THIS YEAR'S ENTRY

Ukraine may only have made its Eurovision debut in 2003, but in just five years, they have won the contest, come close to winning and have successfully hosted the competition. This year, the Ukrainian entry is once again among the favourites to win the contest.  

Having come close to singing the home country's entry in 2005, when Ukraine staged the Eurovision Song Contest, Ukrainian television announced in late December that Ani Lorak, one of the country's most successful singers would represent the country at Eurovision in Belgrade and that the public and a jury would choose the song. On February 23rd, Ani performed five potential entries, in a special show and the winner, chosen by both the public and by the jury was "Shady Lady", written by top Russian songwriters Philip Kirkorov and Karen Kavaleryan.

Ani Lorak was born in the small town of Kitsman, Chernovitska oblast, Ukraine on September 27th 1978. In 1992, she participated in the popular Pervotsvit (Cowslip) contest  and won. As a result, at the age of just fourteen she signed her first professional contract and Karolina became known as Ani Lorak in March 1995. She had to invent her stage name when she participated in the "Morning Star" contest, a popular television show in Moscow. There was another Russian singer with the name Karolina already enrolled in the competition, so our Karolina saved the situation having read her name backwards. That's how her present stage name Ani Lorak has come into existence.

At the age of 19 Ani was awarded with title of the Honoured Artist of Ukraine, having becoming thee youngest ever singer to get this rank. It was the blossoming of a hugely successful career as Ani went on to win a large number of prizes She has four Gold Discs based on sales of her albums "Tam De Ty Ye" (There, Where You Are), "Ani Lorak", "Smile", and "Rozkazhy…" (Tell me…). She is the winner of prestigious international and Ukrainian festivals and ratings, including the "Morning Star" television contest (Moscow, 1996), and the Grand-Prix winner of the "Big Apple Music - 96" global competition of young singers in New York. Ani Lorak has been repeatedly recognized as the Singer of the Year in Ukraine. Her credits include ten albums, one single, a biographical film, and 24 video clips.

Ani's artistic talent goes far beyond singing: she is a successful actress, most famously playing Zemfira in the "Tsygany" (Gypsy) musical. Ani has also played a medical service lieutenant in the musical film "Take Your Overcoat", Oksana in the musical film "Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka", Fanchette in the musical film "Crazy Day or the Marriage of Figaro", dubbed the Baby in the Norwegian animated film "Karlson on the Roof" (2006), and later - two characters at once - those of the Kitty and the Little Bee of the Estonian cartoon "Lotte from Gadgetville" in 2007. Ani Lorak provided support in the publishing three books for children and she also is the producer of her own brand label. She owns the Angel-Lounge restaurant in the centre of Kyiv.

Ani also spends a lot of time on charitable activities. In 2004-2005 Ani Lorak has been a U.N. Goodwill Ambassador on HIV/AIDS in Ukraine. UNICEF and UN in Ukraine have awarded a commendation to Ani Lorak for assistance and help with HIV positive citizens of Ukraine. In 2005, she was conferred with the St. Stanislav Order of the 4th degree and the Officer's Cross "for strengthening the international authority of Ukraine, for the high professionalism, great creative achievements, charity and adherence to the ideals of chivalry".

In 2005, Ani made her first attempt to perform at the Eurovision Song Contest and was virually certain to sing the home country's entry in Kyiv, until a late change in the selection rules allowed the theme tune to the "Orange Revolution" become a late entry into the selection and public opinion being what it was, it became Ukrain'e Eurovision entry. Now Ani Lorak finally gets her chance at Eurovision. She is a worthy representative of Ukraine on the global music market as she has already given performances on the stages of the UK the USA, France, Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Turkey. And, she is not going to stop at that. Her next plans are to reach the European and global audience, and Eurovision provide the best opportunity to start the next phase of her career. 

The songwriters behind "Shady Lady" come with a lot of Eurovision experience. Composer Philip Kirkorov is one of the biggest stars on the Russian music scene, and has won countless awards and recognition for sales of his music. In 1995 he competed at the Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin, finishing 17th and has since been involved in the production of several Eurovision entries and last year wrote the music for "Work That Magic", the first entry from Belarus, to finish in the Top 10.

The lyrics of "Shady Lady " were written by Russian songwriter Karen Kavaleryan, who also wrote the words for "Never Let You Go", the Russian runner-up in the 2006 in Athens and who previously wrote "Northern Girl", the Russian entry in Tallinn in 2002. Last year Karen entered the Eurovision record books when he wrote the lyrics of two songs which finished in the Top 10 in Helsinki; "Work That Magic" for Belarus and "Anytime You Need" for Armenia. 

Since being chosen, "Shady Lady" has been one of the favourites to win the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest and it is also among the favourites in most fan polls.

SAMPLE LYRICS