Mariya is the daughter of well-known singer and composer Nazari Yaremchuk, who died of stomach cancer in 1995, when Mariya was just 2 years old.
Born in the western Ukraine city of Chernivtsy in 1993, she surprised many in 2012 when she expressed "moral support" for the pro-Russian party of the ousted president Viktor Yanukovych.
Prior to the contest she explained her comments as an effort to reunite the long-divided country, and insisted she is apolitical and would be representing some 46 million Ukrainians in Denmark.
In August of 2014 she joined 3 other Eurovision winners on a tour to the eastern front … the Bring Peace tour. She joined Ruslana, who conspicuously supported the Maidan protest movement from the get-go, as did Zlata Ognevich, who placed 3rd in 2013.
Also joining them was Kyiv-born Anastasiya Prikhodko who won first place for Russia in 2009, amid considerable controversy, as you can imagine.
Prior to the Bring Peace tour, Prikhodko apparently lost her ethnic ambivalence ... and likewise Mariya evidently changed her political allegiance to become a staunch supporter of Ukrainian independence and those risking life and limb to secure it.
Here is Mariya Yarmchuk and the Eurovision 2014 entry for Ukraine, Tick-Tock.
To hear about all of Ukraine's top ten place finishes in Eurovision, check out the podcast of the April 29th, 2017 Vancouver edition of Nash Holos Ukrainian Roots Radio here.
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