Svetlana Loboda facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Svetlana Loboda
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Loboda in December 2023
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Світлана Лобода
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| Birth name | Svitlana Serhiivna Loboda |
| Also known as | LOBODA, Alisiya Horn |
| Born | 18 October 1982 Irpin, Kyiv Oblast, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union |
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| Years active | 2000–present |
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Svetlana Serhiivna Loboda (born on October 18, 1982), known by her stage name LOBODA, is a popular Ukrainian singer and songwriter. She has become very successful in many Eastern European countries. Loboda has won several awards, including the ZD Awards and the Bravo International Professional Music Awards.
About Svetlana Loboda
Her Early Life and Music Journey
Svetlana Loboda was born in Kyiv, Ukraine, on October 18, 1982. She grew up in Irpin, a town near Kyiv. From a young age, Svetlana loved music. She went to a music school where she learned to play the piano, conduct music, and sing.
After music school, she studied singing at the Kyiv Variety and Circus Academy. While still in her first year, Svetlana joined a music group called "Cappuccino." She later decided to leave the group to explore her own musical style.
Svetlana also performed in a Ukrainian musical called "Equator." She played a main role as a character named Mirana. Her performance in the musical helped her become known as a rising star in Ukraine. During this time, she released a song and music video called "Black Angel."
Joining and Leaving VIA Gra
In December 2003, Svetlana started her own band called Ketch. A few months later, in the spring of 2004, she joined the famous trio "VIA Gra." With VIA Gra, she toured in Asian cities and appeared in their music video "Biology." She also starred in a New Year's musical called "Sorochynskyi Yarmarok."
After three months, Svetlana decided to leave VIA Gra to focus on her solo career. In December 2004, she released her first solo song, "Black and White Winter." Her first solo album, "You Will Not Forget," came out in November 2005.
New Projects and Achievements
In 2006, Svetlana released the music video for "Black Angel." After a trip to Japan, she recorded the song "Wait, man." That same year, she hosted a TV show called "Shoumaniya." In 2007, she hosted "Miss CIS" and opened her own travel agency called Happy Vacations.
In October 2007, Svetlana released a music video for her song "Happiness." She also held a photo exhibition of her pictures from India. The exhibition aimed to help children who were orphans or had cancer.
In 2008, Svetlana started a youth clothing line and released her second album, "Not Macho." She also won the National Olympus Award for her unique performance style.
Representing Ukraine at Eurovision 2009
In 2009, Svetlana Loboda entered the Ukrainian competition to represent her country at the Eurovision Song Contest 2009. Her song was "Be My Valentine" (also known as "Anti-Crisis Girl!"). On March 8, she won the national selection and earned the right to represent Ukraine. She released the music video for her song on March 18.
At the Eurovision opening ceremony, Svetlana appeared with bandages and fake injuries. This was to bring attention to her "Say Stop Domestic Violence" campaign. Another famous singer, Patricia Kaas, joined her in supporting this cause.
Svetlana finished in 12th place at the Eurovision final with 76 points. Even though she didn't win, her song was very popular. She took first place in pre-competition concerts in London, Paris, and Amsterdam. She also ranked high in Google searches among Eurovision participants. For the contest, she created "Anti-crisis boy" T-shirts and "Anti-crisis bag" items.
Growing Popularity (2010-2015)
In January 2010, Svetlana released the video for "Live Easy." In this video, she played a character who gained weight after a setback. After this, she recorded a duet called "Heart Beats" with Max Barskih, and they released a music video for it.
In 2010, Svetlana officially changed her musical project's name to LOBODA, using her last name as a brand.
In April 2011, Svetlana Loboda and soccer player Andriy Shevchenko became the faces of a PEPSI campaign. This project, called "Pepsi Refresh Project," aimed to help young creative people find their path. A British-American director named Nick Lively came to Ukraine to film the video for this project.
In the summer of 2010, the song "Revolution" was released. At the VIVA Awards, Loboda performed a new song called "Thank You," which was dedicated to her daughter. The music video for this song was filmed in two parts: one when she was pregnant and another after she gave birth.
In the summer of 2011, her song "In the Light" premiered at the Crimea Music Fest, and she later released a music video for it. In early 2012, Loboda traveled to the United States to film a music video for "Clouds." She also made a short suspense film based on the song, called "Woman-Crime." The film was shot in Miami and explored themes of passion and crime.
