white dress

Polina Gagarina

© EBU/Andres Putting About Quick Facts NamePolina Sergeyevna Gagarina Born27 March 1987 Nationality🇷🇺 Russian National SelectionInternal selection 2015 In Eurovision2015 Vienna SongA Million Voices (2015) Biography Polina Sergeyevna Gagarina, born on March 27, 1987 in Moscow, is a Russian pop singer, film and television actress, voice actress, dubbing artist, composer, and photo model. Polina Gagarina spent her childhood in Greece. Her mother, a professional dancer, signed a contract with a Greek producer in 1991 to work as a ballet artist at “Alsos” in Athens. Gagarina lived there for three years and started her first grade in September 1993. During summer vacation in Russia, at her grandmother’s insistence, she stayed with her in Saratov. She enrolled in a music school. After the contract with the Greek producer ended, Gagarina’s mother returned to Moscow, where Polina also moved. After graduating from the music school, at the age of 14, Gagarina entered the State Music School of Pop and Jazz Art. In 2003, at the age of 16, Gagarina participated in the television project Star Factory-2. She emerged as the winner of the competition. After the project ended, Gagarina decided to discontinue her collaboration with Fadeev. In the spring of 2011, the music show Narodnaya Zvezda-4 (People’s Star-4) started in Ukraine, where selected participants from the public performed duets with stars from the Russian and Ukrainian music scenes. Gagarina sang with Mikhail Dimov from Odessa. In April 2011, a youth series titled Bolshie Nadezhdy (Great Expectations) was released on the Russian MTV, with Gagarina’s song “Ya Obezhayu” as the official soundtrack. In August 2011, Gagarina received the “Golden Gramophone” award for her song “Ya Tebya Ne Proshu Nikogda” from Russkoe Radio Ukraine. Later that year, she released the single “Oskolki” along with its music video. In January 2012, Gagarina released a new single titled “Spektakl Okonchen”, accompanied by a music video. In the spring, the Ukrainian TV series Katina Lyubov premiered, featuring Gagarina’s song “Vernis Lyubov” as its soundtrack. In June, Fabrika Zvyozd returned on Channel One in Russia, with the theme “Russia vs. Ukraine.” Popular participants from Russia and Ukraine competed in musical battles to determine which team was better. Gagarina won three out of four battles, contributing to Russia’s victory. She also became an ambassador for the 2013 Summer Universiade held in Kazan. In August, Gagarina released the single “Net”, followed by the music video on August 31. On September 29, she won the RU.TV award in the category of “Best Ringtone” for the song “Spektakl Okonchen”. During the summer of 2012, Gagarina voiced the character Mavis in the animated film Hotel Transylvania. On December 1, she received the Golden Gramophone award for “Spektakl Okonchen”. She also participated in the Pesnya Goda 2012 (Song of the Year 2012) telefest, becoming a multiple award winner. On December 3, “Spektakl Okonchen” was recognized as one of the top 20 songs of 2012 on the project “Krasnaya Zvezda”. In the same year, Gagarina became one of the hosts of the talk show Vkusno Zhit. At the Zvukovaya Dorozhka 2013 ceremony held on April 19 at the Izvestia Hall in Moscow, Gagarina won the “Sexy ZH” prize. On May 25, 2013, at the RU.TV Awards, she won the category of Best Female Performer. On June 7, 2013, she won the Breakthrough of the Year award at the MUZ-TV channel. On June 17, at the annual Fashion People Awards-2013 ceremony, Gagarina was named the Fashion singer. On July 22, 2013, she released a new single titled “Navek”. She received her second Golden Gramophone award for “Net”. On April 14, 2014, the song “Shagay” premiered. On November 12, Gagarina released her first single, “DAY,” from her English-language album, a collaboration with Anton Belyaev, a member of the group Therr Maitz. On March 11, 2015, Channel One announced that Gagarina would represent Russia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 with the song “A Million Voices.” Shortly before that, she participated in the celebrity impersonation show Toch-v-Toch (Exactly Like) as a contestant. On May 19, 2015, she won first place in the first semifinal of Eurovision with 182 points. On May 23, 2015, in the Eurovision final, she achieved second place. From June 2015, Gagarina ended her collaboration with producer and composer Konstantin Meladze. In September 2015, Gagarina became one of the coaches on the TV show The Voice on Channel One. In October 2015, she released the new single “Ya Ne Budu” along with its music video. In September 2016, she returned as a coach on The Voice. In 2018, Gagarina was registered as a trusted person of Vladimir Putin. During the 2018 presidential elections, she joined the Putin Team movement, which supported Putin. In 2018, she also served as a trusted person for Sergei Sobyanin, a candidate for the Mayor of Moscow. Since 2018, Gagarina has been a member of the Council for Culture and Art under the President of the Russian Federation. According to Forbes, in 2020, Polina Gagarina ranked second in the list of Russian Instagram bloggers in terms of earnings, with a reported income of $0.89 million. She publicly supports Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. On March 18, 2022, she performed at the Luzhniki stadium during a rally-concert commemorating the anniversary of the annexation of Crimea, titled “Za mir bez natsizma! Za Rossiyu! Za Prezidenta!” (For peace without Nazism! For Russia! For the President!). In March 2022, Latvia and Estonia banned Gagarina from entering their countries due to her support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. On January 7, 2023, amidst Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Gagarina was included in Ukraine’s sanctions list for “supporting Russian occupiers and the cruel war by Russia against Ukraine.” The sanctions involve asset freezes, a complete cessation of commercial operations, and a halt to fulfilling economic and financial obligations. In November 2022, her concerts in Kazakhstan were canceled due to her support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. On February 3, 2023, Gagarina was added to Canada’s sanctions list for her involvement in spreading Russian disinformation and propaganda. Entries A Million

