Oleksandr Ponomariov ( ua, Олександр Пономарьов; born August 9, 1973) is a Ukrainian singer. He has been awarded the country's "Singer of the Year" seven times. Ponomariov was born in

Khmelnytskyi, Ukraine Khmelnytskyi ( uk, Хмельни́цький, Khmelnytskyi, ), until 1954 Proskuriv ( uk, Проску́рів, links=no ), is a city in western Ukraine, the administrative center for Khmelnytskyi Oblast (region) and Khmelnytskyi Raion (di ...

. One of his early interests was boxing. When his eyesight started to deteriorate he was forbidden to fight by his doctor. While he had always enjoyed singing, he never thought that music could be his main occupation. Despite this, he applied to a music college where he encountered one drawback: he could not read music. The college professors accepted him on the basis of his excellent singing voice and allowed him to stay on the condition that he master the school's seven-year curriculum in the space of one year. He apparently succeeded. Since 1992, Oleksandr has taken part in dozens of Ukrainian and international festivals. In 1998, Ukraine's government recognized Oleksandr by awarding him the title of "

Honored Artist of Ukraine Merited (Performing) Artist of Ukraine (also translated as Honored (Performing) Artist of Ukraine, uk, Заслужений артист України) is a state honorary title of decoration awarded by the Ukrainian SSR and later Ukraine for ...

". Oleksandr, performing " Hasta la Vista" was the first artist ever to represent Ukraine in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2003 The Eurovision Song Contest 2003 was the 48th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Riga, Latvia, following the country's victory at the with the song " I Wanna" by Marie N. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) a ...

. His performance included a circus act with a

contortionist Contortion (sometimes contortionism) is a performance art in which performers called contortionists showcase their skills of extreme physical flexibility. Contortion acts often accompany acrobatics, circus acts, street performers and other liv ...

and an Apollo program rocket. He finished in 14th place.

Albums

* ''Z ranku do nochi'' (From Morning Till Night) (1996) * ''Persha i ostannya lyubov'' (First and Last Love) (1997) * ''Vin'' (He) (2000) * ''Vona'' (She) (2001) * ''Krashche'' (The Best) (2004) * ''Ya lyublyu tilky tebe'' (Only You I Love) (2006) * ''Z ranku do nochi'' (From Morning Till Night) (2006) * ''Persha i ostannya lyubov'' (First and Last Love) (2006) * ''Golden Hits'' (2007) * ''Nichenkoyu'' (At Night) (2007)

References

External links

Oleksandr's homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ponomariov, Oleksandr 1973 births Living people Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Ukraine Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 2003 Musicians from Khmelnytskyi, Ukraine Ukrainian pop singers Recipients of the title of Merited Artist of Ukraine Ukrainian tenors 21st-century Ukrainian male singers