*** Welcome to piglix ***

Jamala

Jamala
ESC2016 - Ukraine Meet & Greet 17 (square crop).jpg
Background information
Birth name Susana Jamaladinova
Born (1983-08-27) 27 August 1983 (age 33)
Osh, Kirghiz SSR, Soviet Union
Origin Ukraine
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Singer
  • songwriter
Years active 2005–present
Labels
  • MOON
  • Enjoy Records
Website jamalamusic.com

Susana Alimivna Jamaladinova (Crimean Tatar: Susana Camaladinova; Ukrainian: Сусана Алімівна Джамаладінова; Russian: Суса́нна Алимовна Джамалади́нова, born 27 August 1983), better known by her stage name Jamala (Crimean Tatar: Camala, Ukrainian and Russian: Джамала), is a Ukrainian singer, actress and songwriter. She represented Ukraine and won the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 with her song "1944".

Susanna Jamaladinova was born in Osh, Kirghiz SSR, to a Crimean Tatar father and an Armenian mother. Her Crimean Tatar ancestors were forcefully resettled from Crimea to the central Asian republic under Joseph Stalin during World War II, although her own relatives fought on the Soviet side. In 1989 her family returned to Crimea. Her maternal ancestors are Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh. They were well-to-do peasants until her great-grandfather's land was confiscated and he was exiled to Osh where he changed his Armenian name to make it sound more Russian.

Jamala speaks Russian as her mother tongue, and she is also fluent in Ukrainian which she learned as an adolescent. Though she wrote some songs in Crimean Tatar, she is not fluent in the language.

Her parents divorced for about four years so that her mother could purchase a house in Crimea for the family under her maiden name. During this period, Soviet authorities did not allow ethnic Tatars, like her father, to purchase property in Crimea.


...
Wikipedia

...