Aida Nikolaychuk

Aida Nikolaychuk (also spelled Aida Nikolaichuk, Аида Николайчук, Аїда Ніколайчук), is a Ukrainian pop singer-songwriter and model. She became notable after winning the third season of the X-factor in Ukraine in 2012, from among 30,000 applicants. She drew attention for her rendition of the song Lullaby (Колыбельная, Kalybelnaya) by Polina Gagarina, during a broadcast in the second season. During her performance, she was interrupted by two judges who suspected that she was lip-synching. They challenged her to sing the song a capella. Nikolaychuk was visibly shocked but she complied, dispelling suspicion. The interruption of her performance by the two X-factor judges Seryoga, a Belarusian rapper, and Ihor Kondratiuk, has been questioned.

Personal life
Nikolaychuk was born on March 3, 1982 in Odessa, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union. She started singing in the first grade, when she became the school choir soloist, and later on performed at school as a hip hop backup singer until 2002, and in her school choir in the fifth and eighth grades. Nikolaichuk is a single mother. She was married and has a son, Maksim.

In 2011, she participated in the second season of the Ukrainian television show X-Factor, quitting her job as a teller to enable her participation in the show. She was removed from the show at the training stage. In November 2011, she was announced a weekly winner of X-Factor Online, and on 31 December 2011, she was announced the winner of the X-Factor Online second season.

In 2012, Nikolaychuk was invited to performances in Moscow and Berlin. On 10 October 2012, she was interviewed by imka tv. Also in 2012, she participated in the third season of X-Factor, and was announced the winner on 5 January 2013.

After winning the third season of X-Factor, she signed a contract with Sony Music Entertainment. Her first song and music video "On Your Planet" was released in 2013.

On 8 June 2013, Nikolaychuk acted as a visiting judge for Mini-Miss Ukraine 2013.

Nikolaychuk currently performs in concerts and appearances in the Ukraine.

X-Factor
In 2011, Nikolaychuk participated in the casting show for the second season of X-Factor. After a unanimous decision by the show's judges to accept her, she proceeded to the training portion of the show. At this stage, as the result of unsuccessful appearances in the top three, she left the show. After her retirement from the project, the video of her performance at the casting show reached a record number of views through the Web video company YouTube. Nikolaychuk then decided to proceed with her participation in X-Factor. She participated in the second season of X-Factor Online, winning the show, and thus gaining entry to the training section of the show the next season, bypassing the audition and pre-screening stages.

In the third season of X-Factor, Nikolaychuk got to twenty-fourth place in the training section of the show in the 25-years and older category. Her category mentor was Igor Kondratyuk. Nikolaychuk then sang for judges including German singer Thomas Anders. After the visiting judges performance, Nikolaychuk was placed in the top rankings for her category, and as one of the twelve top finalists. Also in her category were Evgeny Litvinkovych and James Golovko. She then entered the direct elimination rounds, in which a contestant on the show is eliminated weekly, by vote by the judges. Nikolaychuk was never selected for elimination. On 22 December 2012, she participated in the final show. Her rivals were Aleksey Smirnov and Evgeny Litvinkovych. On 29 December 2012, she was chosen as a superfinalist, and Alexey Smirnov was eliminated from the show. On 5 January 2013, at the Gala concert, Nikolaychuk was announced the winner of the third season of X-Factor.

Solo career
After winning the third season of X-Factor, Nikolaychuk started working with artists in the CIS countries and with a record company, Sony Music. At the end of May 2013, she presented her debut single. On 31 May 2013, she held her first solo concert in her hometown, Odessa.

On 4 September 2013, Nikolaychuk participated in the competition "Promotion", organized by the Russian television channel Music Box, presenting her debut video, and was selected as a winner.

Videos

 * "Na tvoey planete" (2013)