Anastasia Kostyantynivna Prikhodko (; born 21 April 1987) is a Ukrainian singer-songwriter, activist, and former politician. Known for her deep contralto singing voice and blend of folk rock and pop music, Prikhodko made herself a major figure during Euromaidan and the 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, expressing support for Ukrainian forces and vowing to never perform in Russia again.
Prikhodko first received mainstream attention in 2007, after winning series seven of the Russian music competition Fabrika Zvyozd. Her win led her to collaborate with Ukrainian-Russian producer Konstantin Meladze. In 2009, she represented Russia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 in Moscow with the song "Mamo", written by Meladze. Her participation in the competition came with a number of controversies following her disqualification from the Ukrainian national final and subsequent queries regarding the integrity of the judges and validity of the competition. Afterwards, she took part in the Russian national final and won; she went on to place 11th in the Eurovision final.
After ending her collaboration with Meladze in 2010, Prikhodko attempted to represent Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest on two more occasions: in 2011 and in 2016; she was a finalist in the former year, but was eliminated in the semi-finals in the latter year. Beginning in 2014, she became politically active as an activist for pro-Ukrainian forces and pro-Europeanism in Ukraine. In 2015, she declared that she would no longer perform in the Russian language. After announcing her departure from the music industry in October 2018, she disclosed that she had registered with Yulia Tymoshenko's party All-Ukrainian Union "Fatherland" to enter politics, and she unsuccessfully took part in the 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election in Ukraine's 11th electoral district on behalf of the Fatherland party. She has since stated that she is no longer interested in a political career and has continued to release music.
Early life and education Prikhodko was born on 21 April 1987 in Kyiv to parents Konstantin Rybalov and Oksana Prikhodko.Biography on official website http://anastasya-prihodko.com/ Her father, a Russian, is originally from Rostov-on-Don and worked as a miner, while her Ukrainian mother works as a theatre critic for the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine.Труд: Приходько стала матерью Anastasiya Prihodko (Russia) Biography , www.esckaz.com Her parents have since separated, and Prikhodko was raised by her mother; her father returned to Russia after their separation. Prikhodko has an elder brother, Nazar, whom she has collaborated with in music. Prikhodko is additionally of partial Japanese ancestry, having a Japanese great-grandfather.
When she was 15, Prikhodko auditioned to join the Ukrainian girl group VIA Gra, but was rejected. She attended R. Glier Kyiv Institute of Music and Kyiv National University of Culture and Arts, studying folk vocals.Biography, official website anastasiya-prikhodko.com
Music career 2005–2007: Breakthrough and Fabrika Zvyozd After beginning her music career in 2005, Prikhodko first experienced mainstream success in 2007, after being cast in series seven of the Russian music competition Fabrika Zvyozd, an international version of the Spanish program Operación Triunfo. Prikhodko continued to advance through the competition until the finale, where she was declared the winner. Prikhodko garnered controversy during her participation in the show, after she was caught on film admitting to another contestant that she did not like Chinese people or black people, drawing accusations of racism. She immediately apologized for her comments. Fragment of "Star Factory" , Youtube (12 March 2009)
Following her win in the competition, Prikhodko was signed to a contract by Ukrainian music producer Konstantin Meladze, who was a frequent guest on Fabrika Zvyozd. She has gone on to state that she did not enjoy being on reality television, and that her only friend during the experience was a member of the production crew. She released several singles in 2007, none of which managed to gain mainstream attention.
2008–2013: Eurovision and Zazhdalas
In 2008, Prikhodko released the single "Bezotvetno", a duet with Meladze's brother Valery Meladze. "Bezotvetno" went on to become Prikhodko's breakout hit, reaching the top forty in Russia. In January 2009, Prikhodko took part in the Ukrainian national final for the Eurovision Song Contest 2009. After frequent changes in plans, the Ukrainian competition was split into two rounds: a non-televised 30-song semi-final and a televised 15-song final. Prikhodko competed in the non-televised semi-final on 8 February 2009 with the song "Za tebe znov". After the semi-final ended, it was revealed that Prikhodko had not qualified to the final. Prikhodko responded to the results by stating that the Ukrainian broadcaster UA:PBC was not transparent in the selection of the finalists, calling their integrity into question. It later emerged that Prikhodko had not performed "Za tebe znov" in the semi-final, and was actually disqualified from the competition for performing the non-competing song "Vsyo dlya tebya". Prikhodko and her management stated that they were under the impression that the semi-final was simply a showcase of vocal capabilities, and that performing the potential Eurovision entry was not required.Положення про Національний відбір "Євробачення-2009" Перший канал Prikhodko launched a formal complaint against the broadcaster for their handling of the event; their complaint was supported by Meladze in addition to the Ukrainian singers Sofia Rotaru, Mykola Mozhovyy, and Tina Karol.Співачка, яка не потрапила у фінал відбору на Євробачення, написала листа Ющенку , Korrespondent (27 February 2009) As a result of her complaint, the televised final was postponed by a Kyiv court. The court later ruled in Prikhodko's favor, but she allowed the televised final to go ahead.