SuRie

© EBU/Andres Putting About Quick Facts NameSusanna Marie Cork Born18 February 1989 Nationality???????? British National SelectionEurovision: You Decide 2018 In Eurovision2018 Lisbon SongStorm (2018) Biography SuRie is an English singer and songwriter. She was born in Harlow, Essex and raised in Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire. As a child soloist, she sang in front of Charles, prince of Wales. She submitted a song to the national selection for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest but was not selected. Growing older, she graduated from the Royal Academy of Music in London, where she was trained classically. She provided backing vocals and was a dancer for Belgian Eurovision artist Loïc Nottet in 2015 and was the musical director of Blanche in the 2017 contest. In 2016, SuRie released her first album “Something beginning with….”. She represented the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 in Lisbon, Portugal, with her song “Storm” and finished 24th. Her performance was interrupted by a man who grabbed the microphone to make his own political statement. SuRie was offered to perform again, but she declined. A year after Eurovision, SuRie released her second album “Out of universe”. In 2020, she released a christmas record, “Last christmas”; her own version of the Wham! song. In February 2021 her single “Only you and I” was released. Entries Storm Country???????? United Kingdom Year2018 LanguageEnglish LyricsNicole BlairGil LewisSean Hargreaves MusicNicole BlairGil LewisSean Hargreaves BackingsCharlotte ChurchmanDebby BracknellMark DeLisser Results Semi Points: –Position: –Running order: – Results Finals Points: 48Position: 24Running order: 9 https://youtu.be/8dmlXBBC6J8 Note that this is the live version from the Grand Final. The EBU also published the version of the General Dress Rehearsal, as it was not interrupted.

Kasia Moś

© EBU/Andres Putting About Quick Facts NameKatarzyna Moś Born03 March 1987 Nationality???????? Polish National SelectionKrajowe Eliminacje 2017Krajowe Eliminacje 2016Piosenka dla Europy 2006 In Eurovision2017 Kyiv SongFlashlight (2017) Biography Katarzyna Moś is a Polish singer, composer, songwriter and social activist. She was born in 1987 in Ruda Śląska. Katarzyna graduated from the Secondary Music School Fryderyk Chopin in Bytom in cello and piano. At the beginning of her career, she collaborated with the bands Stetsons, Big Band Lotharsi and The Fire. She graduated in vocals at the Faculty of Jazz and Popular Music. In 2002, she recorded her first music demo, thanks to which she was noticed by Robert Janson. He wrote the song “I wanna know” for her, with which she participated in the 2006 national final for the Eurovision Song Contest. In 2008–2009, she played Judas in The Passion with the Philharmonic Witold Lutosławski in Wrocław. In 2011, she went to Las Vegas. After returning to Poland, she recorded a few demo songs, then returned to Las Vegas to participate in auditions organized by Robin Antin, founder of the girl band The Pussycat Dolls. Soon she played a concert at the Viper Room club owned by actor Johnny Depp. During the six-month contract, she cooperated with Kelly Osbourne, Mýa and Carmen Electra, as well as with Eva Longoria. After returning to Poland in 2012, she played the role of Cordelia in King Lear staged as part of the Sacrum Profanum festival. She participated in the third edition of Polsatu Must Be the Music. She took third place in the final. At that time she recorded the song “Uwierz”with the band Tax Free. In October 2015, she released her debut studio album entitled “Inspination”. She promoted the album with the single “Addiction”. With that song, she became 6th in the national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest. In 2017, with the song “Flashlight”, she won the Polish national selection and thus became the representative of Poland in the 62nd Eurovision Song Contest. The song reached the final and became 22nd. On June 1, she played a concert in the Warsaw club “Progresja”, during which she presented new songs, including the song “Body”. Also in 2017, she participated in the tv show Your face sounds familiar [37]. In October of that year, she teamed up with the Finnish duo Norma John to record the song “Wild Eyes”. In 2018, she released a music video for the songs “Wild Eyes” and “Przecież”, which she created with Artur Andrus and Kuba Badach. In the years 2018–2020 she performed in the spectacle tour in the series Koncert muzyki filmowej. On May 21, 2021, she released an album entitled “Moniuszko 200”, which she recorded with the Aukso Orchestra. Entries Flashlight Country???????? Poland Year2017 LanguageEnglish LyricsKasia MośPete BarringerRickard Bonde Truumeel MusicKasia MośPete BarringerRickard Bonde Truumeel BackingsMateusz Moś (violinist) Results Semi Points: 119Position: 9Running order: 11 Results Finals Points: 64Position: 22Running order: 2 https://youtu.be/xVCokUW3BUo