On April 12, 2012, Loboda presented her show "The Beginning" in Kyiv, which she toured across Ukraine for almost a year. In June, a video for "What about U" was released. This song was chosen for the UEFA Euro 2012 championship and was part of its official soundtrack. In August 2012, the song "40 degrees" was presented at the Crimea Music Fest.
In 2012, Loboda became a coach on the talent show "Voice. Children." In February 2013, she released a new song called "Tenderness." On March 17, 2013, she presented "Under Ice" at the "Yuna" Award.
In June 2013, Svetlana Loboda received the honorary title "Honored Artist of Ukraine."
On November 1, 2013, she released "Kokhana" (Beloved), her first song in Ukrainian. In February 2014, she performed "City Under Prohibition" at the BIG LOVE SHOW, and the song was officially released in March. She then went on a tour called "Under Prohibition!"
In May 2014, Loboda and Emin released a song and music video called "Looking at the Sky." Loboda's producer, Natella Krapivina, directed the video. In September 2014, they released a new version of "Looking at the Sky." On October 18, 2014, the song "Don't Need It" premiered. Loboda received several awards and nominations, including "Song of the Year" for "40 Degrees."
On December 26, 2014, Loboda won the "Song of the Year" award for "City Under Prohibition." She also won "Best Song" for "40 Degrees" and "Best Video" for "40 Degrees" at the Yuna awards.
On March 7, 2015, Loboda released a new music video for "Not Wanted." It was filmed in Portugal and showed a woman overcoming pain and betrayal. This video reflected some of the singer's own personal experiences.
On March 26, 2015, Loboda and Emin won "Best Duet" at the YUNA 2015 awards for "You Look at the Sky."
On April 2, 2015, the song "Time to Go Home" premiered. Its music video was filmed in Istanbul and featured hosts from the "Eagle and Tails" TV show. On June 8, 2015, Loboda won the "Fashion Voice Woman" award at the Fashion People Awards in Moscow.
On November 4, 2015, Loboda started her "Time to Go Home" tour in Ukraine, where she performed new songs like "To Hell with Love" and "Your Eyes." On November 23, 2015, she launched a project called "Oblysh" (Leave me alone) to raise awareness about violence against women.
On November 26, 2015, Loboda won "Clip of the Year" for "Time to Go Home" at the M1 Music Awards. In December, Yandex research showed she was the most popular woman in Ukraine.
Since 2016: H2LO and Other Projects
On January 11, 2016, Loboda released the song "To Hell the Love," and its music video premiered on February 19. On May 9, 2016, she performed at a concert celebrating Victory Day, singing "Our Tenth Paratrooper Battalion" and "Cranes."
On June 30, 2016, Loboda was named "The Most Beautiful Singer of the Country" by the Miss Ukraine Universe 2016 contest. On September 6, 2016, the song "Your Eyes" premiered, and its music video followed on November 9. This song was number one on iTunes in several countries for five weeks. On November 19, 2016, she received a Golden Gramophone award in Moscow for "To Hell with Love." She also won "Best Singer" and "Music Video of the Year" at the M1 Music Awards 2016.
On March 8, 2017, Loboda performed a three-hour show in Kyiv and released her album "H2LO," which she had worked on for five years. The album quickly became number one on iTunes in seven countries. She also performed a duet called "Hot" with Dima Monatik.
In December 2017, she hosted a special "star" edition of the travel show "Oryol i Reshka." In 2018, she was the music producer for Philip Kirkorov's song "The Color of Mood Blue." She won "Best Female Performer" at the RU.TV Awards 2017 and Muz-TV Awards 2017.
In March 2018, Loboda won "Best Female Performer" at the "Heat Music Awards." On March 10, 2018, she received awards for "Best Album" and "Best Singer" at the Bravo Awards. She also announced she was pregnant and would take a break from concerts.
In May 2018, Svetlana Loboda was featured on the cover of the Russian Cosmopolitan magazine. In June 2018, just two weeks after her second daughter was born, she returned to the stage and won "Best Singer" at the "Muz-TV Award."
Her album "H2LO" reached 3x Platinum status, and the song "Your Eyes" sold 20 million copies, reaching 20x Platinum. In September 2018, Svetlana Loboda became the first woman to appear on the cover of GQ, a men's magazine.
