| Youddiph | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Maria Lvovna Katz |
| Born | January 23, 1973 Moscow, Russia |
| Occupations | Singer, back vocalist |
| Years active | 1989 - present |
| Associated acts | Maryland, Лига Блюза |
Masha Katz (Russian: Маша Кац, also known as Youddiph, Russian: Юдифь, literally Judith, full name Maria Lvovna Katz, Russian: Мария Львовна Кац; 23 January 1973, Moscow) is Russian singer. She is most known for representing Russia in the Eurovision Song Contest 1994 held in Dublin.
Maria or Masha was born on the 23rd of January 1973 in Moscow. At the age of 13 she formed her first group performing heavy metal songs. In 1989 she met with the famous poet Karen Kavaleryan who helped her to launch a professional career. For the next 5 years Maria worked as a backing vocalist for numerous Russian artists and groups.
In 1994 she represented Russia in the Eurovision Song Contest[1] with the song Vyechniy stranik (Вечный странник). Dressed in a marvelous costume, Maria performed 24th at the final night and ranked 9th with 70 points, making a great debut for her home country. Later that year she released her first album entitled "Magic Word".
Maria continued to work with various musicians and formed a duo with a Russian drummer under the name "Beauty and the Beast". In 1997 she created a new group, called "Maryland". The group made an album in 1998 entitled Ryzhiy blues (Russian: Рыжий Блюз - Ginger Blues). In 2000 she was presented with two important music awards while creating her own music company.
Maria also dubbed musicals and films for the Russian television and cinema, including Anastasia, for which she was presented with a special prize of 20th Century Fox for the best native language performance. Nowadays Maria continues to sing in clubs, doing backing vocals for famous singers and works as a vocal coach.
| Awards and achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by N/A |
Russia in the Eurovision Song Contest 1994 |
Succeeded by Philipp Kirkorov with "Kolibelnaya dlya vulkana" |