You're reading: Zlata Ognevich enjoys fame after Eurovision bronze

Following her dazzling performance at Eurovision on May 18, 2013, Zlata Ognevich has been overwhelmed with work back in Ukraine.

Sitting in a makeup room just before her appearance on a popular television show on a recent Sunday morning, she told the Kyiv Post she wouldn’t mind some rest.

“From time to time I wish I could take a nap and let my hair down, but I encourage myself to keep going,” Ognevich says smiling.

After placing third at Eurovision for her song “Gravity,” Ognevich, 26, received a heap of offers from production companies looking to work with her.

“Eurovision does open doors wide for you,” Ognevich confessed. “Our team is lucky with getting so many proposals. We do not agree on all of those, though, since we want to produce qualitative music.”

Good music is something that Ognevich was brought up on. As a child, Ognevich listened to jazz and classical music. Her favorites, she says, have always been Ella Fitzgerald, Sergei Prokofiev, Miles Davis and Maria Callas. She attended music school and participated in all the vocal contests she could. However, her classmates teased little Inna Burdyug (Ognevich’s birth name), saying she has a superiority complex.

“I stayed away from my classmates, because we had different interests. They liked smoking and partying. Meanwhile, I saved my voice and was engaged only in music,” Ognevich says.

That attitude stuck with her while studying at Glière Music College in Kyiv. She was sure to have some fun there, she said, but no matter what happened in the dormitory, she often had to get up early for work or to prepare for concerts.

Her student days may be over, but Ognevich is still a straight-forward career girl, claiming to be “engaged with my work.” She adds that despite being single, she feels sorry for the man who someday might be her partner, as her main passion is her profession.

In discussing her first Eurovision appearance in 2011, she says she didn’t aim for a victory then. “We wanted people to get to know us then, and just being voted for was a huge inspiration for us,” she says. “This year, frankly speaking, we also didn’t expect to win hands down.”

The feelings she felt when walking out on stage at Eurovision in Sweden were complex and difficult to describe.

“You just think ‘Wow!’ and feel chills down your spine,” she says.

She adds that she took no lucky charms with her to the singing competition – all she needed was her voice. But to keep it finely tuned, she explains, requires special treatment, such as attending silent Buddhist retreats.

There, she says, “I keep silence for five days per month. I neither listen to music nor watch any movies. I might get on a bicycle or play piano instead.”

Her Eurovision performances have rocketed her to the top of Ukraine’s charts and secured for her a place in the hearts of many in this country. It has also led to television appearances, party performances and now a spot on the jury of the Junior Eurovision contest set to take place in Ukraine on Nov. 30, 2013.

Kyiv Post intern Yuliya Hudoshnyk can be reached at [email protected].