In her native Ukraine the enchanting Serdyuchka started out as a comedy sketch before going on to launch her own TV chat show, where she appeared as a ubiquitous Soviet-style train conductor. This pastiche of the Soviet existence was a big hit with fans when combined with the tacky glamour of the immediate post-Soviet era, and Serdyuchka soon became an icon of the early independence years. Since then Verka’s creator Andriy Danilko has pushed the boundaries further, releasing smash hit CDs and branching out into live concerts. What else can we expect from the irrepressible Verka?

– Is it true that the Verka character actually dates back to Soviet times and was fi rst performed in 1990?

– Yes, it is true. Back in 1990 we attempted to introduce Verka at a gala concert, and although the organisers didn’t really want to allow us to perform, we did two gags and the reaction was emphatic. It was a triumph, an every time we came back on stage the audience went wild. I couldn’t understand why the reaction was so enthusiastic; we

certainly knew people would like it, but we didn’t expect so much excitement.

– Where did the inspiration for Verka come from?

– Verka has been around for a long, long time, and is still growing. When I was still at school I used to parody teachers and other offi cials, just for the fun of it. Creating Serdyuchka was a natural progression.

– Is Serdyuchka a satire of modern Ukrainian society?

– You know, my relationship with the character changes with each passing year and I think she changes too. Now Verka has become an outspoken figure who always tells the truth. She knows no limits or taboos. During my last trip to France I came to appreciate that this is understood everywhere.

– Your countryman Nikolai Gogol often took female roles in stage performances, and regularly outshone his female colleagues. You could be said to have enjoyed more success than your female contemporaries. Is it a man’s job to parody women?

– I think that a lot of comediennes are very funny, but I often refl ect that men can succeed in playing overtly female comic roles with an extra fl air. Maybe this is partly because they don’t try to look beautiful and don’t think about their appearance in anything other than the comic sense.

– There are many counterfeit Verkas performing all over the former USSR. How does it make you feel to be so widely copied?

– When I see all the parodies of Serdyuchka I realise that they do not understand her at all. Why, after the appearance of Serdiuchka, have there been no similar successes in this genre? Instead her success has produced an epidemic of Verka copies that makes be feel sick. The humour behind Verka does not lie in her cross dressing alone.

– Your departure to the Eurovision

contest in Helsinki was accompanied with a cacophony of political protests and demonstrations. Are you concerned that Verka could end up having a negative impact on perceptions of Ukraine?


– When people ask, ‘how we can allow Serdyuchka to represent the country,’ I find it all a little bit ridiculous. What should represent the country? Political battles? As a matter of fact I am not the president of Ukraine. I am a representative of a genre which is perhaps more honest than politics. For many people in Ukraine I was a national disgrace before Eurovision, and after my success I have become its pride. Both labels are equally questionable. In the Eurovision contest we brought
a lot of fun, both in terms of our entry and our appearance throughout the buildup. Real success was not fi nishing in second, but the fact that we got into the English charts without selling any singles there, and climbed to sixth place in the French national hitparade. People across Europe know what to do with our music: dance, have fun and fool around!

– Do you use Ukrainian rhythms and melodies in your songs?

– Yes, certainly. Verka’s music features Ukrainian rhythms more often than not. The single which is coming out now in France – “Gop-gop” is in the Ukrainian language.

– Andriy, your stage persona has conquered Russia and now became well-known across Europe. She is not really considered a serious recording artist and yet Verka is the fi rst Ukrainian star to be offered contracts by the world’s leading recording studios. What is the secret of her success?

– It doesn’t matter for me whether she is recognised as a singer or not. Whenever we say that she is a singer, we always declare it with a strong sense of irony. Pavarotti was a singer, but Serdyuchka is a