Svyatoslav Vakarchuk

Slava Vakarchuk (Ukrainian: Святосла́в Іва́нович Вакарчу́к, born May 14, 1975) is the lead vocalist of Okean Elzy, the most successful post-Soviet rock band in Ukraine. He is the son of Ivan Vakarchuk, a professor of physics at Lviv University and the former Minister of Education and Science in Ukraine.

He was active in supporting the Orange Revolution, and is involved in many social and cultural projects. He is one of the most successful musicians in Ukraine and has a degree in theoretical physics. By the year 2010, he had released 8 studio albums together with his band, Okean Elzy:

• Tam, de nas nema (There, where we aren't, 1998)
• Ya na nebi buv (I was in heaven, 2000)
• Model (2001)
• Supersymetriya (Supersymmetry, 2003)
• GLORIA (2005)
• Mira (Measure, 2007)
• Dolce Vita (2010)
• Zemlia (2013)

and also one (1) acoustic album Tviy format (Your format, 2003).

In support of their latest album “Zemlya” in spring 2013, the band embarked on a stadium tour throughout cities in Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, USA, Canada, and a number of countries in Western Europe. In the summer of 2014, Okean Elzy had performed a number of large scale concerts on the biggest stadiums in Ukraine dedicated to the band’s 20th anniversary. Their performance in Kyiv on Olympiyskiy Stadium had broken the record for the largest amount of people attending a concert by a Ukrainian band- over 75 thousand.

Vakarchuk also takes an active part in social and cultural projects, and is the founder of the Charity Fund “Lyudi Maybutnyogo” (People of the Future). The main projects of the Fund were “Knyga Tvoryt’ Lyudynu” (A Book Creates A Man), “Osvita Krainoyu” (The Country’s Education), “3-D Proekt. Dumay, Diy, Dopomogai.” (3-D Project. Think, Act. Help.). Together with the members of the band he actively supported the preventive campaign IOM and MTV Europe’s “People Are Not For Sale.” In 2003 Svyatoslav had become an Honorary Ambassador of Culture in Ukraine. In 2005 he became a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Development Programme. Sviatoslav had also taken part in the political life of the country. Given the mandate of the People’s Deputy of Ukraine for the parliamentary elections in 2005, he became a member of the Parliamentary Committee on Freedom of Expression and Information. On September 11, 2008 Sviatoslav filed applications for parliamentary powers at will.

The Ukrainian magazine Korrespondent ranks him as one of the 100 most influential people of Ukraine (in 2008 ranked 55).^[1]

In the early parliamentary elections on September 30, 2007 he appeared as an independent candidate on the Our Ukraine–People's Self-Defense Bloc's list (as nr 15). In the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament) he was a member of the parliamentary committee for freedom of speech questions. In early September 2008, he renounced his seat in the Verkhovna Rada due to the political situation.^[2]

In 2008, Svyatoslav Vakarchuk released a solo project "Vnochi" (In the Night). This album was released under the name of Svyatoslav Vakarchuk, but it includes appearances by all members of "Okean Elzy" and other various guest musicians.

Svyatoslav Vakarchuk speaks fluent Ukrainian, Russian, English and Polish languages.

Pershy milyon (First million)

Vakarchuk after winning the million

Vakarchuk answered all questions correctly and won the grand prize (1 million hryvnias)^[3] for the first time on the Ukrainian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, called Khto khoche staty milyonerom? – Pershyi milyon. He donated his winnings to orphanages in Ukraine.

References

External links

• (English) Biography at Okean Elzy official site

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