Anna Odobescu

© EBU/Andres Putting About Quick Facts NameAnna Odobescu Born03 December 1991 Nationality???????? Moldavian National SelectionO Melodie Pentru Europa 2019 In Eurovision2019 Tel Aviv SongStay (2019) Biography Anna Odobescu is a Moldovan singer, born in Dubăsari. She graduated from the faculty of jazz and pop in Tiraspol and the Academy of music and fine art in Chisinau. Anna won several musical awards and won the Martisoare Dorohian Festival in 2012. She also took part in the Slavic Bazaar festival in 2015, as well as in the Russian version of The Voice. In 2018, she participated in the national final for the Eurovision Song Contest with the song “Agony” and reached the 5th place. Reason enough to participate again in 2019. In that year she won and represented Moldova in the Eurovision Song Contest with the song “Stay”. On stage, she was accompanied by sand artist Kseniya Simonova. In 2020, she appeared in the Netflix movie Eurovision Song Contest: the story of fire saga. She also released two singles: “Dreaming” and “My oh my”. Entries Stay Country???????? Moldova Year2019 LanguageEnglish LyricsGeorgios KalpakidisThomas ReilJeppe ReilMaria Broberg MusicGeorgios KalpakidisThomas ReilJeppe ReilMaria Broberg BackingsMihaela AndreiAndrei ŞtefăneţAndreea PortarescuKseniya Simonova (sand artist) Results Semi Points: 85Position: 12Running order: 3 Results Finals Points: –Position: –Running order: – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mo207V5Z2o

Katerine Duska

© EBU/Andres Putting About Quick Facts NameKaterine Duska Born06 November 1989 Nationality???????? Greece National SelectionInternal selection 2019 In Eurovision2019 Tel Aviv SongBetter love (2019) Biography Katerina Duska is a Greek-Canadian singer and songwriter. She was born and raised in Montreal, Canada and lives in Pagrati, Athens. She studied law, but didn’t finish the studies. In 2014, Katerina Duska released her debut single “One in a Million”, followed by “Won’t leave” in 2015. Both songs can be found on her first album entitled “Embodiment” in 2016 . In December 2018, she appeared in a concert with musician Petros Klabanis. The song “Fire away” was selected by Nescafe Canada to be used in its advertising campaign. Katerina Duska has collaborated with many international artists such as LP, Albin Lee Meldau, Tom Baxter, Yasmine Hamdan, Oddisee and Kadebostany. She has performed on major stages and festivals in Greece and Europe such as The O2 Academy London, Rockwave Festival, and the Sofarsound’s / Amnesty International’s “Give a home” international festival. She has participated in the festivals of the Cultural Center – Stavros Niarchos Foundation and in concerts at the Athens Concert Hall. In 2019, ERT asked Katerine Duska to represent Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest. She accepted the offer and went to Tel Aviv to sing the song “Better love”, which became 21st in the grand final. In 2020, Katerina released a song together with Leon of Athens, “Anemos”, followed by solo singles “Sanctuary” and “Call me nyx”, “Athenian skies” in 2021 and “Of time” in 2022. Entries Better love Country???????? Greece Year2019 LanguageEnglish LyricsKaterine DuskaDavid Sneddon MusicKaterine DuskaLeon of AthensDavid SneddonPhil Cook BackingsErasmia MarkidiEleni PozantzidouEvgenia LiakouDimitra VlachouFania Grigoriou Results Semi Points: 185Position: 5Running order: 16 Results Finals Points: 74 Position: 21Running order: 13 https://youtu.be/5pQV_-40m_U