Gaita-Lurdes Klaverivna Essami ( uk, Гайта-Лурдес Клаверівна Ессамі; born 24 March 1979), known professionally as Gaitana ( uk, Гайтана, Haitana), is a Ukrainian singer and songwriter. Essami's style of

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former describe ...

has been described as containing elements of

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

, and

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

. She represented Ukraine in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2012 The Eurovision Song Contest 2012 was the 57th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Baku, Azerbaijan, following the country's victory at the with the song " Running Scared" by the duo Ell & Nikki. It was the first time Azerb ...

Baku Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world a ...

, performing the song " Be My Guest" and placing 15th in the final. Gaitana is a second Eurovision contestant of African origin ever to be born in the former USSR, after Lithuanian singer and guitarist, Viktoras "Victor" Diawara of LT United were being the first.

Early life

Essami was born in

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

to a Ukrainian mother, Tatiana Petrova, and a father, Klaver Essami, from the

Republic of the Congo The Republic of the Congo (french: République du Congo, ln, Republíki ya Kongó), also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply either Congo or the Congo, is a country located in the western coast of Central Africa to the w ...

.Racist comments about Gaitana stir controversy, anger

Kyiv Post The ''Kyiv Post'' is the oldest English-language newspaper in Ukraine, founded in October 1995 by Jed Sunden. History American Jed Sunden founded the ''Kyiv Post'' weekly newspaper on Oct. 18, 1995 and later created KP Media for his holdings. ...

(24 February 2012)STARS @ GLAVRED — Гайтана уехала жить к отцу в Конго… (ФОТО)
/ref> When she was an infant, the family left Ukraine and moved to her father's hometown of

Brazzaville Brazzaville (, kg, Kintamo, Nkuna, Kintambo, Ntamo, Mavula, Tandala, Mfwa, Mfua; Teke: ''M'fa'', ''Mfaa'', ''Mfa'', ''Mfoa''Roman Adrian Cybriwsky, ''Capital Cities around the World: An Encyclopedia of Geography, History, and Culture'', ABC-CLI ...

. They lived in the Republic of the Congo for five years, until Essami and her mother returned to Ukraine in 1985. Due to living most of her early childhood in the Republic of the Congo, Essami could only speak French and

Lingala Lingala (Ngala) (Lingala: ''Lingála'') is a Bantu language spoken in the northwest of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the northern half of the Republic of the Congo, in their capitals, Kinshasa and Brazzaville, and to a lesser degree in ...

upon returning to Ukraine, although she later became fluent in

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

and

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

as well. Essami's estranged father remained in Brazzaville, where he owned a transportation business. In Kyiv, Essami attended a music school, where she learned how to play the

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

. She later pursued an education in

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

. Since her youth, Essami was a decorated athlete who was a champion

table tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...

player. In 1991, Essami competed in the children's music competition ''Fantasy Lotto Nadiya'', where she placed third. Following the competition, Essami began singing in a children's music ensemble led by Volodymyr Bystryakov.Ukraine’s Eurovision Selection Marred by Right-Wing Racism

Time.com ''Time'' (stylized in all caps) is an American news magazine based in New York City. For nearly a century, it was published weekly, but starting in March 2020 it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York City on Mar ...

(9 February 2012) In the Soviet Union, R&B music was not widespread, so Essami was introduced to foreign songs while attending

underground Underground most commonly refers to: * Subterranea (geography), the regions beneath the surface of the Earth Underground may also refer to: Places * The Underground (Boston), a music club in the Allston neighborhood of Boston * The Underground (S ...

music venues as a teenager.

Music career

Essami began her professional music career in 2003, releasing her debut studio album ''O tebe''. She has gone on to release seven other albums in her career: ''Slidom za toboyu'' (2005), ''Kapli dozhdya'' (2007), ''Kukabarra'' (2008), ''Taynyye zhelaniya'' (2008), ''Tolko segodnya'' (2010), ''Viva, Europe!'' (2012), and ''Voodooman'' (2014). Her songs are recorded in

, or

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

. Following the

inauguration In government and politics, inauguration is the process of swearing a person into office and thus making that person the incumbent. Such an inauguration commonly occurs through a formal ceremony or special event, which may also include an inaugu ...

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...

in 2009, Essami performed at a special inauguration ball in his honor in

. In January 2012, Essami was selected to compete in Evrobachennya 2012, the Ukrainian national final for the

. She competed with the song " Be My Guest". Essami went on to win the competition, placing first with the professional jury and second with the Ukrainian public. Following her win, Essami was the victim of

racist Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...

comments by members of the

far-right Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...

in Ukraine. Yuriy Syrotyuk, a high-ranking member of the

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

Svoboda political party, stated that Essami's selection as the Ukrainian representative would hinder Ukraine's ability to join the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

, as she is portraying the country as if they are "of a different continent". Essami responded to the comments by stating that Ukraine was her beloved motherland, and that non-white Ukrainians should not feel like they have to leave the country to be accepted. Nevertheless, Essami continued as the Ukrainian representative to the contest in

, becoming the first Afro-Ukrainian to represent Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest. She competed in the second semi-final on 24 May 2012, where she placed eighth and qualified to the final. Afterwards, she placed 15th in the final held on 26 May, scoring a total of 65 points.

Discography

Albums

*2003 - ''О тебе'' (Gaitana and Unity) - About You *2005 - ''Слідом за тобою'' - Following You *2007 - ''Капли дождя'' - Raindrops *2008 - ''Kукaбaррa'' - Kukabarra *2008 - ''Тайные желания'' - Secret Desires *2010 - ''Только сегодня'' - Only Today *2012 - ''Viva, Europe!'' * 2014 – ''Voodooman''

Singles

*2006 - "Двa вікна" - Two Windows *2007 - "Шaленій" - Go Crazy *2009 - "Нещодавно" (Gaitana and Stas Konkin) - Lately *2012 - " Be My Guest" *2013 - "Aliens" *2014 - "Galaxy" *2020 - "A Paper Plane" (By Aryan King)

Awards

* Showbiz award ** Best European Star (special award) * Ukrainian Music AwardsGaitana official biography
** Best female singer 2008 ** Best album 2008

References

External links

Official site
{{Authority control 1979 births 21st-century Ukrainian women singers English-language singers from Ukraine Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 2012 Living people Musicians from Kyiv People from Brazzaville Russian-language singers Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Ukraine Ukrainian people of Republic of the Congo descent Ukrainian pop singers Ukrainian folk-pop singers