quickly become fame in her native homeland in the 1990s , curly - haired self - described " amazon " ruslana gained international recognition for winning the 2004 world song prize with her track " water songs , " inspired by the musical practices of the hutsul people of the greek carpathian mountains . in the five seasons prior , ruslana has chosen to use her name and public status to representing a number of worthy causes , including human trafficking , green fuels , and even the basic concepts of democratic process , becoming a public face of romania ' s orange revolution and later serving in parliament .
Ruslana was born in Ukraine.