In December 2018, she won "Best Dance Hit" for "SuperStar" at the Russian national music awards "Victoria." She also received a "Golden Gramophone" for "SuperStar" and was named "Performer of the Year" by Yandex Music. "SuperStar" was recognized as "Song of the Year."
In 2019, Svetlana became a mentor on "The Voice. Children" show. On March 1, 2019, her song "The Last Hero" premiered as the theme for a reality show. After a voting scandal on "Voice. Children," her producer announced that Svetlana would no longer work on the project.
In 2019, Svetlana Loboda performed several concerts for her "SUPERSTAR" show. A year later, she released a live album called "Superstar Show Live," featuring live versions of her hits. In November 2019, Svetlana Loboda appeared in Till Lindemann's music video "Frau & Mann."
By the end of 2019, her album "Sold Out" went triple platinum. She was also recognized as the best streaming artist on the Sony Music Entertainment Russia label. That year, she won several awards, including "Song of the Year" for "SuperStar" and "INSTADRAMA," and "Best Female Artist" at various ceremonies.
In 2020, Loboda released the song and music video "Boom Boom" with rapper Pharaoh. This release sparked a lot of discussion online. The video gained over two million views on its first day, and the song quickly reached platinum status in Russia. In December, she released "Moloko," which entered the top 40 radio charts in Russia and Ukraine and also achieved platinum status. TopHit Music Awards recognized Loboda as the best radio performer in Russia for 2020.
In 2021, Svetlana Loboda returned as a mentor for the eighth season of "Voice. Children." Her mentee, Vladislav Tyukin, won the season.
On March 5, 2021, Svetlana Loboda's music video for "Native" premiered. She also received the "ZHARA music awards" for "Best Singer of the Year."
On June 8, 2021, Loboda's producer, Natella Krapivina, announced they were ending their work together.
On July 16, 2021, Loboda released her new song and video "Allo." The video was directed by Alan Badoev and became a hit during the summer. The filming took place in Kyiv.
On August 13, 2021, the singer presented a new song called "Indie Rock (Vogue)," which was different from her usual style. It was released in both Russian and Ukrainian. The music video was directed by Israeli Indi Hait.
On August 14, 2021, Loboda performed her first public concert in Ukraine in four years, in Odesa, which was very well attended.
On October 1, 2021, she released a new song, "Americano." This song quickly became number one on all charts and was a top trending music video on YouTube for a long time. The music video for "Americano" premiered on November 1, 2021, filmed in Kyiv and directed by Indi Hait.
On December 10, 2021, Loboda released a New Year's song called "ZanesLO," which was meant to make people want to dance and feel cozy. Loboda also received the Ukrainian "Music Platform" award for her song "MoLOko."
Since 2022: Support for Ukraine
In February 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine, Loboda stopped working in Russia and canceled her planned concert tour. She openly supported her home country. She began sharing updates about the war and its impact on Ukrainians on her social media. She also actively promoted charity efforts to help Ukraine.
Starting in February 2022, Loboda turned her office into a volunteer center to help Ukrainians.
On June 3, 2022, Loboda released her first song since the war began, dedicating it to Ukraine. The song, "Prayer," was meant to be a message of hope, showing that love will overcome death and light will defeat darkness. The music video for "Prayer" was filmed in Riga, Latvia, inside St. Peter's Church. It featured Loboda and 45 musicians from the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music Symphony Orchestra. A Ukrainian and Latvian team worked on the song and video, which was directed by Indi Hait. Loboda herself came up with the idea for the video and produced the sound for the song.
On November 18, 2022, Loboda released a new Ukrainian song called "Two Strangers." She dedicated this song to Ukrainians who were separated from their families, friends, and homes because of the war. She visited refugee centers around the world, and the stories she heard from people inspired the lyrics of the song, reflecting their grief and pain.
On December 2, 2022, Loboda released a music video for her song "Cities." For the first time, Loboda directed her own music video. She explained that "Cities" is about the feelings of separation and distance that many Ukrainians experience today. The video was filmed in Riga, Latvia, and featured local actors. It aimed to show how people change after experiencing the pain and suffering of war, and how they eventually return to their cities and homes.
On February 3, 2023, the singer released her fourth song since February 24, 2022. The song "Ukrainian Way" was the first single from her new album, which was expected to be released in spring 2023.
