Ani
Lorak is one of the most successful Ukrainian artists in recent years. She has
recorded more than a hundred songs in a variety of music styles, from soul and
punk to pop and rock.
She
was born in 1978 in the small town of Kitsman, Chernivtsi oblast, Ukraine. At the
age of four she had already decided that she wanted to become a singer and
during her school years she regularly took part in singing competitions.
When
Ani was six she was sent to a children’s home together with her younger brother.
When
she was fourteen, she entered popular Pervotsvit contest and won. This was the
beginning of a long and productive international career as a professional
singer, which would take her to every corner of Europe and even to the USA.
In
1991 Ani won the Big Apple music competition in New York and was nominated
Discovery of the year at the popular Ukrainian festival Tavria games. The same
year she released her first album Khochu
letat (I want to fly). Her second CD Ya
vernus (I will return) followed in 1998 and became in an immediate success.
In 1999 she was awarded the title of Honoured Artist of Ukraine. More success
came in 2008 when Ani represented Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest in
Belgrad. She regardlly tops nationally beauty polls, has starred in musicals
and films, hosts TV shows, runs a restaurant in the centre of Kyiv and still
finds time to work as a charity campaigner. Also Ani helped to publish and
promote several children’s books.
