurovision Queen" (2008)
*До-ре-ми ("Do Re Mi") (2008)

Dancing Lasha Tumbai Chart position

Other Songs

*Переполох ("Perepoloh") 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)

References

ee also

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uw_6kcTE_5w Video of song "Dancing lasha tumbai"]
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