Nadiya Oleksandrivna Urzhumtseva (; born 10 April 1982), known professionally under her

maiden name When a person (traditionally the wife in many cultures) assumes the family name of their spouse, in some countries and cultures that name replaces the person's previous surname, which in the case of the wife is called the maiden name ("birth name" ...

Nadia Meiher (), is a Ukrainian singer, songwriter, actress, poet, television host, and fashion designer. Beginning in 2000, she rose to prominence as a member of the Ukrainian pop girl group

Nu Virgos VIA Gra (), known outside of Ukraine and other nearby countries as Nu Virgos, was a Ukrainian girl group. The name VIA Gra is a triple wordplay; it is an allusion to the drug Viagra, the first three letters "ВИА" ("VIA") also stand for " vo ...

—known as "VIA Gra" in both

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 ...

and the

Commonwealth of Independent States The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a regional organization, regional intergovernmental organization in Eurasia. It was formed following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. It covers an ar ...

—on an intermittent basis, including during what is considered to be the group's golden period in 2003 and 2004. She left and re-joined Nu Virgos three times, but ultimately focused on her solo career from 2006 onward; it was around this time when she became a television host on

STB State Security (, ), or StB / ŠtB, was the secret police force in communist Czechoslovakia from 1945 to its dissolution in 1990. Serving as an intelligence and counter-intelligence agency, it dealt with any activity that was considered oppositio ...

. In 2014, she participated in '' One to One!'', the Russian version of the Spanish reality television show ''

Your Face Sounds Familiar ''Your Face Sounds Familiar'' ( Spanish: ''Tu cara me suena'') is a Spanish interactive reality television franchise series where celebrity contestants impersonate singers. The format, similar to Dutch television series '' Soundmixshow'', was ...

.'' Later, she released the single "Delo ne v tele" () for her solo debut.

Early life and education

Meiher was born in Zbruchivka, Volochysk Raion, in what was then the

Ukrainian SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as the Ukrainian SSR, UkrSSR, and also known as Soviet Ukraine or just Ukraine, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1991. ...

of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, to father Oleksandr Pavlovych Meiher and mother Halyna Anatoliyivna Shchyrba. She is

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

through her paternal line and Ukrainian through her maternal line. When she was in school, her mother left to work in

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 ...

, leaving her with her father. Her family then moved to Khmelnytskyi, where she studied music and dance. Meiher then moved 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, ...

to study English at the Borys Grinchenko Kyiv University, and also began performing in a local theatre. In 2000, while performing in a theatre in Khmelnytskyi, she was noticed by the Russian singer Valery Meladze, who introduced her to producers

Konstantin Meladze Konstantin Shotayevich Meladze (; ka, კონსტანტინე მელაძე; born 11 May 1963) is a Georgian-born Ukrainian-Russian composer and producer. He is the older brother of singer Valery Meladze and co-founder and co-pro ...

and Dmytro Kostyuk, who invited her to move to Kyiv and join the Ukrainian girl group

Career

Nu Virgos: 2000–2002, 2002–2006, 2009–2011

Nadia Meiher was a member of the original line-up of

, along with

Alena Vinnitskaya Alena Vinnitskaya ( ''Alona Vinnytska'';Her artist name is the Russian version of her name ( ''Alena Vinnitskaya'') born Olha Viktorivna Vinnytska () on 27 December 1974, Kyiv, in the Ukrainian SSR of the Soviet Union – in present-day Ukra ...

. Their debut single "Popytka No. 5" was released in 2000 and became a huge hit, where it was eventually named as one of the 99 biggest hits of Russian pop music in the period 1991–2011. The group's first

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

, also titled '' Popytka No. 5'', sold over 700,000 units and earned Golden certification. In April 2002, Meikher temporarily left the group due to her pregnancy. In September 2002, Meiher rejoined Nu Virgos, which now consisted of Meiher, Vinnitskaya, along with Anna Sedokova and Tatiana Naynik. Vinnitskaya and Naynik left the group shortly after, and were replaced by Vera Brezhneva. The period between January 2003 and September 2004, during which Nu Virgos consisted of Granovskaya, Sedokova and Brezhneva, has been considered " golden era" of the group. In January 2006, Meiher left Nu Virgos once again, in order to focus on her solo projects. She rejoined the group for the third time in 2009, replacing Meseda Bagaudinova, but left it once again in November 2011, due to pregnancy.

Solo career: 2006–present

From 2006 to 2008, Meiher hosted the

television show ''Neymovirni istoriyi kokhannya'' (Incredible Love Stories) She co-hosted the 1+1 New Year 2007 programme, along with Svetlana Loboda and Ruslana Pysanka. In 2011, Meiher hosted the STB show ''Neymovirna pravda pro zirok'' (The Incredible Truth about the Stars). She also participated in the 1+1 show ''Zirka + Zirka'' in 2006, and in '' Odin v odin!;'' the Russian version of ''

,'' in 2014. Meiher was also a part of the jury on the

reality show Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...

''Khochu do VIA Hry'' (I want to join Nu Virgos) in 2013, in which was created to find new members of

, as well as on the

talent show A talent show or talent contest is an event in which participants perform the arts of singing, dancing, lip-syncing, acting, martial arts, playing an instrument, poetry, comedy or other activities to showcase skills. Many talent shows are p ...

''Spivay yak zirka'' (Sing like a star) in 2015. Meiher released her debut solo single, "Delo ne v tele", in May 2014. Her second single, "Tango vozvrasheniya", was released via

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

in October the same year. She has since released two more singles, "Ostansya" (2015) and "Historia de un amor" (2016). Meiher's first collection of poems "Siyuminutnoe vlechenie''"'' (Momentary Attraction) was published in 2009. In 2016, Meiher opened the boutique Meiher by Meiher at the Gulliver centre in

, which sells her own designs.

Personal life

Meiher has three children; son Ihor (born 15 August 2002) with her then-partner Oleksandr Lishenko, who was then the Deputy of the

Kyiv City Council Kyiv City Council (, ), also known as Kyivrada (), is the city council of Kyiv municipality, the highest representative body of the city community. The members of city council are directly elected by Kyivans and the council is chaired by the M ...

; and daughters Anna (born 23 March 2012) and Mariya (born 17 October 2015) with Russian businessman Mikhail Urzhumtsev, whom she married in 2014.

Discography

Singles

* 2014 — "Delo ne v tele" * 2014 — "Tango vozvrascheniya" * 2015 — "Ostansya" * 2016 — "Historia de un amor"

Filmography

Published works

* ''Momentary Attraction'' (, ''Siyuminutnoe vlechenie'') (2009)

Awards and nominations

Notes

References

External links

*
Nadia Meiher - Brand Meiher by Meiher Instagram

Nadia Meiher - Facebook
{{DEFAULTSORT:Meiher, Nadia 1972 births English-language singers from Ukraine Living people Nu Virgos members People from Khmelnytskyi Oblast Russian-language singers of Ukraine Ukrainian fashion designers 21st-century Ukrainian women singers Ukrainian film actresses Jewish Ukrainian musicians Ukrainian people of German descent Ukrainian people of Jewish descent Ukrainian women poets Ukrainian pop singers Ukrainian women pop singers Ukrainian television actresses Ukrainian women fashion designers