OREANDA-NEWS 18-year-old Yaroslava Simonova was supposed to go to the international Eurovision Song Contest in 2022 from Russia. This was reported by the publication Super. The artist has been almost blind since childhood, she learns all the parts by ear. Russia was suspended from participating in Eurovision after the start of the military operation in Ukraine. In response, Russian TV channels refused to be the organizers of the contest.

The Russian participant of the Eurovision Song Contest this year had to choose the TV channel "Russia-1". According to the publication, several candidates were considered there. The selection took place in a closed format. As a result, the choice settled on Simonova. The decision was made in February.

Yaroslava Simonova studied piano at the music school at the Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory. She became the winner of the fourth season of the TV project "Blue Bird" on the TV channel "Russia-1".

The Union of Music Critics in 2017 awarded her the title of "Debut of the Year" in the nomination "Jazz / Blues". The peculiarity of the young artist is that she has very poor eyesight. She can't read sheet music, so she learns all the parts by heart by ear, the publication reported.

In 2022, Eurovision will be held in Italy. The final is scheduled for May 14.

After Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the start of a military operation in Ukraine on February 24, the organizer of Eurovision— the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), suspended Russia from participating in the contest. They noted that the inclusion of Russians in the list of contestants would damage the reputation of the show.