Polina Gagarina

Biography

Polina Sergeyevna Gagarina (Russian: Полина Сергеевна Гагарина, IPA: [pɐˈlʲinə sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvnə ɡɐˈɡarʲɪnə]; born 27 March 1987) is a Russian singer and songwriter. She represented Russia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 with "A Million Voices" where she finished second with 303 points. In doing so, she became the first second-placed finisher to exceed 300 points. Gagarina also participated in the Chinese reality-competition Singer in 2019, where she was one of the finalists. She was the tenth-highest Russian earner on Instagram and YouTube in 2021, with net revenue of about 6 million US dollars from 8.9 million subscribers.

== Biography == Polina Gagarina was born in Moscow, but spent most of her youth in Greece. Her mother was a ballet dancer. In 1993, Gagarina's father died and her mother decided to move back to Russia, but they soon moved back to Greece and settled in Athens. After completing her education, she moved to Saratov to live with her grandmother. Besides her native language Russian, she is also fluent in Greek.

== Career ==

=== 2003–07: Poprosi u oblakov === In 2003, Gagarina competed in season two of Star Factory, a Russian reality singing competition. She performed several songs by Maxim Fadeev and went on to win the show, but refused to work with Fadeev after her victory. After winning Star Factory, Gagarina was invited to perform in the group Playgirls. The group received a recording contract with ARS Records, but ultimately disbanded. She later released the singles "Kolybelnaya", "Morning", "Ya tvoya", "Pomnyu", and "Ya tebya ne proshchu nikogda". Her debut album Poprosi u oblakov was released in 2007.

=== 2008–12: O sebe === In 2008, Gagarina released the single "Komu, zachem?", a duet with Russian singer Irina Dubtsova. In March 2010, her second studio album O sebe was released. In 2012, Gagarina started to collaborate with Russian-Georgian producer Konstantin Meladze. With Meladze she recorded four singles: "Spektakl okonchen" ("The Play Is Over"), "Net" ("No"), "Navek" ("Forever") and "Shagay" ("Stride").

=== 2015–16: Eurovision Song Contest and 9 ===

On 9 March 2015, it was revealed that Gagarina would represent Russia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 with the song "A Million Voices". Gagarina placed first in the first semi-final with 182 points, before coming second in the Grand Final of the contest, ending up with 303 points. This was the fourth highest overall points total of all time and she became the first non-winning participant to exceed 300 points. On 25 July 2015, she performed "A Million Voices" as the closing song of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying draw in Saint Petersburg, shown on television worldwide. On 9 August 2015, she performed at the closing ceremony of the 2015 World Aquatics Championships in Kazan. She was a coach in the Russian reality talent show The Voice in seasons four and five. In September 2016, her third studio album 9 was released. This album peaked at number one on the Russia iTunes charts.

=== 2019–present: Singer 2019 ===