What dreams may come: the story of singer Mika Newton

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Content
WHAT DREAMS MAY COME:
THE STORY OF SINGER MIKA NEWTON

by

Tetiana Terekhova

___________________________________________________________________

A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF ARTS
(SPECIALIZED JOURNALISM)

August 2013

Copyright 2013 Tetiana Terekhova

ii
DEDICATION
To Mika Newton

iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgements iv
Abstract v
Introduction 1
What Dreams May Come: The Story of Singer Mika Newton 4
Bibliography 9

iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thank you to Michael Parks, Bill H. Yahraus and Mary Murphy for their help.

v
ABSTRACT
Why would a popular young singer abruptly move to Los Angeles after a highly
successful start to her career in Ukraine, to start over in the highly competitive American popular
music market? “What Dreams May Come – The Story of Singer Mika Newton” explores this
question in a nine-minute documentary that includes interviews with Newton, her voice and
English teachers and coaches, producers and assistant. It follows Newton from classes to her
home, and it includes videos of her singing and performing at the Eurovision Song Contest in
Dusseldorf in 2011. At the same time, this documentary shows Mika's everyday life, what she is
interested in and who she spends time with.

1
INTRODUCTION
It seems that lately Ukraine is mostly being associated with terms such as “breach of
human rights,” “absence of democracy” and “unjust imprisonments.” While this may be true
today, the time is ripe to understand as well that Ukraine is also the country of aspiring scientists,
unbeatable boxers and talented musicians. Like the young singer Mika Newton.
Newton’s story does not follow the usual plot of “The American Dream” – those who
had nothing build their lives only after coming to the Land of Opportunity. In fact, Mika already
had a successful career in Ukraine with numerous songs and concerts behind her as well as the
right to represent her country in the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest where she was placed in the
top five.
Oksana Grytsay was born in 1986 in a small Ukrainian village, Burshtin, where she went
to music school. She moved to Kiev in 2001, and graduated from the Kiev State College of
Circus and Variety Arts in the pop vocal program. After victory at the "Chornomorski Igry"
national festival in Skadovsk, she signed her first contract with a producer and took a stage name
— Mika Newton. During the subsequent years she released studio recordings, performed in
concerts, created music videos and received awards.
But in 2011, Newton left for Los Angeles, moving into the highly competitive world of
American popular music. Starting from the very beginning, she overcame a lot of challenges to
organize and adjust her life abroad. New contracts, cooperation with world famous producers,
and basically the new creative process she had to deal with and the new music style to work in
— these things all faced her in Los Angeles.
What could possibly make a young singer with such an auspicious start to her career
leave it all for the United States where she must start her musical career from scratch? The

2
Czech writer Milan Kundera, himself an exile and now a citizen of France, suggests an answer.
“Being in a foreign country,” he once wrote, “means walking a tightrope high above the ground
without the net afforded a person by the country where he has his family, colleagues, and friends,
and where he can easily say what he has to say in a language he has known from childhood.”
1

In the documentary “What Dreams May Come,” I am attempting to find an answer for
Mika Newton. For some reason, articles, biographies, documentaries and biographical films get
made only after a person has achieved fame and glory. But what about those who are still
walking the road towards that success? The story of those who are striving to achieve success
and recognition for their work at this very moment deserves to be told just as much if not more
because it is a story that is also lived by most.
Mika Newton sees success as a dish made of only one ingredient, and that is hard work.
Contrary to the popular belief about “what it takes to make it,” nowhere does the singer mention
luck. Newton’s schedule takes her from a vocal class to an English lesson to an accent reduction
session. A quick learner, she is a student who “goes above and beyond what is expected of her,”
and a master of “a beautiful and athletic voice,” according to her teachers. As Mika hits
unfathomably high notes and naturally uses words like “barely” and “challenge” in conversation
– upon coming to the U.S. she knew only a few phrases in English – they are clearly praising
their pupil for her achievements, and not because of they are getting paid.
Newton says that she came to the United States because being successful in her home
country simply was not enough. The most important thing for her, she says, is continuing to
grow no matter how much has already been achieved. And the secret to happiness lies not only in
the result but also in the work towards it. This is why I believe Mika Newton can be an

1. Milan Kundera, The Unbearable Lightness of Being (New York, NY: HarperCollins,
1999).

3
inspiration not just to aspiring musicians but to all those wishing and, most importantly, working
to achieve.
This documentary was shot in Los Angeles, with all dialogue in English, but Mika’s
friends and fans in Europe and back home in Ukraine are curious to see how she settled in a
foreign country and how she is dealing with the related challenges, so “What Dreams May
Come” will be translated into Ukrainian and will appear on Ukrainian First National Channel as
part of the program “Exclusive interviews.”

