Julia Olegovna Samoilova ( rus, Ю́лия Оле́говна Само́йлова, , ˈjʉlʲɪjə ɐˈlʲeɡəvnə sɐˈmojləvə; born 7 April 1989), sometimes credited as Yulia Samoilova or Julia Samoylova, is a Russian singer-songwriter. In early 2017, she was selected to represent Russia in the 2017 edition of the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

with the song " Flame Is Burning", but was subsequently banned from the contest's host country, Ukraine, due to violating Ukrainian law by entering

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...

through Russia in 2015, shortly after the region was

annexed Annexation (Latin ''ad'', to, and ''nexus'', joining), in international law, is the forcible acquisition of one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. It is generally held to be an illegal act ...

by Russia. In response to the ban, Russia ultimately withdrew from the contest. The following year, Samoylova was instead chosen to

represent Represent may refer to: * ''Represent'' (Compton's Most Wanted album) or the title song, 2000 * ''Represent'' (Fat Joe album), 1993 * ''Represent'', an album by DJ Magic Mike, 1994 * "Represent" (song), by Nas, 1994 * "Represent", a song by the ...

her country in the 2018 edition of the contest in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

. Performing " I Won't Break", she placed 15th out of 18 contestants in the second semi-final, failing to qualify for the grand final. "I Won't Break" was the first Russian entry not to reach the final since the introduction of semi-finals in 2004.

Early life

Yuliya was born in

Ukhta Ukhta (russian: Ухта́; kv, Уква, ''Ukva'') is an important industrial town in the Komi Republic of Russia. Population: It was previously known as ''Chibyu'' (until 1939). History Oil springs along the Ukhta River were already known in ...

Komi ASSR The Komi Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (russian: Коми Автономная Советская Социалистическая Республика; kv, Коми Автономнӧй Сӧветскӧй Социалистическӧй ...

, Russian SFSR, USSR. As a child, Samoylova began losing function of her legs due to

spinal muscular atrophy Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a rare neuromuscular disorder that results in the loss of motor neurons and progressive muscle wasting. It is usually diagnosed in infancy or early childhood and if left untreated it is the most common genetic ...

and has used a wheelchair since childhood.Eurovision in Ukraine: Controversy over Russian entry

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(13 March 2017) The singer says that the manifestation of the hereditary disease could follow after an unsuccessful

poliomyelitis Poliomyelitis, commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 70% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe sym ...

vaccination (Channel One and TASS also take this view), but specialists deny such a connection. Samoylova started her career performing for oil workers at a restaurant in her hometown of

. In 2008 she founded the band "TerraNova" which played heavy alternative music. TerraNova disintegrated in 2010.

Music career

2013–14: ''Faktor A'' and ''Winter Paralympics''

In 2013, Samoylova was the runner-up of season three of ''

Faktor A ''Faktor A'' (in Russian Фактор А) is the second Russian version of ''The X Factor'' television talent show franchise. Having broadcast on Rossiya 1from 2011 to 2013, the show is named ''Faktor A'' (rather than ''Faktor X''), with the letter ...

'', the Russian version of ''

The X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003 ...

''. The following year, she also took part in the

opening ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly-constructed location or the start of an event.

of the

2014 Winter Paralympics The 2014 Winter Paralympics (russian: Зимние Паралимпийские игры 2014, Zimniye Paralimpiyskiye igry 2014), the 11th Paralympic Winter Games, and also more generally known as the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games, were an ...

2017–present: ''Eurovision Song Contest''

Samoylova was selected on 12 March 2017 to represent Russia in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2017 The Eurovision Song Contest 2017 was the 62nd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Kyiv, Ukraine, following the country's victory at the with the song "1944 (song), 1944" by Jamala. Organised by the European Broadcasting Uni ...

held in the capital of

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

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 ...

, with the song " Flame Is Burning". On 13 March, the

Security Service of Ukraine The Security Service of Ukraine ( uk, Служба безпеки України, translit=Sluzhba bezpeky Ukrainy}) or SBU ( uk, СБУ, link=no) is the law enforcement authority and main intelligence and security agency of the Ukrainian ...

announced that they might ban her from entering Ukraine due to her 2015 visit to

– a region that was annexed by Russia in 2014.Ukraine investigates Russia's newly chosen Eurovision candidate

Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle (; "German Wave" in English), abbreviated to DW, is a German public, state-owned international broadcaster funded by the German federal tax budget. The service is available in 32 languages. DW's satellite television service con ...

(13 March 2017) According to Ukrainian law entering Crimea via Russia is illegal. Samoylova has stated that she did perform in Crimea in 2015.Russia strikes provocative note for Eurovision in Ukraine
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' (13 March 2017) On 22 March, the Security Service of Ukraine banned Samoylova from entering Ukraine for three years for her violation of Ukrainian legislation State broadcaster Russia-1 announced on 13 April their withdrawal from the contest, which meant Samoylova would not participate in Eurovision 2017. It had been previously announced that, if Samoylova was unable to take part in 2017, she would be selected to represent Russia in 2018. Samoilova instead performed in

Sevastopol Sevastopol (; uk, Севасто́поль, Sevastópolʹ, ; gkm, Σεβαστούπολις, Sevastoúpolis, ; crh, Акъя́р, Aqyár, ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea, and a major port on the Black Sea ...

, Crimea, on the day of the Eurovision semi-final. On 29 January 2018, it was confirmed by Channel 1 Russia that she would return to represent Russia at the

Eurovision Song Contest 2018 The Eurovision Song Contest 2018 was the 63rd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Lisbon, Portugal, following the country's victory at the with the song " Amar pelos dois" by Salvador Sobral. Organised by the European Broa ...

in Lisbon, Portugal. On 11 March, it was revealed that the song Yulia was to sing at the

would be " I Won't Break" On 10 May, she performed in the second Semi-Final of the contest, but failed to qualify for the Grand Final. She is the first and only Russian entry to fail to qualify since the introduction of televised qualifying rounds in 2004.

Discography

Singles

References

External links

*
Yulia Samoylova

VKontakte VK (short for its original name ''VKontakte''; russian: ВКонтакте, meaning ''InContact'') is a Russian online social media and social networking service based in Saint Petersburg. VK is available in multiple languages but it is predomin ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Samoylova, Yulia 1989 births Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 2017 Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 2018 Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Russia Living people Musicians with disabilities People from Ukhta People with spinal muscular atrophy Russian pop singers Russian people with disabilities The X Factor contestants 21st-century Russian singers 21st-century Russian women singers