| "Wild Dances" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single byRuslana | ||||
| from the albumWild Dances | ||||
| B-side | "Hutsul Girl" | |||
| Released | 17 May 2004 (2004-05-17) | |||
| Length | 3:00 | |||
| Label | EMI | |||
| Composer | Ruslana Lyzhychko | |||
| Lyricists |
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| Producers |
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| Ruslana singles chronology | ||||
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| Music video | ||||
| "Wild Dances" onYouTube | ||||
| Eurovision Song Contest 2004 entry | ||||
| Country | ||||
| Artist | Ruslana Lyzchicko | |||
| As | ||||
| Languages | ||||
| Composer | Ruslana Lyzhychko | |||
| Lyricists |
| |||
| Finals performance | ||||
| Semi-final result | 2nd | |||
| Semi-final points | 256 | |||
| Final result | 1st | |||
| Final points | 280 | |||
| Entry chronology | ||||
| ◄ "Hasta la vista" (2003) | ||||
| "Razom nas bahato" (2005) ► | ||||
| Official performance video | ||||
| "Wild Dance" (Final) onYouTube | ||||
"Wild Dances" is a song composed and recorded by Ukrainian singer-songwriterRuslana, with lyrics by herself,Oleksandr Ksenofontov, Jamie Maher, Michael Fayne, Sherena Dugani and Yuliya Rai. Itrepresented Ukraine in theEurovision Song Contest 2004, held inIstanbul, resulting in the country's first win at the contest. "Wild Dances" was subsequently released as a single and topped the charts ofFlanders and Greece.
"Wild Dances" was composed and recorded byRuslana, with lyrics by herself,Oleksandr Ksenofontov, Jamie Maher, Michael Fayne, and Sherena Dugani.[1] The work on the song lasted for about three months. Editing and sound engineering was done by Ruslana together with specialists fromKyiv,London, andNew York City. The recording was done together with a guitarist from Cool Before, and an ex-trumpet player fromZdob și Zdub. The Ukrainian and English lyrics of the song, as well as the chorus and melody, underwent significant changes since the initial stage. She released a Ukrainian-only version called "Dyki tantsi" (Ukrainian:"Дикі танці") only in Ukraine and Russia.
On 23 January 2004, theNational Television Company of Ukraine (NTU) announced that it had internally selected Ruslana as its performer for the49th edition of theEurovision Song Contest.[2] On 28 January 2004, NTU announced that "Wild Dances" would be theUkrainian entry for Eurovision.[3]
The official music video was filmed in the abandoned building of the Ice Palace,[which?] which was at once renamed "The Iceberg Palace" by the members of Ruslana's crew because no heating equipment brought with Ruslana could heat the cold air of the huge building to a comfortable level. The building was 'decorated' with sheer concrete and windows without glass. Despite the script of the video-clip, which provided for constant burning fire in large barrels, torches on the stage, wireworks and even a real military flame thrower, only the "Wild Dances" could help people to ultimately warm up.[4][5] It was first aired on 6 May 2004 onMTV Russia in the12 Angry Viewers show, but wasbooed by the audience.[6]
On 12 May 2004, the semi-final for the Eurovision Song Contest was held at theAbdi İpekçi Arena inIstanbul hosted by theTurkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT), and broadcast live throughout the continent. As Ukraine had not finished in the top 10 at theprevious contest, the song had to compete in the semi-final. Ruslana performed "Wild Dances" eleventh on the night, followingGreece's "Shake It" bySakis Rouvas and precedingLithuania's "What's Happened to Your Love" byLinas and Simona. The song qualified for the grand final.[7] After the grand final it was revealed that it had received in the semi-final 256 points, placing second in a field of twenty-two.[8]
Mistakenly, the song title was captioned on screen at the contest as being "Wild Dance", without the S, both in semi final and grand final.
On 14 May 2004, the grand final for the Eurovision Song Contest was held. Ruslana performed again "Wild Dances" tenth on the night, followingAlbania's "The Image of You" byAnjeza Shahini and precedingCroatia's "You Are the Only One" byIvan Mikulić.[9] Her performance is memorable for an energetic performance, which Ruslana gave in a leather outfit, inspired byXena: Warrior Princess and theethnic tradition of Ukraine.
At the close of voting of the grand final, it had received 280 points, winning the contest.[10] It was the first victory for Ukraine. With a mixture of English and Ukrainian lyrics, "Wild Dances" was also the first Eurovision-winning song to be sung at least partly in a language other than English since the rule-change of 1999, when countries were allowed to sing in a language of their choosing, rather than one of their official languages. With this win, Ukraine became the thirdpost-Soviet country to win the contest, afterEstonia andLatvia.
The single was included on the official compilation album calledThe Very Best of Eurovision celebrating the 60th anniversary of the contest.[11]
As the winning broadcaster, theEuropean Broadcasting Union (EBU) gave NTU the responsibility to host thefollowing edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. The grand final held on 21 May 2005, opened with Ruslana performing a medley of "Wild Dances" and "Heart on Fire" accompanied by the Zhyttia ballet and the Ukrainian drums ensemble ARS Nova. She also performed her latest single "The Same Star" in the interval act and presented the trophy to the winner.[12]
Weekly charts[edit]
| Year-end charts[edit]
|
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Belgium (BRMA)[31] | Gold | 25,000* |
| Greece (IFPI Greece)[32] | Gold | |
| Romania[32] | Gold | |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. | ||
 |
| Region | Date | Format |
|---|---|---|
| Ukraine | 17 May 2004 | CD single |
| Germany | 24 May 2004 | |
| Greece | ||
| Netherlands | ||
| Finland | ||
| Belgium | ||
| Sweden | ||
| Latvia | ||
| Lithuania | ||
| Estonia | ||
| Poland | ||
| Israel | ||
| Turkey | ||
| Czech Republic | ||
| Slovakia | ||
| Slovenia | ||
| United Kingdom | ||
| United States | 29 April 2008 | Digital download |
The song was bought with exclusivecopyright in Vietnam by Vietnamese singer-songwriterHồ Quỳnh Hương. She has an ownVietnamese version of the song, entitled "Vũ điệu hoang dã".[33]
The song is used in the soundtrack of the 2008 video gameGrand Theft Auto IV.[34] American gymnast and 2011 world championJordyn Wieber has revealed that she uses this song as her floor exercise music.[35]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)| Preceded by | Eurovision Song Contest winners 2004 | Succeeded by |