4
WHAT DREAMS MAY COME:
THE STORY OF SINGER MIKA NEWTON
A little girl from a small village in Ukraine had a big dream of becoming a singer. One
day, Oksana Grytsay moved to the Ukrainian capital Kiev and became the famous singer Mika
Newton. Suddenly, in 2011, she decided to change everything in her life and move to the United
States, where she had to start her singing career from scratch. With charisma and faith, focused
on the main goal of becoming famous around the world and being able to help people, Mika
works hard, writes songs, has ongoing concerts and works on new music videos. She lives her
American dream every day.
MIKA NEWTON. I need a challenge. It’s my character like this. I think that for every
single person in this world we should just decide who we are and what we want. Who am I?
Well, Mika Newton.... My producer, he came and asked me: “Do you want to be a star?” I’m
like: “Do you know, actually I don’t understand what does it mean to be a star.”
Both of us — we love Mick Jagger. I think that’s why I’m Mika. And Newton —
something new, that’s what I want to bring to the world. I was a presenter in the Eurovision
Contest, 2011. And of course it was I think the hugest experience ever in my life. This contest
made me stronger, helped me to realize who I am and what I want really.
When I was a kid, I realized that I want to live where Michael Jackson had lived and my
producer, he asked me like: “Do you want to move to America in the next two weeks?” And I’m
like: “ОK, how?” I should move like in like two weeks. And I, I didn't know anything about
America.
2

2. Mika Newton, interview with the author, Los Angeles, CA, March 15, 2013.

5
MARIA KORPACHEVA. I met her on her second day that she was in Los Angeles. I
was very worried that maybe she will be lonely, maybe she won’t have friends, maybe she will
be scared or she’ll get depressed or something like that. And that never happened and I was very
proud of her and fascinated.
3

MIKA NEWTON. I barely spoke English. I could just say like: “Hi, hello, I’m Mika
Newton, like, I’m from Ukraine,” and that was so hard to understand because America’s like,
you have to talk (imitates fast incomprehensible speech). How could I live here?
4

SCOTT CASPERSON. If you want to sound like an American you have to kind of put
yourself into the role of being an American, you kind of have to sound like a cowboy a little bit.
You swallow your words. If you want to pretend, if you want to speak with a British accent,
you’re gonna have to think a little bit like a British person. So a lot of the things that people are
saying, she’s picking up and using immediately, so it’s not like I’m having to introduce new
slang, new expressions all the time.
5

MIKA NEWTON. First half year, it was so crazy because I should do my classes every
single day and learn at least ten words per day. I love my teacher Gregory, because I think he’s
not just a great teacher, but he’s a really nice person and sometimes I need just advice, simple
advice even about my life.
6

3. Maria Korpacheva, interview with the author, Los Angeles, CA, March 27, 2013.

4. Newton, interview.

5. Scott Casperson, interview with the author, Los Angeles, CA, February 18, 2013.

6. Newton, interview.

6
GREGORY ZLOTIN. Mika is a model student. Mika doesn’t just do what she is told to
do, she goes above and beyond what is expected of her.
7

MIKA NEWTON. If I want something, I need to work hard on it.
8

OLEG SHMELEV. It’s a subversive thing I’m going to say, probably because we are not
great producers yet. But we hold money as the second important thing. On the flipside the most
important goal for us is people around the world getting to know this girl. We need her story to
be heard not only in Ukraine or Russia but here in the US as well. Money may come as a side
result but it’s not what we are after.
9

MIKA NEWTON. My every day is very different ‘cause I’m still taking English classes,
I went to acting classes again, I have accent reduction, vocal classes and of course I’m preparing
my new songs.
10

GARY CATONA. Mika is a different kind of singer in that she has both a beautiful voice
and a very athletic voice. That means she could seduce you with the sound of her voice and
excite you with how she uses her voice.
11

MIKA NEWTON. And I’m so happy that I, that last year I started to write my own songs
and I started to be not afraid to share my own emotions, and the lyrics and the music. And it’s
like for me it’s a huge step forward.

