Dancing Lasha Tumbai

"Dancing Lasha Tumbai" (Ukrainian: Данцінґ Лаша Тумбай) is a song recorded by Ukrainian singer Verka Serduchka (Andriy Danylko). The song was written by Andriy Danylko himself. It is best known as the Ukrainian entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 2007, held in Helsinki.

"Dancing Lasha Tumbai"
Single by Verka Serduchka
from the album Dancing Europe
Released2007
Recorded2007
GenreEurodance, pop-folk
Length3:01
LabelEMI
Songwriter(s)Andriy Danylko
Verka Serduchka singles chronology
"Dancing Lasha Tumbai"
(2007)		 "Hop Hop Hop"
(2007)
Eurovision Song Contest 2007 entry
Country
Artist(s)
Andriy Danylko
As
Languages
Composer(s)
Andriy Danylko
Lyricist(s)
Andriy Danylko
Finals performance
Final result
2nd
Final points
235
Entry chronology
◄ "Show Me Your Love" (2006)   
"Shady Lady" (2008) ►

The original title was simply "Danzing",[1] but it was changed due to a controversy about the lyrics. The song includes lyrics in four languages: German, English, Russian, and Ukrainian.

Eurovision

In the Eurovision Song Contest, "Dancing Lasha Tumbai" finished runner-up to Serbia's "Molitva", sung by vocalist Marija Šerifović.

In the performance in the Eurovision Song Contest, Serduchka was accompanied by 5 back up singers and dancers, dressed in silver and gold clothing. Serduchka wore the number '69' on her back, with reference to the sexual position. The two main companion dancers either side of this wore the number '18', referring to the entry's position on the final, 18th to sing.

Controversies

The choice of a drag performer as Ukraine's representative at ESC was fiercely criticized by several media and politicians of different parties.[2] Taras Chornovil of Party of Regions was quoted saying:[3]

I guess some of our esteemed experts saw those "hot Finnish guys" dressed as monsters but didn't quite understand that there is subculture and there is pseudoculture. Those monsters are part of their subculture, which has the right to exist. But all these hermaphrodites have never been accepted anywhere. Therefore I think that this will be a serious embarrassment factor and the world will see us as complete idiots.

Another subject of controversy was song's title and lyrics. According to Danylko, the phrase "Lasha Tumbai" is a Mongolian phrase for "whipped cream", "milkshake", or "churned butter".[4] It was later alleged, though, that there are no such words in Mongolian and the catchphrase bears no meaning at all. There have been allegations that the words were chosen due to their phonetic resemblance to "Russia Goodbye", allegedly a reference to the 2004–2005 Orange Revolution in Ukraine.[5] Meanwhile, the song is performed in the Russian language as well ("танцевать хорошо").

Serduchka, however, had the full support of the National Television Company of Ukraine, the participation in the Contest at Helsinki went ahead as planned, the song finished 2nd in a field of 24 and went on to become a major chart hit not only in Ukraine and neighbouring countries but throughout Europe.

In The 2019 contest in Tel Aviv, despite Ukraine withdrawing their entry, Verka was involved in the famous Switch Song interval act[6], alongside fellow drag queen Conchita Wurst, 2015 winner Måns Zelmerlöw, and reigning runner up Eleni Foureira. Foureira did a version of Dancing Lasha Tumbai where she wore an infamous naked bodysuit with 250,000 crystals designed by Vrettakos Vrettas [7], before Verka covered the reigning winner Toy by Netta.

Danylko makes a cameo appearance (as Serduchka) in the 2015 film Spy, where she can be seen performing the song during a chase sequence involving lead actress Melissa McCarthy.[8] The song can also be heard in a season three episode of the BBC America thriller series Killing Eve, "Are You From Pinner?"

Charts

The song has performed well on download charts in Ireland and the UK since the Final. On the Irish iTunes Download chart, it has outsold any other entry by more than double - including the winning entry.[9] On May 18, 2007 it entered the Irish singles chart only as a download.

Chart (2007) Peak
position
Austrian Singles Chart[10] 49
European Hot 100 Singles[11] 22
French Singles Chart[12] 6
Finnish Singles Chart[13] 2
German Single Charts[14] 74
Irish Singles Chart[15] 31
Swedish Singles Chart[16] 6
Swiss Singles Chart[17] 53
UK Singles Chart[18] 28
Russian Airplay Chart[19] 110
Ukrainian Airplay[20]
Week 01 02 03
Position
15
13
19

Track listing

CD Single
  • All tracks are variations on the title track.
  1. "Original Version" 3:10
  2. "Dancing Version #1" 3:32
  3. "Pub Version Art" 3:12
  4. "Dancing Version #2" 3:01
  5. "Club Version" 5:52
  6. "Long Version With Balalaika" 3:32
  7. "Lullaby" 2:56
  8. "Basshunter Remix" 3:08

References
  1. Eurovision news:Ukrainian song title change Archived 2007-09-30 at the Wayback Machine
  2. Украинские националисты хотят закрыть Верке Сердючке путь на Евровидение-2007
  3. "«ФРАЗА» - Новости - Чорновил: Сердючка опозорит Украину". Archived from the original on 2009-05-24. Retrieved 2008-02-15.
  4. "Dancing Lasha Tumbai. Ukrainian song title change" "Eurovision Song Contest Helsinki 2007".
  5. "The politics of entertainment at Eurovision | Music | DW.DE | 15.05.2013". Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  6. Eurovision Song Contest (19 May 2019). "Eurovision 2019 Switch Song". Youtube. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
  7. Vrettakos Vrettas (19 May 2019). ""Love your self...., Be proud...., Be unique..." Instagram. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
  8. https://variety.com/2015/scene/vpage/spy-party-melissa-mccarthy-hits-the-stage-with-ukrainian-drag-performer-1201510914/
  9. iTunes Listing of ESC 2007 album Archived 2011-06-06 at the Wayback Machine Popularity column shows the number of recent sales (must be viewed with Irish store selected).
  10. Verka Serduchka - Dancing Lasha Tumbai - austriancharts.at
  11. European Hot 100 Singles
  12. lescharts.com - Verka Serduchka - Dancing Lasha Tumbai
  13. finnishcharts.com - Verka Serduchka - Dancing Lasha Tumbai
  14. "musicline.de - Verka Serduchka - Dancing Lasha Tumbai". Archived from the original on 2012-09-30. Retrieved 2010-03-05.
  15. Irish Singles Chart for Week ended 17 Apr 2007 from ChartTrack.co.uk
  16. SwedishCharts.com Swedish Singles Chart
  17. Verka Serduchka - Dancing Lasha Tumbai - hitparade.ch
  18. EveryHit.com UK Singles Chart
  19. Russian Airplay Chart
  20. FDR Ukrainian Airplay
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