Showing posts with label eurovision 2004. Show all posts
Showing posts with label eurovision 2004. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 08, 2008

Whatever happened to Ruslana?

There she was, winning Eurovision and taking the crown for Ukraine, back in 2004:



But what has Ruslana been up to since? It turns out that, while she still does the semi-naked dancey shout ostpop, she's now doing it with a political message, campaigning to reduce Ukraine's dependence on natural gas. It's not so much a carbon footprint issue as worries about Putin's control of the gas pipe, naturally.

So far, though, she's doing it all metaphorically:

Ruslana, who rarely uses her last name, Lyzhychko, doesn't sing about carbon footprints and gas prices; she sings about the wild energy of love.

It triumphs over a synthetic world, dependent on synthetic energy. In the video version, that world is represented by a pale, metallic-looking woman who gets her strength from a giant machine. She's transformed, though, into a kind of Wild Energy woman, reminiscent of Xena the warrior princess.

There's a worry that the issue isn't stimulating enough for young Ukranians; perhaps something a bit more direct might be helpful?