Daugavpils singer becomes UK pop sensation

Take note – story published 9 years ago

A woman from Latvia's second-largest city, Daugavpils, has become a popular singer, model and television personality in the United Kingdom, the UK TV magazine Radio Times reports.

The woman, who uses the stage name Viktoria Modesta, has scored a hit with her song Prototype which has been viewed 12 million times.

She has also appeared on Channel 4's show Born Risky which focuses on people with reduced mobility and last week featured in a special commercial shot by the station and shown in a prime-time slot to an audience of 10 million in order to offer an alternative to the manufactured pop stars that have become the staple diet of mainstream UK television.

She has also had outfits specially designed for her by fashion legend Vivienne Westwood who has long pioneered the notion that women come in all shapes and sizes, not just the skinny models of the catwalk.

Born in 1998, Victoria underwent a series of operations before having her left leg amputated in 2007.

She is reported to have lived in the UK since 1999.

The Daily Mail newspaper reported Modesta - whose real name is not revealed - saying: "For a long time, pop culture closed its doors on me as an amputee and alternative artist.

"I think people have always found it hard to know what to think or feel about an amputee who wasn't trying to be an Olympian. 

"In sports, ‘overcoming' a disability makes you a hero, but in pop there is no place for these feelings," Modesta said.

 

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