Verka Seduchka is the drag persona of Ukrainian comedian and pop singer Andriy Danylko. He began his career in 1991 and invented the character's name by combining the randomly picked first name Verka and the last name of a former school classmate, Anya Serduk. Although he has also performed under his real name, most of his performances are done under this stage name.
He represented his home country in the 2007 Contest in Helsinki with the song Dancing Lasha Tumbai, finishing in as runner-up to Marija Šerifović of Serbia. In spite of this result, he was awarded the eleventh Barbara Dex Award for being the worst dressed competitor that year.
In 2011, he decided to compete in the Ukrainian national finals again and even made it to the finals, but withdrew from the competition.
In 2015, Danylko (using his drag character Verka Serduchka) made a cameo appearance in Spy, an American action comedy film written and directed by Paul Feig.
He presented the votes of the Ukrainian jury at the 2016 Contest in Stockholm.
Verka returns to prominence at the 2017 Contest held in Kiev, being featured in a series of comedic sketches that showcase the "life of Verka" with his "mother". As part of the "Switch Song" interval act during the Final of the 2019 Contest, Verka performs a cover of Toy (the winning entry of the 2018 Contest), and is later joined by Måns Zelmerlöw, Conchita Wurst, Eleni Foureira, and Gali Atari in performing Hallelujah.
Danylko remains active as a judge in Vidbir, the Ukrainian national selection.
