‘We Party Like Ladies’: Renia Pączkowska, Verka Serduchka, and the Possibilities of Other Eastern European Identities
‘We Party Like Ladies’: Renia Pączkowska, Verka Serduchka, and the Possibilities of Other Eastern European Identities

Summary/Abstract: In 2003, the Polish trio Ich Troje (The Three of Them) performed the composition Keine Grenzen / Żadnych granic (No Borders) on the Eurovision Song Contest stage, a trilingual (Polish, German, and Russian) anti-nationalist anthem that took the seventh place in the final. Four years later, Verka Serduchka, a drag queen representing Ukraine with the song Dancing Lasha Tumbai, sung in German and English, and popularly perceived as a Ukrainian farewell to Russia, reached the second place in the Eurovision final. In 2005, between the two performances, Michał Wiśniewski, the leader of Ich Troje, then at the height of popularity in Poland, under the female stage name Renia Pączkowska, released a joint album with Serduchka 1, 2, 3… Próba mikrofonu (1, 2, 3… Mic Test). The record comprises covers of Serduchka’s songs with Polish lyrics and significantly differs from the typical Ich Troje pop-rock style. The article examines the gender and national axes of the collaboration between the two Eurovision stars, who jointly created a possibility for alternative Eastern European identities. In conclusion, both Renia and Verka are claimed to be camp champions.

• Details
• Contents