This is one for the books! When you’re singing for the X-Factor judges and they stop you because your singing is too good to be true—you must be lip-synching!—then you know that you’ve got a good voice. This is what happened to Aida Nikolaychuk in 2011, when she entered the second season of X Factor Ukraine.

Odessa was born, and Aida sang in school choirs in the 1st grade. In high school, she was also the backing singer for a school hip-hop group. After school, Aida worked as a supermarket cashier. At the age of 29, she quit her job to appear on X-Factor. During the casting session, while Aida sang Polina Gagarina’s Lullaby, the incredulous judges interrupted her.

While clearly disconcerted by being asked to sing acapella to prove that she wasn’t singing along to a backing track that included digitally treated vocals, Aida gathered herself and sang. She sang just as well with the backing. Aida went onto the training section of the show with four votes but didn’t make it further. Meanwhile, the video of her casting went viral, prompting Aida to sign up for the second season of X-Factor Online. In December 2011, she won X-factor Online.

Winning the online show gave Aida entry to the training round of Season 3 (2012). In the training, she was ranked 24 in the over-25 group. Her luck changed when she sang for the judges, including visiting German singer Thomas Anders. She emerged as one of the top 12 finalists, and, in January 2013, it was announced that Aida Nikolaychuk was the winner of season 3 of X-Factor Ukraine! Here is НІКОЛИ НЕ ЗДАМОСЯ (We Will Never Give Up), the pro-Ukraine song that Aida released on 25/11/2022.

Aida released her debut album My Pod Odnim Nebom on December 14, 2013, but her relationship with the STB channel (which broadcasts X-factor Ukraine) and Sony Music Entertainment, Ukraine, was not happy and didn’t last. Aida’s marriage, which occurred after her win, was also unhappy and lasted five years.

While re-establishing herself, Aida entered a singing competition in Japan (2017). Ironically, given that Aida was previously accused of having a digitally assisted voice, the singers in the competition were evaluated by a digital device. The device measured variables such as strength of voice, vibration, and how the singer manipulates the microphone (e.g., how far away or how close she sings). The device gives a mark out of 100. Despite needing to sing in Japanese, Aida won the competition. Post-pandemic, Aida has released original music and relaunched herself. She now uses the stage name Aida.

Interestingly, X-Factor Ukrainian Series 3 winner Aida has appeared in a Quora question. Q: “How do you describe the voice of Aida Nikolaychuk? Is it possible to produce that kind of singing voice?” The recommended answer is from singing teacher Lourdes Trammell: “Yes, of course a voice like this is real. She has a perfect pitch. She is a mezzo-soprano. No one should “produce” her. They should just give her the right songs and let her sing. Remarkable purity. Gorgeous inflection and timbre.”