Aleksandra Igoriewna “Sasha” Strunina (Russian name: Aleksandra Igorevna “Sasha”) is a Polish singer and actress. She was born 27 October 1989. She was part of The Jet Set from 2005 to 2008. They represented Poland at the Eurovision Song Contest 2007. Strunin was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia, on 27 October 1989 to a Ukrainian mother and a Russian father. Igor and Vita were both opera singers. Her Russian and Ukrainian heritage is not the only thing she has. She also has Polish and Belarusian heritage. Her great-grandmother hails from the Polish Stankiewicz noble clan. Strunin lived in Ukraine for the first two years and moved to Poznan, Poland in 1992 with her parents after she got a job at the Grand Theatre, Poznan. Strunin was born in Russia but her primary language is Polish. She also identifies as a Pole. She is an Orthodox Christian. Strunin graduated from primary school in 2002 and began her studies at Poznan Gimnazjum No. 22. She graduated from Poznan’s IV Private High School in 2008. Strunin learned English and German while in school. She graduated from the University of Fine Arts Poznan in 2009 after studying photography. Strunin started her musical career in 2003 when she performed at the 10th Festival of English Song, Brzeg. She sang “When You Told Me You loved Me” by Jessica Simpson and was awarded the category for children. She reached the semifinals of Season 4 of Idol Poland in 2005. Strunin was made the lead singer of The Jet Set in December 2005. They performed “How Many People” in the Polish final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2006. The song placed third in the competition. The Simplus Tour was started that spring by Danzel (Belgian singer), and saw 16 concerts in Poland. Just Call Me was the band’s debut studio album. It was released in July 2006. The Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry certified the album gold and it reached number 35 on the Polish albums charts. The title song from the album was performed by them at the 2006 Sopot International Song Festival. They placed second. The song “Time to Party” was performed by The Jet Set in 2007 at the Polish National Final. They won the competition, and were granted the opportunity to represent Poland at the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 in Helsinki. They toured Europe in preparation for the competition, including Spain, Ireland and Ukraine. They placed 14th at the Eurovision Song Contest semi-final and didn’t qualify for the final. They reissued their debut album Just Call Me in February 2007. At the 44th National Festival of Polish Song, Opole, they won the Song of the Year Award “Time to Party”. Their final single, “The Beat of Your Heart”, was released in 2008. The group announced their dissolution on January 1, 2009. They had been formed previously to release only one studio album. Strunin signed a single contract with Sony Music Entertainment Poland after The Jet Set was disbanded. In collaboration with Danny Saucedo, Strunin released “Emely” in that year. Later, she released her first solo single, “Tonic kiedy pilyna lzy”, and was selected to represent Poland at the 2009 Sopot International Song Festival. Sasha, her first solo studio album, was released in September 2009. In September 2009, it was the 25th most-sold album in Poland. In November, the album’s second single, “Zaczaruj mnie ostatni raz”, came out. To celebrate the tenth year of VIVA Poland, she recorded “Muzyki moc” with Ewa Fabian, Gosia andrzewicz, Kasia Wilksa, Kasia Cerekwicka and Sylwia Grzeszczak. Strunin quit Sony in May 2011 to become an independent artist. With music producer Andrzej Przymuszewski, she founded AS Music Production. However, the company was quickly ended. She released “Game Over” in September. 2013 saw Strunin open for Zaz, a French singer from Warsaw. Strunin released her debut EP, Stranger on 29 October 2013. The release was promoted by the title track. As part of the reALICJA initiative, Strunin recorded a Christmas song called “Magia Swiat” in December 2013. The proceeds of the sale of the song went to Alicja Borkowska (a Polish actress who had suffered from a stroke in the previous month). Strunin was scheduled to participate in SuperDebiuty in 2014 at the 51st National Festival of Polish Song, Opole. However, she was disqualified and was replaced by another artist. All participants must have not previously released more than one album, either as an individual or as part of a band. This disqualification led to her being replaced by another artist. Strunin performed at the concert celebrating the 25th anniversary for Employers of Poland in November 2014. Former Polish President Lech Walesa and Bronislaw Komorowski, the Polish President at the time, attended the concert. Strunin began recording music in 2015 for her second solo album. Gary Guthman, an American jazz musician, composed all the songs on the album. The album, called Woman in Black, was published on 14 October 2016. The self-titled lead song was released on September 30, 2016. Strunin worked as a model before she began her music career. Elite Model Management signed Strunin and she had previously modeled in Paris and Tokyo. Strunin competed in the Celebrity Edition of Big Brother Poland 5 in 2008. Due to her singing obligations, Strunin left the house at 30 days. She placed fifth overall. Strunin was a regular role in the Polish soap opera Pierwsza milosc as Kalina Switochowska. She was also part of the film Koniec swiata as Oliwia. She also voiced a character for PlayStation 3’s Polish-language video game TV Superstars. Strunin was the face of GAVEL’s 2011/2012 autumn-winter collection. Strunin is also a visual artist. From Wikipedia
