Dancing Lasha Tumbai

"Dancing Lasha Tumbai"
Single by Verka Serduchka
from the album Dancing Europe
Released	2007
Format	digital download
Recorded	2007
Genre	Eurodance, Folk music
Length	3:01
Label	EMI
Writer(s)	Andriy Danylko
Verka Serduchka singles chronology
"Dancing Lasha Tumbai" (2007) Hop Hop Hop (2007)
"Dancing Lasha Tumbai" Serduchka performing "Dancing Lasha Tumbai" Eurovision Song Contest 2007 entry Country Ukraine Artist(s) Verka Serduchka Languages Ukrainian, German, English, Russian Composer(s) Andriy Danylko Lyricist(s) Andriy Danylko Finals performance Final result 2nd Final points 235 Appearance chronology ◄ "Show Me Your Love" (2006)    "Shady Lady" (2008) ►

"Dancing Lasha Tumbai" (Ukrainian: Данцінґ Лаша Тумбай) is the song sung by Verka Serduchka (Andriy Danylko), chosen to represent Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 held in Helsinki, Finland. 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.

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

Final performance

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 his 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 Danilko, the phrase "Lasha Tumbai" is a Mongolian phrase for "whipped cream", "milkshake", or "churned butter".^[4] It was later proven, 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.

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.^[6] On May 18, 2007 it entered the Irish singles chart only as a download.

Chart (2007)	Peak position
Austrian Singles Chart[7]	49
European Hot 100 Singles[8]	22
French Singles Chart[9]	6
Finnish Singles Chart[10]	2
German Single Charts[11]	74
Irish Singles Chart[12]	31
Swedish Singles Chart[13]	6
Swiss Singles Chart[14]	53
UK Singles Chart[15]	28
Russian Airplay Chart[16]	110

Ukrainian Airplay[17]
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

Trivia

• The words "Lasha Tumbai" later reappeared in Serduchka's next song, "I am Eurovision Queen" (also spelled "I am Evro Vizhen Kvin") although being written in the video as Lasha Tumbay.
• The song is used in the movie Spy (2015), the song can be heard in the scene where Cooper chases Ford so she would warn him about the guy who changed his backpack. It is also heard on Aldo's car radio when he picks up Cooper at the airport.^[18]

References

1. Eurovision news:Ukrainian song title change
2. Украинские националисты хотят закрыть Верке Сердючке путь на Евровидение-2007
3. «ФРАЗА» - Новости - Чорновил: Сердючка опозорит Украину
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. iTunes Listing of ESC 2007 album Popularity column shows the number of recent sales (must be viewed with Irish store selected).
7. Verka Serduchka - Dancing Lasha Tumbai - austriancharts.at
8. European Hot 100 Singles
9. lescharts.com - Verka Serduchka - Dancing Lasha Tumbai
10. finnishcharts.com - Verka Serduchka - Dancing Lasha Tumbai
11. musicline.de - Verka Serduchka - Dancing Lasha Tumbai
12. Irish Singles Chart for Week ended 17 Apr 2007 from ChartTrack.co.uk
13. SwedishCharts.com Swedish Singles Chart
14. Verka Serduchka - Dancing Lasha Tumbai - hitparade.ch
15. EveryHit.com UK Singles Chart
16. Russian Airplay Chart
17. FDR Ukrainian Airplay
18. "Spy Soundtrack List". The Ultimate Source for Soundtrack Lists. Retrieved 2015-08-15.