7. Gregory Zlotin, interview with the author, Los Angeles, CA, January 28, 2013.

8. Newton, interview.

9. Oleg Shmelev, interview with the author, Los Angeles, CA, April 11, 2013.

10. Newton, interview.

11. Gary Catona, interview with the author, Los Angeles, CA, March 10, 2013.

7
Red carpets, it’s like another part of my life cause you should choose, you should
prepare, you should choose beautiful dresses, and do make up and everything and hone your
style and I can tell that preparing takes like a lot of time. You should work like for it two weeks
before, cause you want to be in a top place of like ‘best dresses.’ It’s another part of our
business.
12

YULIA KURBATOVA. She’s a person we grew faith in, and yet none of it was lost.
Mika will be successful in her journey as we see there courage and will of quality rarely seen in
such a young person.
13

MIKA NEWTON. Just be who you are. Just truth. The truth will win the world. And I’m
here just to be Mika. She’s a woman. She can cook, she can sing, she can write.
Cooking, it’s like my meditation. I don’t know, it just came to me again last year, and I
love and I really enjoy when I’m sitting and can see how people are eating. It’s a big part of my
life to invite people to my house. I can’t believe that I’m turning 27, ‘cause I still want to be 17
and inside and that’s what people probably right can hear very often that: “Oh, are you 17?” I’m,
yeah, 27. Just another number before.
I’ve just bought a little present. I jumped with a parachute 18,000 feet. But even there I
was performing, and I was singing my song “Come out and play,” that like everywhere is music
with me, even in the sky. It’s not exactly about reaching Hollywood or Los Angeles, I want to
reach just as a human being. I wanna be happy, I wanna be balanced, I wanna sing more, I wanna
perform more, I wanna know more English words, I wanna get a lot of awards. But I’m single
and I’m happy. I think to be single, it’s a perfect time to grow up, to learn something and to find

12. Newton, interview.

13. Yulia Kurbatova, interview with the author, Los Angeles, CA, April 11, 2013.

8
out who you are. The main point is to find yourself, to feel balanced, to love what you are doing,
to be happy and to do something not just for yourself — to do for everyone. I just wanted to
share what I feel inside, to share my experience with my life. I wanted to write, I wanted to sing,
just wanted to be free with every decision which I make in my life and just do and go for it. I’m
really happy that I’m living this life, that I have such amazing people around me and that I can
do what I really love and what I really want.
14

14. Newton, interview.

9
BIBLIOGRAPHY

Casperson, Scott. Interview with the author. Los Angeles, CA, February 18, 2013.
Catona, Gary. Interview with the author. Los Angeles, CA, March 10, 2013.
Korpacheva, Maria. Interview with the author. Los Angeles, CA, March 27, 2013.
Kundera, Milan. The Unbearable Lightness of Being. New York, NY: HarperCollins, 1999.
Kurbatova, Yulia. Interview with the author. Los Angeles, CA, April 11, 2013.
Newton, Mika. Interview with the author. Los Angeles, CA, March 15, 2013.
Shmelev, Oleg. Interview with the author. Los Angeles, CA, April 11, 2013.
Zlotin, Gregory. Interview with the author. Los Angeles, CA, January 28, 2013.

Asset Metadata

Creator Terekhova, Tetiana (author)

Core Title What dreams may come: the story of singer Mika Newton

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

School Annenberg School for Communication

Degree Master of Arts

Degree Program Specialized Journalism

Publication Date 07/15/2013

Defense Date 07/15/2013

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag career,Dream,Hollywood,oai:digitallibrary.usc.edu:usctheses,OAI-PMH Harvest,Singer,Ukraine

Format application/pdf (imt)

Language English

Advisor Parks, Michael (committee chair)

Creator Email t.a.terehova@gmail.com,terekhovatatyana@mail.ru

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c3-288653

Unique identifier UC11295144

Identifier etd-TerekhovaT-1775.pdf (filename),usctheses-c3-288653 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-TerekhovaT-1775.pdf

Dmrecord 288653

Document Type Thesis

Format application/pdf (imt)

Rights Terekhova, Tetiana

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Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA

Abstract (if available)

Abstract Why would a popular young singer abruptly move to Los Angeles after a highly successful start to her career in Ukraine, to start over in the highly competitive American popular music market? “What Dreams May Come – The Story of Singer Mika Newton” explores this question in a nine-minute documentary that includes interviews with Newton, her voice and English teachers and coaches, producers and assistant. It follows Newton from classes to her home, and it includes videos of her singing and performing at the Eurovision Song Contest in Dusseldorf in 2011. At the same time, this documentary shows Mika's everyday life, what she is interested in and who she spends time with.

Linked assets

University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses