Yana Oleksandrivna Shemaieva (Ukrainian: Я́на Олекса́ндрівна Шема́єва; born 21 October 1995), known professionally as Jerry Heil (Ukrainian: Дже́ррі Гейл[ˈdʒɛr⁽ʲ⁾ːiˈɦɛjl]), 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 playDe mii dim (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 (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".
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".[5]
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" (transl. Where's my home). Heil then began working closely with the label, and recorded her debut extended playDe mii dim with them, which was later released in October 2017.[9][10]
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.[11][12] 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.[13]
2019–present: "Okhrana, otmiena", Ya, Yana and Eurovision
Heil in 2019
In March 2019, Heil published a portion of her upcoming single "Okhrana, otmiena" on Instagram, which she had recorded with Ukrainian producer Morphom.[14] The track quickly gained momentum, when Ukrainian singers such as NK and Vera Brezhneva complimented and further distributed the song's snippet.[15] 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.[16][17] 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.[18][19]
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.[20][21] In January 2020, Heil was announced to be competing in Vidbir 2020, the Ukrainian national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam.[22] Her song "Vegan" qualified to the final, where it finished in sixth place.
Performing at the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 with Alyona Alyona
She and Alyona Alyona were selected among the finalists of Vidbir 2024 with the song "Teresa & Maria".[23] They went on to win the final on 4 February 2024, earning the right to represent Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024.[24] They qualified from the first semi-final on 7 May and placed 3rd in the Grand Final on 11 May with 453 points.
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.[28]
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.[29][28]
