Jamala

Originally from the Crimea, Susana Jamaladinova was born in Osh, Kyrgyzstan, on August 27, 1983, and developed a passion for music from an early age, joining a Crimean Tatar folk group at the age of 9. As she grew up, she discovered the piano and obtained a diploma in this discipline from the Kiev School of Music. After entering the Simferopol Conservatory, she decided to specialize in opera, where she intended to make the most of her vocal skills. But she then took an unexpected turn towards pop and jazz, releasing two studio albums and one live album between 2011 and 2013. Three years later, she represented Ukraine at the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest, winning with her song "1944". The song recalls the deportation of the Crimean Tatars in 1944, and in particular the memories of her great-grandmother, who was locked up with her four sons and daughter while her husband fought against the Nazis in the Soviet army. While the Crimean peninsula has been annexed by its Russian neighbor since 2014, Jamala's victory has given Ukraine a real political platform.