Valeriya Andreyevna Engalycheva (; ; born 7 April 1999), known professionally as Lerika (), is a Moldovan-Russian singer and songwriter. She represented Moldova in the

Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2011 The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2011 was the ninth edition of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, and took place in Yerevan, Armenia at the Karen Demirchyan Sports and Concerts Complex. It was the first time in history of the Junior Eurovision ...

with the song "No-No", and Russia in the 2012 contest with "Sensatsiya". This made her the second Junior Eurovision Song Contest entrant to compete twice (the first being Russia in 2009 and 2011 with Ekaterina Ryabova), and the first to represent two different countries.

Life and work

Engalycheva was born in

Olomouc Olomouc (; ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 103,000 inhabitants, making it the Statutory city (Czech Republic), sixth largest city in the country. It is the administrative centre of the Olomouc Region. Located on the Morava (rive ...

, in the Czech Republic, to a Russian family. She first began singing at the age of four. She moved to

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

at a young age, where her grandmother lived, and then moved to Russia with her family at age 13, settling in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. Throughout her childhood, Engalycheva participated in a number of European singing competitions, including

Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk The International Festival of Arts "Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk", also known as Slavic Bazaar, is an annual festival held in Vitebsk, Belarus under the auspices of the Belarusian Government since 1992. Its main program is devoted to Slavic music. ...

, Orpheus in Italy, New Wave Junior, and Kinotavrik. At age 12, Engalycheva was selected to represent Moldova at the

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , ; ; sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia, as well as one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerev ...

, with the song "No-No". She ultimately placed sixth, earning 78 points; this became Moldova's most successful participation in the contest to date. After moving to Russia in 2012, Engalycheva competed in the Russian national final for the

Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2012 The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2012 was the tenth edition of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest. It took place at the AFAS Live, Heineken Music Hall in Amsterdam, Netherlands on 1 December 2012. Dutch broadcaster AVRO (broadcaster), AVRO was ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

, with the song "Sensatsiya". She went on to win the competition, earning the right to represent Russia; this made Engalycheva the second artist to compete at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest twice, and the first to represent two different countries. She ultimately placed fourth, receiving 88 points. Engalycheva studied at

Moscow Art Theatre School Moscow Art Theatre School () is the studio school of the Moscow Chekhov Art Theatre. It is a state educational institution that has existed since 1943. The initiator of the studio school was Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko.Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

, English,

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

, and

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

, and has released music in Russian, English, and Romanian. In 2022 Engalycheva was a contestant on the tenth season of '' Vocea României'' (The Voice of Romania). As part of

Irina Rimes Irina Rimes (born Irina Rîmeș on ) is a Moldovan singer-songwriter who established herself as one of the leading music artists in Romania and Moldova since the late 2010s. She is one of the four coaches of the Romanian talent show '' Vocea R ...

's team, she got to the Battles round, before being eliminated.

Discography

Singles

References

External links

Unofficial website
{{authority control 1999 births 21st-century Russian women singers Child pop musicians Living people Moldovan child singers Moldovan emigrants to Russia Moldovan expatriates in the Czech Republic 21st-century Moldovan women singers Moldovan people of Russian descent Musicians from Moscow Musicians from Olomouc Russian child singers Russian expatriates in the Czech Republic Russian pop singers