You're reading: Spain singing star from Lviv

When a 14-year-old Ukrainian teenager went on stage with “Simply the Best” originally sung by Tina Turner, little did she know that her performance will cause such a stir in Spain.

The daughter of an immigrant family from western Ukraine, Yulia Smaga became one of the top five performers in the Spanish version of the X-factor show for children.

Quero Cantar competition, or I Want to Sing, finished last spring but Smaga’s memorable performance encouraged her family to invest in their daughter’s music career, whatever the cost.

The Smagas left Ukraine in 2000 after the financial meltdown had sent the hryvnia tumbling two years earlier. Both of Yulia’s parents lost their jobs, and having run into debts, they headed out from Sokal, a town in Lviv Oblast, leaving Yulia with her grandmother. In Madrid, father Volodymyr started refurbishing apartments to make a living.

His job had little to do with his education – a master’s degree in chemistry – but he didn’t mind since most immigrants from Ukraine have to downgrade.

The Ukrainian Embassy in Spain states that many of them work picking fruit and vegetables, in construction, or as house servants or waiters. There are some 100,000 Ukrainians registered with the embassy, mostly from western Ukraine.

A girl from a family of Ukrainian immigrants in Spain who tries to break through in a foreign country – this sounds like a great legend for a star in Ukraine.

Alisa Kotik, a public relations specialist

The first settlers arrived in this Mediterranean country after the World War II. The second massive migration wave came at the end of 1990s when Ukrainians looked to escape the economic doldrums, especially in the rural areas.

Yulia reunited with her parents in Madrid when she was five. She had already developed a passion for singing after taking part in a couple of competitions in Ukraine. Now, she
devotes at least two hours per day to piano classes, vocal classes, dancing and acting.

“She doesn’t have time for boyfriends,” said Angelika Smaga, her mother.

After Quero Cantar, which was also broadcast in Latin America, the 14-year old became popular. Her fans started following her on social networks and leaving love confessions online, Angelika said. “I don’t want to be rude to those boys so I let my mother help me write the answers,” Yulia said sheepishly.

Fan clubs, however, don’t bring money yet. While in Ukraine many parents send their children to relatively inexpensive music schools, in Spain, Smaga said, musical education is reserved for children from well-off families. A minimal music program starts from 2,000 euros per year.

“Some people don’t understand us. Why would poor people [like us] spend so much money on music classes? But we want to give our daughter everything she was supposed to get in Ukraine,” said Angelika, whose mother and grandmother were also artists.

As Spain goes through the economic crisis, Angelika is unemployed and her husband is receiving fewer orders for flat refurbishments. And yet the family said they “can’t stop supporting Yuliya now as she is making so much progress.”

Cherishing a residency permit in Spain, they have no plans to come back to Ukraine in the foreseeable future and think that their child would not have achieved same singing victories had they stayed in Sokal. “When Yulia was 11 we participated [in a contest] and it felt like the jury wanted us to give them money for her to win and receive media coverage,” her mother said.

Alisa Kotik, a public relations specialist who works with many Ukrainian singers said that Ukraine’s contests have changed since then. “We now have X-factor, Chance, Ukraine Has Talent shows that came from the West. It’s next to impossible to bribe [anyone], because the jury consists of well-off, famous people and all the castings are televised,” she said.

As for Yulia, “a girl from a family of Ukrainian immigrants in Spain who tries to break through in a foreign country – this sounds like a great legend for a star in Ukraine.”

Kyiv Post staff writer Katya Grushenko can be reached at [email protected]