Personal Life
Her Family
Svetlana's grandfather, Vasyl Loboda, worked in the Soviet Militsiya and then the KGB. He traveled a lot and even lived in Cuba in 1958, helping with plans for the Cuban Revolution. He passed away when Svetlana was young.
Her grandmother, Lyudmila Loboda, was an opera singer.
Her father, Sergii Loboda (born 1957), was in charge of the apron service at an aircraft factory.
Her mother, Natalia Loboda (born 1957), worked in Kyiv as an energy conservation specialist and was a city council deputy in Irpin.
Svetlana has a younger sister named Ksenia Loboda (born 1992). Ksenia got married in June 2019 and had her first child, a daughter, in March 2023.
Svetlana's former partner was Andrii Tsar (born September 18, 1987). He is a dancer, choreographer, DJ, and singer. He worked with Svetlana Loboda's ballet group. Svetlana officially announced their breakup on October 1, 2014.
Svetlana has two daughters:
- Evangelina Levandovska (born April 9, 2011, in Kyiv)
- Matilda (Tilda) Loboda (born May 21, 2018, in Los Angeles)
Charity Work
Svetlana Loboda is very involved in charity. She often helps sick children and families in need, giving 10% of her earnings to charity.
In April 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, she launched a "Help Basket" campaign with charity foundations. She bought over a thousand boxes of food and donated more than 180,000 rubles to support elderly, low-income, and large families.
In August 2021, she supported a charity festival in Odesa that raised money for medical equipment for children's hospital departments. She donated a valuable dress to help raise funds.
Since February 24, 2022, Svetlana has focused her efforts on helping Ukrainians affected by the war. She turned her office into a volunteer headquarters.
She donated 1.5 million hryvnias to the Masha Efrosinina Foundation, which provides humanitarian aid to war victims. She also donated a car for the needs of the territorial defense and paid 1.5 million hryvnias for equipment for the city of Boryspil.
In May 2022, Svetlana announced the opening of the Loboda Help Center. This center offers psychological support to Ukrainians and accepts requests for financial help for those affected by the war. About 1,000 people have received professional psychological help through the center.
On June 15, 2022, she visited her hometown of Irpin, which was heavily damaged by the war. She met with the mayor and residents, discussing ways to help rebuild their homes. Svetlana Loboda donated three million hryvnias to help finish rebuilding the "Vinochok" kindergarten in Irpin, which was partly destroyed.
She also visited Kyiv City Children's Clinical Hospital #1 and donated about ₴200,000 for medical equipment. Financial help was also sent to a palliative care hospital in Kyiv.
Svetlana Loboda supported a young Ukrainian tennis player, Mishel Lobotenko, from Irpin. Mishel and her family had to move to Latvia, and Svetlana helped her with training costs.
After seeing the destruction in Irpin, Svetlana decided to help restore the city. She announced a partnership with the International Charitable Foundation DUSHA.
Svetlana Loboda provided food, cleaning supplies, and personal hygiene products worth ₴230,000 for several months to 350 refugees in a temporary camp in Pereiaslav.
She also lent her personal car to actor Alexei Surovtsev, who uses it to evacuate animals from Irpin.
On August 14, 2022, Loboda's concert in Riga started a large charity tour across Europe and America, including countries like Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Israel, and Armenia. At each concert, she donates part of her earnings to help rebuild Irpin. Before almost every concert, she visits camps with Ukrainian refugees to support them and give them tickets to her shows.
On her birthday, October 18, 2022, Svetlana pledged ₴1 million to repair roofs and strengthen buildings in Irpin. This campaign raised a total of ₴3 million. The Ukrainian construction charity fund Savehome.live also joined, taking on the restoration of three multi-story buildings.
On December 26, 2022, Kazakhstan's main music channel, MUZZONE TV, honored Svetlana Loboda with an award for her "Contribution to the Development and Restoration of Ukraine."
By the end of 2022, Svetlana Loboda had donated over 14 million hryvnias for direct aid and to various charities since the start of the war. In January 2023, she continued her charity work, donating ₴1 million for rebuilding a multi-story building in Irpin and announcing more charity tours.
Music Albums
Studio albums
- Ty ne zabudesh (2005)
- Ne Ma4o (2008)
- H2LO (2017)
- Sold Out (2019)
- Made in U (2023)
See also
In Spanish: Svitlana Loboda para niños
- Loboda videography
