Alyosha

Olena Oleksandrivna Kucher, professionally known as Alyosha and more recently as Olena Topolia, is a Ukrainian singer, composer, and songwriter born on May 14, 1986, in Zaporizhzhia. 

Olena’s musical journey began in her childhood. She was born to a traffic officer, Oleksandr Mykolayovych Kucher, and an aviation plant worker, Lyudmyla Fedorivna Kucher. Her early years were marked by family activities such as helping her father sell fish and participating in her brothers’ karate and kung fu training sessions, earning her the nickname Lyoshka.

Her formal music education started early, singing in a school choir and attending the “Youth” music studio. She later honed her skills by graduating from the Faculty of Pop Vocal at the Kyiv National University of Culture and Arts.

Olena’s breakthrough came in 2006 when she won the international competition Yalta 2006, featuring contestants from 14 countries. Two years later, she triumphed at the International TV Competition Songs of the Sea, competing against representatives from 12 countries, including the USA and Poland.

In 2010, Olena won the national selection for Eurovision with the song “To be free,”. The song, however, was withdrawn following plagiarism accusations. Instead, she sang the song “Sweet people”. Her performance in Oslo earned her a spot in the final, where she finished tenth. That same year, she released her English-language album “A World Outside Your Door” in the USA under Sony BMG.

Olena’s career continued to flourish. In 2011, she was named “Singer of the Year” in Ukraine’s Favorites of Success rating. Known for her impressive four-octave vocal range, she has written many of her own songs and composed for other artists, including Nataliia Mohylevska and the duo Oleksiy Potapenko and Anastasiia Kamenskykh.

Her album “Tocka na karte” (Point on the Map), released in 2015, and the song “Poruch” (Nearby) in 2016, showcased her versatility. The music video for her song “Kalyna,” released in 2017, became a YouTube sensation with about 7 million views in a year. The song earned her several nominations and wins at the M1 Music Awards and the “Golden Firebird” awards in 2018.

In 2019, Olena embarked on the “Poruch” tour, performing in 20 cities across Ukraine. She also collaborated with Vlad Darwin, releasing the joint album “Golden Mean” and the song “Happiness Without Guilt.”

In 2023, she performed at Eurovision again, this time as an interval act in a duet with Rebecca Ferguson, singing “Ordinary World.” Later that year, she transitioned from her stage name Alyosha to perform under her real name, Olena Topolia, marking a new chapter in her illustrious career.