UKRAINE – Verka Serduchka was chosen to represent Ukraine at the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 in Helsinki, Finland, with the song “Dancing Lasha Tumbai”. One of Ukraine’s nationwide FM radio stations organized a protest action in February 2007 to express their disapproval of the selection.
Some Ukrainians and even members of the Ukrainian Parliament also expressed their disapproval, viewing the character of Serduchka as “grotesque and vulgar”.
Danylko announced in 2007 that he would front a new political party, “For Ours!”, to run in that year’s Ukrainian parliamentary election, but he later abandoned the idea. A public opinion poll in July 2007 placed “For Ours! Verka Serduchka” at 2% overall support.
Serduchka had planned to participate in the Ukrainian national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2011. He automatically qualified for the final but withdrew his nomination in October 2010.
Danylko appeared as the character Verka Serduchka in a cameo role in the 2015 American action comedy movie Spy, which premiered May 22, 2015, in New York City and June 4, 2015, in Ukraine. In the scene, set in Paris, Serduchka’s open-air performance of “Dancing Lasha Tumbai” is interrupted by CIA agents Susan Cooper (Melissa McCarthy) and Rick Ford (Jason Statham).
In the 2016 telecast of the Eurovision Song Contest, Serduchka announced the results from the Ukrainian jury. Bilokon, portraying Serduchka’s mother, accompanied Danylko.
For the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest hosted in Ukraine, a series of short video clips, titled “Verkavision”, were produced that chronicled the fictional back story of the character of Verka Serduchka and her journey as a Eurovision “star”. Verka also appeared on stage during the final and opened the televote.
In 2019, Verka appeared in the Eurovision Song Contest final hosted in Israel singing the previous year’s winning song, “Toy”.
In 2003, Danylko was honoured with the title People’s Artist of Ukraine. In 2007, Verka Serduchka received the Barbara Dex Award for worst outfit in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007.
