# Jerry Heil

Yana Oleksandrivna Shemaieva (Ukrainian: Я́на Олекса́ндрівна Шема́єва; born 21 October 1995), known professionally as Jerry Heil (Ukrainian: Дже́ррі Гейл), is a Ukrainian singer, songwriter and YouTuber. She began her career after launching her YouTube channel in 2012, publishing vlogs and musical covers.
Heil began her professional music career in 2017, releasing her debut extended play De mii dim (‹See RfD› transl. Where's my home) with Vidlik Records. She later released the single "Okhrana otmiena" in 2019, which became a top five hit in Ukraine. Her debut studio album Ya yana (‹See RfD› transl. I'm Yana) was later released in October 2019. Since starting her YouTube channel, Heil has accumulated more than 34.9 million views and 395 thousand subscribers. She represented Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 alongside Alyona Alyona with the song "Teresa & Maria".

## Early life

Yana Shemaieva was born in Vasylkiv, a city just outside of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv. Her rich parents both work as private traders. Heil attended music schools in Kyiv, attending the R. Glier Kyiv Institute of Music and Kyiv Conservatory.

## Career
### Early career

Heil began using her alias at the age of 15. After registering for the Russian social media service VKontakte, she used the name Jerry Mouse, referencing the cartoon character of the same name. She then changed Mouse to Heil, claiming she went to a site with American surnames and chose the one she liked the most. She has described the backstory behind her stage name as "moronic".
In 2012, Heil launched her YouTube channel, where she posted vlogs and covers of songs made popular by Ukrainian and international musicians, such as Twenty One Pilots, Okean Elzy, The Hardkiss, and Kodaline. Okean Elzy frontman Sviatoslav Vakarchuk frequently republished Heil's covers of songs by the band and cited his approval of her versions.

### 2017–2018: Professional breakthrough and De mii dim

In 2017, Heil signed a recording contract with Ukrainian record label Vidlik Records, known for its association with Ukrainian musical group Onuka. She was introduced to the label and its founders Yevhen Filatov and Nata Zhyzhchenko – the leader singer of Onuka – after Heil began looking for producers to assist with her song "De mii dim" (‹See RfD› transl. Where's my home). Heil then began working closely with the label, and recorded her debut extended play De mii dim with them, which was later released in October 2017.
In 2018, Heil auditioned for season nine of X-Factor Ukraine. She advanced from the initial audition in front of the judges to the bootcamp phase of the competition, where she was eliminated. After her elimination, Heil returned to music and released the singles "Kava" and "Postil"; the latter of the two releases featured her debut music video.

### 2019–present: "Okhrana, otmiena", Ya, Yana and Eurovision

In March 2019, Heil published a portion of her upcoming single "Okhrana, otmiena" on Instagram, which she had recorded with Ukrainian producer Morphom. The track quickly gained momentum, when Ukrainian singers such as NK and Vera Brezhneva complimented and further distributed the song's snippet. Heil later released a full version of the song through YouTube the following month, where its music video has received more than 14.8 million views; "Okhrana, otmiena" additionally became a top five hit in Ukraine. Following the success of the song, Heil began pursuing songwriting, where she wrote songs for musicians including Brezhneva and the Kyiv-based band Cloudless, with Russian songwriter and producer Konstantin Meladze.
In September 2019, Heil released her debut studio album Ya, Yana onto YouTube. The album included eight songs, and was commercially released the following month. In January 2020, Heil was announced to be competing in Vidbir 2020, the Ukrainian national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam. Her song "Vegan" qualified to the final, where it finished in sixth place.
Heil participated again in Vidbir in December 2022 with her song "When God Shut the Door", competing to represent Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023. She finished in third place.
She and Alyona Alyona were selected among the finalists of Vidbir 2024 with the song "Teresa & Maria". They went on to win the final on 4 February 2024, earning the right to represent Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024. They qualified from the first semi-final on 7 May and placed 3rd in the Grand Final on 11 May with 453 points.