Following the controversy with the Ukrainian national selection, Prikhodko instead applied for the Russian national final. The final's 15 competitors had already been decided, and Prikhodko's addition as an extra 16th competitor was controversial. After performing the song "Mamo", a bilingual entry in both the Ukrainian and Russian languages, she won the competition on 7 March 2009, winning both the public vote and jury vote.Mamo Diggiloo.net Following her win, allegations of vote rigging amongst the jury members arose, in addition to others complaining about a song in the Ukrainian language representing Russia in an international competition.Eurovision vote-rigging row as Ukrainian wins contest to represent Russia , The Times (10 March 2009) Nevertheless, she remained the Russian representative in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 in Moscow. Prikhodko became the second ever non-Russian to represent Russia in the competition; the first was Natalia Podolskaya, a Belarusian who represented Russia in 2005., tophit.ru (Februarie 12, 2006) As Russia was the host nation, Prikhodko was not required to compete in the semi-finals, and advanced directly to the final held on 16 May 2009. Her performance featured Prikhodko performing the song with a video of herself singing in the background, as she digitally aged from 20 to 70 years old.Russia: Drama in black , ESCToday She ultimately placed eleventh in the competition, receiving a total score of 91 points. "Mamo" has gone on to become Prikhodko's most successful single. Tophit.ru Tophit.ru Tophit.ru. Retrieved on 2009-05-07
After Eurovision, Prikhodko ended her professional partnership with Meladze in 2010. Продюсеры отказываются работать с Настей Приходько , Mail.ru (4 May 2010) She subsequently began working with producer Igor Goncharenko that May, and has also worked with her elder brother Nazar. Анастасия Приходько снова одна , Mail.ru (22 June 2010) Later that year, she entered the Ukrainian national final for the Eurovision Song Contest 2011. Her entry was "Action", a techno song sung in English, a large departure from the previous folk rock music she had become known for. Prikhodko advanced from the fourth heat on 14 November 2010 as one of the three jury qualifiers. After advancing from the second semi-final on 12 December 2010 as well, she placed eighth in the final on 26 February 2011. Prikhodko's debut studio album Zazhdalas was released the following year.
2014–2018: Pro-Ukrainian activity, Ya vilna, and retirement
Following the beginning of Euromaidan in 2014, and the subsequent pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Russian military intervention, and Russian annexation of Crimea, Prikhodko became an outspoken advocate of Ukrainian sovereignty and support towards Ukrainian liberation from Russian influence. During Euromaidan, Prikhodko performed at Maidan Nezalezhnosti and spoke in favor of European integration of Ukraine. Анастасія Приходько пишається тим, що заспівала на Євромайдані (фото) , ICTV (Ukraine) (17 December 2013) Осадча, Приходько і Саакашвілі виступили за єдину Україну. ВІДЕО , Табло ID (26 February 2014) 15 травня в фойє палацу «Україна» відбулася прес-конференція благодійної акції - концерту «Єдина країна» , UNIAN (15 May 2014) In July 2014, Prikhodko went on tour with other Ukrainian musicians to support the Ukrainian Ground Forces during the War in Donbas. Prikhodko sang for the National Garde in Mykolayiv and Kherson , Tablo ID (28 July 2014) While on tour, Prikhodko posted on her Twitter account that Russians were "puppets", "narrow-minded", and "deaf". The following month, Prikhodko accused Russia of illegally occupying Ukrainian territory, and vowed to never perform another concert in Russia. Later in August, Prikhodko was profiled in the program 17 Friends of the Junta on Russian television channel NTV, which targeted critics of Russia's actions in Ukraine; the program was seen as a smear campaign. It depicted Prikhodko as an anti-Russian rebel, and included an interview with her estranged paternal grandmother who described her as a shame to the family, and Russian singer Joseph Kobzon stating that her Eurovision performance was disgraceful and that Prikhodko was a "street girl who swears like a prostitute". Prikhodko denounced the program, referring to it as "laughable". In 2015, Prikhodko revealed that refusing to perform concerts in Russia had been a major financial burden on her, as that was where a majority of her live performances were taking place and a large source of her income. Prikhodko: In politics you can go, but I want to be like Povaliy , Табло ID (18 September 2015)
In 2015, Prikhodko vowed to begin prioritizing the Ukrainian language in her music, and that she would no longer perform in Russian. Prikhodko: I do not know how to cheer people , Табло ID (5 March 2015) She went on to claim that this decision had cost her popularity, as Russian is the dominant language of the music industry throughout most of the post-Soviet states. In 2016, Prikhodko was announced as a competitor in the Ukrainian national final for the Eurovision Song Contest 2016, the inaugural edition of the Vidbir competition. Prikhodko competed in the first semi-final on 6 February 2016 with the song "I Am Free Now". She placed seventh in the semi-final, and did not qualify to the final. Her second studio album Ya vilna was released later that year. On 16 October 2018, Prikhodko announced through her Facebook that she had decided to end her musical career in order to enter politics.
2019–present: return to music with Same toy and singles