Oksana Stefanivna Hrytsai (born March 5, 1986, known professionally as Mika Newton) is a singer from the city of

Burshtyn Burshtyn (, ) is a city located in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, in western Ukraine, to the north of Halych. It is accessible by railroad, rail. Burshtyn hosts the administration of Burshtyn urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. Population: ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. Born and raised in

, she is currently based in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, California.

Early life

Oksana Hrytsai was born on 5 March 1986, in

. Her stage name comes from Mika, a derivative of Rolling Stones lead singer

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English musician. He is known as the lead singer and one of the founder members of The Rolling Stones. Jagger has co-written most of the band's songs with lead guitarist Keith Richards; Jagge ...

's first name, and Newton is an abbreviation of the words "new tone". Newton taught herself to sing at an early age by imitating artists she heard on the radio. She began entering regional voice competitions at the age of nine.

Music career

At the age of 16, Newton moved from her hometown of Burshtyn to

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

, where she enrolled in the College of Circus and Variety Arts, studying voice, piano, acting, dance and pantomime. Continuing to compete in local and international talent competitions, she gained the attention of music industry professionals, and at the age of 16, she was signed with Kyiv-based record label Falyosa Family Factory.

''Eurovision 2011''

Newton was chosen to represent Ukraine in the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

in 2011 in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, singing Ruslan Kvinta and Maryna Skomorohova's "Angel". The final national selection of participants from Ukraine for Eurovision was broadcast on First National Television Channel. There were 19 participants. The winner was determined by SMS votes (45% of the vote), Internet voting (10%), and jury votes (45%). Newton received the most points, with

Zlata Ognevich Zlata Leonidivna Ognevich (; born Inna Leonidivna Bordiuh, on 12 January 1986) is a Ukrainian singer and former politician. She represented Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 in Malmö with the song "Gravity", placing third. Ognevich ...

in second place and

Jamala Susana Alimivna Jamaladinova. (born 27 August 1983), known professionally as Jamala,. is a Ukrainian singer. She represented and won the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 with her song "1944 (song), 1944". In 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023 and 2024 ...

in third. In the Eurovision final on 14 May 2011, Newton finished fourth with 159 points, behind the entries from

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

(the winner with 221 points),

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. During her performance, she was accompanied by sand-artist

Kseniya Simonova Kseniya Oleksandrivna Paskar (; name at birth, née Simonova; ; born 22 April 1985) is a Ukrainian performance artist; she is involved in sand animation, graphic design, illustration, cinema, and literature. She is a Merited Artist of Ukraine an ...

, the 2009 winner of ''

Ukraine's Got Talent ''Ukrayina maye talant'' (; ) is a Ukrainian reality television series on the STB television network, and part of the global British ''Got Talent'' series. It is a talent show that features singers, dancers, sketch artists, comedians, and other p ...

''.

2012: "Don't Dumb Me Down"

Newton released two albums and provided theme songs for a number of Ukrainian and Russian films and television shows prior to Eurovision 2011, which led

JK Music Group JK may refer to: People *Jay Kay (Jason Luís Cheetham, born 1969), English musician and lead singer of Jamiroquai *Jaykae (Janum Khan, born 1991), English rapper and actor *JK-47 (Jacob Paulson, born 1991/1992), Indigenous Australian rapper an ...

to invite her to Los Angeles to record for two weeks with songwriter

Walter Afanasieff Walter Afanasieff (born Vladimir Nikitich Afanasyev; February 10, 1958), formerly nicknamed Baby Love in the 1980s, is an American record producer and songwriter. He was a frequent collaborator of Mariah Carey on her first six studio albums. Af ...

. During her visit, she also performed in front of producer

Randy Jackson Randall Darius Jackson (born June 23, 1956) is an American record executive, television presenter and musician, best known as a judge on ''American Idol'' from 2002 to 2013. Jackson began his career in the 1980s as a session musician playing b ...

After participating in Eurovision 2011, Newton signed a contract with JK Music Group and Randy Jackson's Friendship Collective, relocating to Los Angeles in June 2011 to pursue a career as a pop-rock singer. On 21 February 2012, she released her debut U.S. single, "Don't Dumb Me Down". The video for the single, directed by

Marc Klasfeld Marc Klasfeld is an American music video director. He has directed over two hundred music videos for artists such as Slipknot, Sum 41, Katy Perry, Jay-Z, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Britney Spears, Kid Rock, Michael Bublé, Nelly, Foo Fighters, Kelly ...

