Ruslana in Bilbao

Ruslana is a Ukrainian singer-songwriter, born in Lviv in 1973, whose pop music draws on Carpathian and Hutsul folk traditions. She became Ukraine’s first Eurovision Song Contest winner in 2004 with “Wild Dances,” also the title of her international album. At the 2004 final in Istanbul, Ruslana performed “Wild Dances” backed by a dance troupe whose costumes and choreography drew on Hutsul imagery. A year later, she returned as an opening performer and sang “Heart on Fire” and “The Same Star.” Her next appearance at the contest came in 2017, when she performed “It’s Magical” during the interval program in Kyiv.