Oleksandr Usyk Stars in the New Music Video by the ANNA MARIA Duo

The Ukrainian duo ANNA MARIA have presented an unusual premiere. It is the new music video for “Light Up”, starring the undisputed world champion, Olympic champion and undefeated Ukrainian boxer Oleksandr Usyk. After the successful premiere of the single “Same Ti” (“The Very Ones”), which made it into the Top 10 Ukrainian hits (the Russkoe Radio Ukraine chart), the ANNA MARIA duo presented the song and video “Light Up”, which they had been working on for over a year. Anna and Maria never stop experimenting and surprising: the sound of the new single differs from their previous work. The idea for the new video belongs to the sisters Anna and Maria themselves. They say that when they wrote “Light Up”, they immediately knew what the video for it should be like. ANNA MARIA: “This is a story about people who are strong in spirit. About how you can become a Champion if you overcome yourself. And only you choose whether to fall or to rise. About how, even in difficult situations, you need to keep your LIGHT inside. And sometimes that light can be the example of another person. We decided to tell this story through boxing, because this sport truly inspires us. Because in boxing there is overcoming, there is strength, there is the drive to win. And in any case, sport is a victory over yourself,” the sisters say. Oleksandr Usyk on the set of the ANNA MARIA video “Light Up” “We have been fans of Oleksandr Usyk for a long time — all the more so since we come from the same city, Simferopol. We adore him as a boxer, and he really appeals to us as a person, along with his worldview. We haven't missed a single one of his fights — we have followed him from the very beginning and always root for him. Last year we met him in person at an event. When we asked Oleksandr to star in our video, we didn't quite know how he would react. We waited a long time for his answer… Then, one fine day, a voice message arrived in which Oleksandr said he was up for such an experiment. He really liked the song and the concept of the “Light Up” video. Of course, we were over the moon at the news! Oleksandr arrived on set at 6 a.m. and gave it his all. He spent the whole day on the set. We joked and laughed a lot, and the whole film crew was delighted with him!” the sisters recount. Young athletes also took part in the shoot: Dmytro Liutyi, Roman Nikulin, Kateryna Kozlova and Leonid Shuliak. The “Light Up” video tells the story of several children who train in boxing and pursue their goal, inspired by the example of Oleksandr Usyk. A large-scale casting call was held, with more than 50 participants. The video was filmed in Kyiv, and the shoot lasted about twenty-four hours. The main filming location was the All Stars Boxing club, one of the best in Kyiv. Usyk and other famous Ukrainian boxers often train there. The large-scale shoot was handled by the P'Astell production team of more than 20 people. The video was shot by Ukrainian director Maksym Balter. We are very proud of this work and happy that we managed to film an emotionally powerful story about a dream, the road to victory and self-belief. We believe this video can inspire many people and change their lives for the better! — say sisters Anna and Maria about the premiere.