Mariya Nazarivna Yaremchuk (Ukrainian: Марія Назарівна Яремчук; born 2 March 1993), also transliterated as Maria Yaremchuk, is a Ukrainian singer. Yaremchuk represented Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 held in Copenhagen, Denmark. She finished 6th in the grand final out of 26 countries.[1]

Mariya Yaremchuk
Марія Яремчук
Mariya Yaremchuk (2014)
Background information
Birth nameMariya Nazarivna Yaremchuk
Also known asMaria Yaremchuk
Born (1993-03-02) 2 March 1993 (age 31)
Chernivtsi, Ukraine
GenresPop, pop-folk
Occupation
  • singer
Years active2012–2018 (on hiatus)
2023 (brief return)

Early life

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Yaremchuk was born in Chernivtsi and is the daughter of People's Artist of Ukraine and singer, musician Nazariy Yaremchuk and his second wife, Darina.[2] Mariya was named after her paternal grandmother.[3] Yaremchuk's father died of stomach cancer when she was two years old. Friends and family have stated that Mariya was very dear to her well-known father.

"My mother told me that my father liked to take my pillow with him on tour. He never parted with it. And when he came from America, where he was being treated for cancer, he bought a camera. He filmed how we lived. At the age of 16, I found the recordings in the attic. Before that, I knew about my dad that he was a legend of Ukrainian pop music. And in the pictures, I saw a sensitive and beautiful man. And a handsome man. I have never met such men. "

— Mariya Yaremchuk[3]

Yaremchuk has an older half-sister Vera from her mother's first marriage and two brothers by her father's side, Dmytro and Nazariy. People's Artist and Hero of Ukraine Vasyl Zinkevych is her godfather.[4]

Yaremchuk considers herself an apolitical person, but in December 2013 she declared that she "in the elections and in general, morally, and as a singer" supported (the political party) Party of Regions.[5][nb 1]

Music career

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2012: Holos Krayiny and New Wave 2012

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Yaremchuk was a finalist of the TV project Holos Krainy. She reached fourth place. In 2012, she represented Ukraine at the international contest of young singers New Wave 2012, where she came in third.[6] Yaremchuk was sponsored by Rinat Akhmetov during this festival.[6] Akhmetov is friends with, one of the organizers of New Wave, Igor Krutoy.[6] Mariya also participated in Evrobachennya 2013 – Natsionalyni vidbir, the national final used for finding Ukraine's representative in the Eurovision Song Contest, where Mariya came fifth with the song "Imagine".

2013–2014: Eurovision Song Contest

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Yaremchuk at the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest

On 21 December 2013, Yaremchuk won the Ukrainian national final for the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 with her song "Tick-Tock". On 6 May 2014 was held the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest and Mariya qualified in the Grand Final. In the Grand Final, she finished sixth out of 26 countries.[10]

During her Eurovision participation, Yaremchuk received a lot of international media attention due to her being the Ukrainian representative in a contest with Russia in the wake of the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation.[11][12] At the #HappyWall in Copenhagen, Yaremchuk wrote "Proud to be Ukrainian".[13]

2014–2018: Further success in Ukraine and acting debut

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After the Eurovision Song Contest, Yaremchuk released a string of singles. In 2015, she released a cover of her father's signature song "Rodyna" on the day of the twentieth anniversary of his passing.[14] Following that, she released "Do tebe" in 2016. In 2017, Yaremchuk released "Ty v meni ye", which music video was filmed by Alan Badoev.[15] "Ty ve meni ye" peaked at 105 of the TopHit radio charts.[16]

In March 2018, The Legend of Carpathians (Ukrainian: Легенда Карпат) was premiered at the 70th Cannes Film Festival. In this film, Yaremchuk portrayed Marichka, the lover of folklore hero Oleksa Dovbush.[17]

2018–present: hiatus

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In early 2018, Yaremchuk's manager announced that the singer is going on an indefinite hiatus.[18]

"I will still sing, but I am taking a time-out and I am closing the project Mariya Yaremchuk. Consciously, now understanding myself. I don't see the point in singing the music I sang, in the name I used to wear. It's hard to leave a fortune. Eurovision, all those clips are a lot. It's hard to say "bye-bye" to everything and destroy everything. I was afraid. I had been taking the move for a whole year – it's not impulsive, it's not an emotion. This is a conscious decision."

— Mariya Yaremchuk, 2018[18]

Since then, she did not release any material, nor appeared at concerts and on television programmes. Yaremchuk stopped updating her social media pages in May 2018, but returned shortly in June 2020 to post two Instagram posts to promote Netflix's film Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga, which was partially inspired by her Eurovision 2014 stage performance.[19][20]

In 2023, she was part of the interval act 'Music Unites Generations' during the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 alongside Zlata Dziunka and Otoy [uk].[21]

Private life

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Yaremchuk states that she belongs to the Hutsul ethnic group.[17] As of 2021, she resides in Lviv.[22]

Discography

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Singles

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Title Year Peak chart positions Album
UKR UK
[23]
"So mnoy opyat'"
(Со мной опять)
2012
"Imagine"
"Tebe ya znaydu"
(Тебе я знайду)
2013
"Tick-Tock" 2014 190
"Do tebe"
(До тебе)
2016
"Ty v meni ye"
(Ти в мені є)
2017
"Do nestyamy"
(До нестями)
"Nazavzhdy"
(Назавжди)
2018
"Sword and shield"
(Щит і меч)[24]
2023
"—" denotes a single that did not chart.