## Personal life

She is Christian and vegan.
Heil is fluent in Ukrainian and English. Most of her songs are recorded in Ukrainian.

### Copyright infringement

In August 2018, publishing company Komp Music Publishing– the licensee of Universal Music Group in Ukraine – threatened a lawsuit against Heil for her unauthorized usage of the song "Believer" by Imagine Dragons in one of her videos. The company then insisted that all Universal Music Group songs included on Heil's channel must be removed and demanded a fine of several thousand Ukrainian hryvnias for violating copyright laws. The company launched two lawsuits against Heil, which resulted Heil's channel being removed from YouTube.
AIR Music, a partner of Heil, took up the case. In a meeting between representatives from both companies, they negotiated a deal where Heil's fines were substantially lowered, and an agreement was reached regarding how many copyright infringements Heil had committed. Komp Music Publishing subsequently withdrew their lawsuits, and Heil's channel was restored.

## Discography
### Studio albums

| Title | Details |
| Ya yana | Released: 4 October 2019 Label: Best Music Format: Digital download, streaming |
| Mandaryny i oleni | Released: 17 December 2021 Label: Best Music Format: Digital download, streaming |

### Extended plays

| Title | Details |
| De mii dim | Released: 27 October 2017 Label: Vidlik Records Format: Digital download, streaming |
| Osobyste | Released: 9 April 2021 Label: Vidlik Records Format: Digital download, streaming |
| Dai Boh (with Alyona Alyona) | Released: 26 August 2022 Label: Columbia / ENKO Formats: Digital download, streaming |
| Maria | Released: 11 July 2024 Label: Nova Music Formats: Digital download, streaming |

### Singles
#### As lead artist

| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Album or EP |
| Title | Year | UKR | FIN | IRE | LTU | NLD | SWE | UK | WW Excl. US | Album or EP |
| "Okhrana otmiena" | 2019 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Ya yana |
| "Vilna kasa" | 2019 | 69 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Ya yana |
| "Vichnist'" | 2019 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles |
| "Vegan" | 2020 | 186 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles |
| "Nebeibi" | 2020 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles |
| "Provinciia" | 2020 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles |
| "Bloher" | 2020 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles |
| "Bomba raketa pushka hranata" | 2020 | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles |
| "Aryfmetyka kokhannia" | 2021 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles |
| "Lullaby (Kolyskova)" | 2021 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Osobyste |
| "Plaksa" (with Anna Trincher [ru]) | 2021 | 103 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles |
| "Tuk Tuk Tuk" | 2021 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles |
| "ZDN" | 2021 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles |
| "Eksa v hivevei" (with Anna Trincher) | 2021 | 54 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles |
| "Oleni" (with Tik) | 2021 | 167 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Mandaryny i oleni |
| "Poshta" | 2022 | 178 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles |
| "Moskal nekrasivyi" (featuring Verka Serduchka) | 2022 | 15 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles |
| "Razom do peremohy" (with Olya Polyakova and Dorofeeva, featuring various artists) | 2022 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles |
| "V pustii kimnati" (with Yaktak) | 2022 | 63 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles |
| "Mriia" | 2022 | 84 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles |
| "Kokhaitesia chornobryvi" | 2022 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles |
| "Dushevna pa-damashniemu" (with Emdivity and Lesia Nikitiuk) | 2022 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles |
| "Viter viie" (with Alyona Alyona and Gedz [pl]) | 2022 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Dai Boh |
| "Dai Boh" (with Alyona Alyona and Monika Liu) | 2022 | 190 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Dai Boh |
| "Zozulia" (with Alyona Alyona and Ginger Mane) | 2022 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Dai Boh |
| "Nesestry" (with Mama) | 2022 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles |
| "Tato" | 2022 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles |
| "Kozatskomu rodu" | 2022 | 88 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles |
| "Posmakuj" (with Alyona Alyona and Trill Pem [pl]) | 2022 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles |
| "When God Shut the Door" | 2022 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles |
| "Ekzamen" (with Alyona Alyona) | 2022 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles |
| "Bronia" (with Ochman) | 2023 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Testament |
| "Na nebi ni zori" | 2023 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles |
| "Stiny" (with Kalush) | 2023 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles |
| "Blahoslovenna zemlja" | 2023 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles |
| "Try polosy" | 2023 | 54 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles |
| "Shchedra nich" (with Alyona Alyona and Kola) | 2023 | 91 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles |
| "Malanka" | 2023 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles |
| "Teresa & Maria" (with Alyona Alyona) | 2024 | 1 | 14 | 55 | 2 | 68 | 30 | 100 | 130 | Maria |
| "Podolyanochka (Get Up)" (with Alyona Alyona) | 2024 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles |
| "Huby u hubakh" (with Volodymyr Dantes) | 2024 | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles |
| "#AllEyesOnKids" | 2024 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles |
| "Wabi-sabi" (with Julia Sanina) | 2024 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles |
| "Snih" | 2024 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles |
| "Rozchynyayus'" (featuring Evgeny Khmara) | 2025 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles |
| "Vymolyv" (with Monatik featuring Evgeny Khmara) | 2025 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles |
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. |||||||||||

