She lived in Kyiv until 1992,[4] when she and her family moved to Moscow to support her brother's acting career.

[5] After finishing secondary school, she entered the Russian Academy of Theatre Arts, studying musical acting.

[6] Stotskaya first rose to prominence at the age of 18, when she played the role of Fleur-de-Lys in the musical Notre Dame de Paris in the Theater of the Moon.

[8] In 2003, Stotskaya participated in the International Competition of Young Performers New Wave,[9] where she won the Grand Prix.

[10] Success in the contest was brought to her by performing a cover version of "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" and also singing a new song "Veny-reki".

[12] Subsequently in December 2003, she released a duet with Kirkorov titled "Vlyublyonnaya dusha", which peaked the TopHit airplay charts at #16.

[3] In 2002, Stotskaya was almost involved in the Moscow theater hostage crisis as she had initially planned to attend the play Nord-Ost on 23 October 2002, taking leave from her work at Chicago, but changed her mind last minute upon Kirkorov's request.