Notes

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  1. ^ Rinat Akhmetov, who sponsored Yaremchuk's entry in "New Wave 2012",[6] is the alleged financier and chieftain of Party of Regions.[7][8][9]

References

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  1. ^ Maria Yaremchuk to represent Ukraine at Eurovision Song Contest 2014, Interfax-Ukraine (21 December 2013)
  2. ^ "Мария Яремчук | биография". gaganews.com.ua. Archived from the original on 31 July 2012. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  3. ^ a b Gazeta.ua (29 June 2019). "Назарій Яремчук "упіймав" рак після Чорнобиля". Gazeta.ua.
  4. ^ "МАРИЯ ЯРЕМЧУК гость Аллы Крутой в программе "Добро пожаловать!"". YouTube.com. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  5. ^ (in Ukrainian) Марія Яремчук пояснила, що підтримує регіоналів, бо дуже молода й аполітична Maria Yaremchuk explained Party of Regions for very young and apolitical person, 24 News (22 December 2013)
    (in Russian) Мария Яремчук вызвалась поддержать политическую партию Maria Yaremchuk volunteered to support a political party, TSN.ua (21 December 2013)
  6. ^ a b c d (in Russian) Мария Яремчук съездила на «Новую волну» на деньги Ахметова Maria Yaremchuk on "New Wave" because of money of Akhmetov, Glavkom (29 July 2012)
  7. ^ WikiLeaks: Nation's businessmen tell tales on each other in chats with US ambassadors, Kyiv Post (15 September 2011)
  8. ^ Understanding Ukrainian Politics: Power, Politics, and Institutional Design by Paul D'Anieri, M. E. Sharpe, 2006, ISBN 978-0-7656-1811-5 (page 170)
  9. ^ Promoting Party Politics in Emerging Democracies, Routledge, 2011, ISBN 0415594235
  10. ^ "Eurovision Ukraine: Maria Yaremchuk to Copenhagen! –". Archived from the original on 24 December 2013. Retrieved 21 December 2013.
  11. ^ Smith-Spark, Laura (10 May 2014). "Russia and Ukraine to do battle on Eurovision stage". CNN.com. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  12. ^ Grytsenko, Oksana; Ellis-Petersen, Hannah (9 May 2014). "Eurovision song contest: Ukraine's chances thrown into doubt by crisis". The Guardian.
  13. ^ Adams, William Lee (1 May 2014). "Ukraine: Maria Yaremchuk declares she is Proud to be Ukrainian". Wiwibloggs.com. Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  14. ^ "Мария Яремчук перепела легендарную песню своего отца". Showbiz.24tv.ua. 22 March 2018. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  15. ^ Wilson, Katie (20 May 2017). "Ukraine: Eurovision 2014 singer Mariya Yaremchuk takes over a Bali beach in "You Are Within Me" music video". Wiwibloggs.com. Wiwibloggs.
  16. ^ "Ty V Meni E". TopHit.ru. TopHit. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  17. ^ a b Muzyka, Liliya. "На Каннском кинофестивале презентовали украинский фильм с Яремчук и Харчишиным в главных ролях (фото, видео)". Fakty.ua. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  18. ^ a b Barna, Nataliya. "ОФИЦИАЛЬНО: МАРИЯ ЯРЕМЧУК УХОДИТ СО СЦЕНЫ". Viva.ua. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  19. ^ m_yaremchuk. "Go, hamster wheel, be a star😹🙏🏼 @netflixfilm #eurovision #firesaga". Instagram.com. Archived from the original on 24 December 2021. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  20. ^ m_yaremchuk. "Double Trouble x Tick Tock As for me, the funniest moment of the film and my biggest fear that thanx to god never came true😂 @netflixfilm #eurovision #firesaga". Instagram.com. Archived from the original on 24 December 2021. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  21. ^ Maria Yaremchuk, Zlata Dziunka and OTOY – Music Unites Generations | Eurovision 2023 #UnitedByMusic, retrieved 13 May 2023
  22. ^ Bahova, Lyanka (2 February 2021). "Братья Марии Яремчук рассказали, куда она делась и как делили с ней наследство отца". TSN.ua. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  23. ^ Peak positions in the United Kingdom:
  24. ^ "New music this week (part 1): Songs from Reiley, Sam Ryder, Elena Tsagrinou and more". Wiwibloggs. 28 May 2023. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
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Preceded by Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest
2014
Succeeded by
Jamala
with "1944"