The Eurovision Song Contest is no stranger to young singers fresh from Europe’s TV talent shows. Now Ukraine’s new casting starlet, Anna Hodorovskaya, has thrown her own name into the hat of possible contenders for the 2014 event. 

Odessa native Anna recently won overnight success in Ukraine with her victory on the popular TV show Holos kraini (‘Voice of the country’). Her story might seem familiar; this year, neighbouring Russia climbed to a respectable fifth place with their own Voice winner, Dina Garipova. But Dina is just the latest in a long line of casting stars to reach the contest, including fellow countrymen Yulia Savicheva (Russia 2004) and Natalia Podolskaya (Russia 2005), who both participated in the talent show Fabrika zvyozd (Star Factory). Now Anna is hoping to do the same for Ukraine, and may well be a name for fans to watch out for next year.

Anna clearly has the will to follow in the footsteps of the likes of Dina; asked about her future plans, Anna emphatically states “Eurovision: this is my dream“, in interview with Tochka.net. The young singer also touted New Wave as a possible career move post-Voice, an event which enjoys a similar profile to the Eurovision Song Contest in Eastern Europe. So one way or another, the singer has her sights set on waving the Ukrainian colours.

Eurovision pedigree

In a very appropriate Eurovision twist, Anna was coached on the programme by Ukraine’s very first representative, Oleksandr Ponomaryov, who debuted for the country with Hasta la vista at the 2003 contest in Riga. Oleksandr acts as a mentor on Golos kraini, alongside Tina Karol’, who also represented Ukraine in 2006 with Show Me Your Love.

Given her casting show’s Eurovision pedigree, it might just be that the lights are shining for Anna’s 2014 bid.

Watch Anna performing Caruso on the show – winning a perfect four seat spins – here.