Dancing Lasha Tumbai

Background

Conception

Ukrainian comedian Andriy Danylko wrote the song as "Danzing" and recorded it in his drag persona Verka Serduchka.

Eurovision

On 29 March 2007, "Danzing" performed by Verka Serduchka competed in **, the Ukrainian national final organized by the National Television Company of Ukraine (NTU) to select their song and performer for the of the Eurovision Song Contest. The song won the competition so it became the for the contest. For the song to participate in the contest, it was retitled as "Dancing Lasha Tumbai".

On 12 May 2007, the Eurovision Song Contest grand final was held at the Hartwall Areena in Helsinki hosted by Yleisradio (YLE), and broadcast live throughout the continent. Serduchka performed "Dancing Lasha Tumbai" eighteenth on the night following 's "Molitva" by Marija Šerifović and preceding 's "Flying the Flag (For You)" by Scooch. In the performance, Serduchka was accompanied by three backing singers dressed in gold and two dancers dressed in silver. Serduchka dressed in silver wore the number "69" on her back, with reference to the sexual position. The two dancers wore the number "18", referring to the entry's running order.

At the close of voting, "Dancing Lasha Tumbai" received 235 points, finished runner-up to Serbia's "Molitva" by Marija Šerifović.

Aftermath

The song became a major chart hit not only in Ukraine and neighboring countries, but throughout the rest of Europe as well.

In the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 in Tel Aviv, Serduchka performed as part of the "Switch Song" interval act, along with winner Conchita Wurst, winner Måns Zelmerlöw, and runner-up Eleni Foureira. The latter performed a version of "Dancing Lasha Tumbai" where she wore an almost-naked bodysuit with 250,000 crystals designed by Vrettos Vrettakοs, before Verka covered then-incumbent winner "Toy" by Netta.

Serduchka performed her song again at the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 Grand Final flag parade.

Controversies

The choice of a drag performer as Ukraine's representative for Eurovision was fiercely criticized by several media and politicians of different parties in the country. Taras Chornovil of Party of Regions was quoted saying:

Another subject of controversy was the song's title and lyrics. According to Danylko, the phrase Lasha tumbai is a Mongolian phrase for "whipped cream", "milkshake", or "churned butter". It was later alleged, though, that there are no such words in Mongolian and the catchphrase bears no meaning at all. There have been allegations that the words were chosen due to their phonetic resemblance to "Russia Goodbye", allegedly a reference to the 2004–2005 Orange Revolution. The song also contains a Russian-language phrase (танцевать хорошо). Serduchka, however, had the full support of the NTU, and the participation in the contest in Helsinki went ahead as planned. At the Embrace Ukraine fundraiser, following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Serduchka performed the song with the lyrics "I want to say Russia goodbye" and changed the song's title to "Dancing Russia Goodbye".

Legacy

In popular culture

Danylko had a cameo as Serduchka in the 2015 film Spy, where he can be seen performing the song during a chase sequence involving lead actress Melissa McCarthy.

In 2020, the song was featured in the episode "Are You from Pinner?" of the BBC thriller series Killing Eve.

Charts

Track listing

CD single

• All tracks are variations on the title track.

References

References

1. link. (2007-09-30)
2. Kuipers, Michael. (2007-03-18). "Eurovision Ukrainian song title change - ESCToday.com".
3. (12 May 2007). "Eurovision Song Contest 2007 final".
4. "Official Eurovision Song Contest 2007 final scoreboard".
5. (19 May 2019). "Eurovision 2019 Switch Song".
6. (19 May 2019). "Love your self...., Be proud...., Be unique....".
7. Eurovision Song Contest. (13 May 2023). "Flag Parade Eurovision 2023".
8. [https://web.archive.org/web/20071024184102/http://ashdoda.net/news/1514/%D3%EA%F0%E0%E8%ED%F1%EA%E8%E5-%ED%E0%F6%E8%EE%ED%E0%EB%E8%F1%F2%FB-%F5%EE%F2%FF%F2-%E7%E0%EA%F0%FB%F2%FC-%C2%E5%F0%EA%E5-%D1%E5%F0%E4%FE%F7%EA%E5-%EF%F3%F2%FC-%ED%E0-%C5%E2%F0%EE%E2%E8%E4%E5%ED%E8%E5-2007/ Украинские националисты хотят закрыть Верке Сердючке путь на Евровидение-2007]
9. ""ФРАЗА" - Новости - Чорновил: Сердючка опозорит Украину".
10. "[http://www.esctoday.com/?p=8001 Dancing Lasha Tumbai. Ukrainian song title change]" "Eurovision Song Contest Helsinki 2007".
11. "The politics of entertainment at Eurovision | Music | DW.DE | 15.05.2013".
12. (2022-06-21). "Вперше "Раша гудбай!": Вєрка Сердючка перефразувала свій хіт з "Євробачення" та заспівала в Амстердамі".
13. "Embrace Ukraine: світові лідери й зірки підтримали Україну".
14. (2 June 2015). "'Spy' Party: Melissa McCarthy Hits the Stage with Ukrainian Drag Performer".
15. "Вот это прикол: Верка Сердючка звучит в нашумевшем британском сериале «Убивая Еву".
16. Antti Niemelä. (15 August 2007). "Verka Serduchka: Dancing Lasha Tumbai (Warner Music)".