, premiered on

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

's ''Buzzworthy''. Newton made a guest appearance on '' Maoren Queen'', a Chinese reality show similar to '' The Hills'' in March 2012.

2013: "Come Out and Play" and "Magnets"

Newton released her new single "Come Out and Play" in 2012, remixed by

Paul Oakenfold Paul Mark Oakenfold (; born 30 August 1963), formerly known mononymously as Oakenfold, is an English record producer, remixer and trance DJ. He has provided over 100 remixes for over 100 artists including U2, Moby, Madonna, Britney Spears, Ma ...

. Newton and Oakenfold performed at the

Winter Music Conference The Winter Music Conference (WMC) is a week-long electronic music conference, held every March in Miami Beach, Florida, United States since 1985. It is also known as the premiere platform for electronic dance music. The conference brings togethe ...

in 2012 to promote the new remix. In April 2013, Mika began performing acoustic shows throughout

. The music video for "Magnets" (co-written by Newton and songwriters Rune Westerberg and

Victoria Horn Victoria Jane Horn (also known as Lady V) is an English Grammy Award winning songwriter and ASCAP and BMI heavy rotation award winner. Personal life Victoria Horn began studying the piano at age three and later learned the guitar. At an early ...

) premiered on the ''

OK! ''OK!'' is a British weekly magazine that primarily specialises in royal and celebrity news. Originally launched as a monthly magazine, its first issue was published in April 1993. In September 2004, ''OK''! launched in Australia as a monthly ...

'' magazine USA website on 20 May 2013. The music video for Newton's second U.S. single "Come Out and Play", directed by Ali Zamani, premiered at the Lily Bar & Lounge in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

on 31 August 2013. Newton was featured in the October 2013 issue of ''

Maxim Maxim or Maksim may refer to: Entertainment *Maxim (magazine), ''Maxim'' (magazine), an international men's magazine ** Maxim (Australia), ''Maxim'' (Australia), the Australian edition ** Maxim (India), ''Maxim'' (India), the Indian edition *Maxim ...

''. Newton was also featured in the January 2014 issue of Chulo Magazine. Newton sang at the

2022 Grammy Awards The 64th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on April 3, 2022. It recognized the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility year, running from September 1, 2020, to September 30, ...

with

John Legend John Roger Stephens (born December 28, 1978), known professionally as John Legend, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He began his musical career working behind the scenes for other artists, playing piano on Lauryn Hill's " Every ...

and fellow Ukrainian artists Siuzanna Iglidan and

Lyuba Yakimchuk Lyuba Yakimchuk, also known as Lyubov Yakymchuk (; born 1985), is a Ukrainian poet, playwright, and screenwriter, living in Kyiv, Ukraine. Her work includes ''Apricots of Donbas'' (2015). Early life and education Yakimchuk was born and raised in ...

in a performance that paid tribute to the lives lost during the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

, following a message from Ukrainian President

Volodymyr Zelenskyy Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy (born 25 January 1978) is a Ukrainian politician and former entertainer who has served as the sixth and current president of Ukraine since 2019. He took office five years after the start of the Russo-Ukraini ...

.John Legend and Ukrainian Artists Call For a ‘Free’ Country With 2022 Grammys Performance
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Personal life

In December 2018, Newton married

talent agent A talent agent, or booking agent, is a person who finds work for actors, authors, broadcast journalists, film directors, musicians, models, professional athletes, screenwriters, writers, dancers, and other professionals in various entertainm ...

Chris Saavedra in the United States. Newton's sister, Liliya Hrytsai, has been serving in the

Ukrainian Army The Ukrainian Ground Forces (SVZSU, ), also referred to as the Ukrainian army, is a land force, and one of the eight Military branch, branches of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. It was formed from Ukrainian units of the Soviet Army after Declaratio ...

during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Notes

References

External links

Mika Newton official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Newton, Mika 1986 births Living people 21st-century Ukrainian women singers Ukrainian rock singers Ukrainian women rock singers People from Burshtyn English-language singers from Ukraine Ukrainian pop singers Ukrainian women pop singers Ukrainian emigrants to the United States Eurovision Song Contest entrants