Jerry Heil

Yana Oleksandrivna Shemaieva (; ; born 21 October 1995), known professionally as Jerry Heil ( , ), 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 with Vidlik Records. She later released the single "" in 2019, which became a top five hit in Ukraine. Her debut studio album Ya 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 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" . 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 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 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. Heil on May 2, 2025, released a new album called "АРХЕТИПИ" (ARCHETYPES), featuring 16 songs, with "З якого ти поверху неба?" (Which Floor of Heaven Are You From?) with Yarmak being the most popular song of the album, having 4.5 million plays on Spotify and 10 million views for the lyric video on YouTube. On May 16, 2025, together with the band Within Temptation, they released a joint song “Sing Like A Siren”. Later in 2025, Heil released the singles “Додай гучності (12 points)”, “Earth (Dradada)”, and “HORA” with Romanian singer Irina Rimes. . On January 12 2026, she released the single "Catharticus (Prayer)". Shortly after, on April 17, 2026, she released "Catharticus (Greek Version)" featuring Greek singer Klavdia, which was recorded following the original track's commercial success and viral popularity in Greece. On the 5/6/2026, she released a new single, “Dark Disco”.

On 4 April 2026, Jerry Heil performed the sold-out concert Jerelo (Ukrainian: «Джерело», lit. "Stream") at the Palace of Sports in Kyiv. The show was directed by Ukrainian music video director Alan Badoev. During the concert, Heil performed orchestral arrangements of her songs accompanied by the President's Orchestra of Ukraine. Referring to the venue's name, she remarked, "I don't want to make sport out of music," and symbolically referred to the Palace of Sports as the "Palace of Music" for the evening. During the approximately three-hour event, more than US$900,000 was raised in support of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Controversies In May 2024, before the final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2024, Jerry Heil was criticized by some Internet users after social media users drew attention to an earlier video from her TikTok profile in which she wore a sweatshirt bearing the inscription "Banderaciaga".

The name "Banderaciaga" was a play on words combining the surname of Stepan Bandera with the name of the fashion house Balenciaga, and referred to a collection by the Ukrainian brand Hype Laboratories. The matter prompted negative reactions due to historical associations with Bandera, OUN-B and the UPA, as well as the memory of crimes committed against the Polish population in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia.

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. Label: Best Music Format: Digital download, streaming

Released: 17 December 2021 Label: Best Music Format: Digital download, streaming

Released: 2 May 2025 Label: Nova 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 Album or EP UKRAir. FIN IRE LTU NLD SWE UK WWExcl. US "" 2019 — — — — — — — — Ya yana "" 69 — — — — — — — "" — — — — — — — — "Vegan" 2020 186 — — — — — — — "" — — — — — — — — "" — — — — — — — — "" — — — — — — — — "" 14 — — — — — — — "" 2021 — — — — — — — — "Lullaby " — — — — — — — — Osobyste ""(with ) 103 — — — — — — — "" — — — — — — — — "" — — — — — — — — ""(with Anna Trincher) 54 — — — — — — — ""(with Tik) 167 — — — — — — — Mandaryny i oleni "" 2022 178 — — — — — — — ""(featuring Verka Serduchka) 15 — — — — — — — ""(with Olya Polyakova and Dorofeeva,featuring various artists) — — — — — — — — ""(with Yaktak) 63 — — — — — — — "" 84 — — — — — — — "" — — — — — — — — ""(with Emdivity and Lesia Nikitiuk) — — — — — — — — ""(with Alyona Alyona and ) — — — — — — — — Dai Boh ""(with Alyona Alyona and Monika Liu) 190 — — — — — — — ""(with Alyona Alyona and Ginger Mane) — — — — — — — — ""(with Mama) — — — — — — — — "" — — — — — — — — "" 88 — — — — — — — ""(with Alyona Alyona and ) — — — — — — — — "When God Shut the Door" — — — — — — — — ""(with Alyona Alyona) — — — — — — — — ""(with Ochman) 2023 — — — — — — — — Testament "" — — — — — — — — ""(with Kalush) — — — — — — — — "" — — — — — — — — "" 54 — — — — — — — ""(with Alyona Alyona and Kola) 91 — — — — — — — "" — — — — — — — — "Teresa & Maria"(with Alyona Alyona) 2024 1 14 55 2 68 30 100 130 Maria " (Get Up)"(with Alyona Alyona) — — — — — — — — ""(with Volodymyr Dantes) 14 — — — — — — — "#AllEyesOnKids" — — — — — — — — "Wabi-Sabi"(with Julia Sanina) — — — — — — — — "" — — — — — — — — Arkhetypy ""(featuring Evgeny Khmara) 2025 — — — — — — — — ""(with Monatik featuring Evgeny Khmara) — — — — — — — — " (12 Points)" 8 — — — — — — — "Earth (Dradada)" — — — — — — — — "Hora"(with Irina Rimes) — — — — — — — — "Catharticus (Prayer)" 2026 28 — — — — — — — " Hello" — — — — — — — — "Dark Disco" — — — — — — — — "—" 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 UKR Ukrainian dub

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