Julia Samoylova is a Russian singer. She has been wheelchair-bound since she was a child after an inoculation slowly lost her the use of her legs. She participated in the 2013 edition of Faktor A, the Russian version of The X Factor, where she finished in second place and gained attention for her stirring cover of 2007 Eurovision winning song, Molitva.
In 2014, she participated in the opening ceremonies of the Paralympic Winter Games in Sochi, performing the song "Together".
On 12 March 2017, C1R revealed that Julia would represent Russia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 in Kyiv with the song Flame is Burning, however it was announced on 22 March 2017 that a travel ban was issued against her for a 2015 performance she did in Crimea, barring her from entering Ukraine to be part of the contest. After the 2017 contest, C1R issued a promise that no matter where the 2018 event would be held, Julia would be Russia's representative.
On 29 January 2018, it was confirmed by 1TV(RU) that the promise had been kept and Julia would represent Russia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 in Lisbon with the song I Won't Break. She finished in 15th place in the second semifinal.
She is the second wheelchair user to participate in the contest since Monika Kuszyńska represented Poland in 2015.