#### As featured artist

| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album or EP |
| Title | Year | UKR | Album or EP |
| "Khvyli" (Kalush featuring Jerry Heil) | 2021 | 80 | Non-album singles |
| "Ridni moi" (Alyona Alyona featuring Jerry Heil) | 2022 | 7 | Non-album singles |
| "Chomu?" (Alyona Alyona featuring Jerry Heil) | 2022 | 54 | Non-album singles |
| "Kupala" (Alyona Alyona featuring Jerry Heil and ela.) | 2022 | 14 | Dai Boh |
| "Toy denʹ (OE30 Edition)" (Okean Elzy featuring Yaktak, Kola, Shumei [uk], and Jerry Heil) | 2024 | 9 | Non-album single |

### Music videos

| Video | Year |
| "Ridni moi" | 2022 |
| "Mriia" | 2022 |
| "Chomu?" | 2022 |
| "Kupala" | 2022 |
| "Kokhaitesia chornobryvi" | 2022 |
| "Dai Boh" | 2022 |
| "Nesestry" | 2022 |
| "Tato" | 2022 |
| "Kozatskomu rodu" | 2022 |
| "Bronia" | 2023 |
| "Blahoslovenna zemlja" | 2023 |
| "Na nebi ni zori" | 2023 |
| "Blahoslovenna zemlja" | 2023 |
| "Bracia" | 2023 |
| "Try polosy" | 2023 |
| "Shchedra nich" | 2023 |
| "Malanka" | 2023 |
| "Teresa & Maria" | 2024 |
| "Podolyanochka (Get Up)" | 2024 |
| "Virgin Maria" | 2024 |
| "Ave Maria" | 2024 |
| "Huby u hubakh" | 2024 |
| "#AllEyesOnKids" | 2024 |

## Filmography

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2002 | ChalkZone | Rudy Tabootie | Ukrainian dub |
| 2019 | The Addams Family | Bethany | Ukrainian dub |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Result |
| 2019 | Jager Music Awards | Single of the Year | "Okhrana, otmiena" | Won |
| 2019 | Choice Viva! | Оpening Viva! | | Won |
| 2020 | YUNA | Best Song | "Okhrana, otmiena" | Won |
| 2020 | YUNA | Best Female Performer | | Nominated |
| 2020 | YUNA | Discovery of the Year | | Nominated |
| 2021 | YUNA | Best Performer | | Nominated |
| 2023 | MME Awards | Public Choice award | | Won |
| 2024 | Eurovision Awards | Best Artistic Vision | Herself (with Alyona Alyona) | Won |