From Weekly Oricon July 21st edition
Five Days That Shook Japan
Tatu
Their True Face is Now Revealed
Tatu came to Japan at last and provided us with numerous sensational topics of conversation. What is the true face of these girls who provoke so many scandals? Here we can reveal the true face of Yulia and Lena as we saw it when we conducted out exclusive interview with them.
I believe that their rare, compelling attractiveness that transcends likes or dislikes is the real thing.
Their sudden refusal to perform on a music programme, the absence of permission for filming their video, the cancellation of an event. The tempestuous duo Yulia and Lena have gone home after taking Japan by storm. Was it a deliberate performance or just wilfullness? Both theories were reported in the papers and on TV, but I followed the entire series of scandals as if bewitched. This was because, immediately before all this uproar, the Yulia and Lena that I'd met in the interview for this magazine had been unexpectedly friendly and innocent - disarmingly child-like and naive. There was no trace of the arrogant wilfullness that was reported in the media nor, of course, of the studied vulnerability put on by adults. "That Tatu", who caused all that uproar and the Yulia and Lena that I met just didn't correspond to each other.
Our interview took place in a room in a hotel in the capital. We didn't want to incur their displeasure during their first job after arriving in Japan, so I took some gifts for them. I took some Japanese-style reed slippers and a fan with a picture of Winnie the Pooh on them, which I bought at the Disney Store. I had thought to lighten the atmosphere with these, but my strategy was completely frustrated. The two girls accepted them with a smile, but they just put them beside them on the sofa without looking at them! There was no need to resort to such cheap tricks, because when the two girls entered the interview room, Yulia said "Hi!", holding out her small hand before I had a chance to introduce myself, and smiling at me with a gaze that sucked me in and swallowed me whole. Lena stood next to her, smiling disarmingly, and that peculiar tense, nervous feeling that I get before interviews dissolved instantly.
Yulia and Lena sat on the sofa looking at ease, as if they were relaxing at home. When I asked them about their impressions of Japan before coming here, while looking intently at the two girls, who were smaller and younger-looking than I'd imagined, Lena answered quick as a flash, "For a long time I've thought Japan was a very interesting country. I think that all countries have their own characteristics, but I felt that Japan had something special that was different to Europe." Right away, Yulia, who had been munching on the sweets that were on the table, chipped in with a comment, "It's often called the Land of the Rising Sun." Apparently, Lena has read a book about geisha, while Yulia's grandfather had often told her stories about Japan.
They said things like, "I thought it was a very beautiful country that was isolated from the rest of the world." (Lena). When I asked what impression of the country they'd received since getting here, Yulia leaned forward and began speaking like a machine gun.
"Yesterday I went on the big wheel! And the orange lights at Tokyo Tower were really pretty. It was brighter than the Eiffel Tower and the Moscow TV tower, and more Japanese-looking. When I saw Tokyo Tower, I really felt that I was in Japan; it was a really special feeling!"
On the day of their arrival in Japan, the two girls went to Odaiba and had a ride on the big wheel there. Yulia, whose eyes were sparkling and with whose rapid-fire comments the interpreter could not keep up, was just like a child boasting to her friends about going on a trip somewhere. Seeing that innocent expression suddenly called to mind the round-table discussion for Tatu fans that we at Weekly Oricon held in April. "They're so beautiful and just divine", "I'm too scared to go anywhere near them", "I expect they'd get cross if I spoke to them"... I wonder what the girls that felt that way about them would think if they had seen Yulia and Lena at that moment.
"Us? Scary? Not at all! It's OK to speak to us." (Yulia)
"We'll say 'konnichi wa' (hello) to you. Russians are a bit different from Europeans, you know. People have certain characteristics depending on their country. That's a wonderful thing, though." (Lena)
Nevertheless, after witnessing the feverish excitement of the Japanese fans, the two seemd a little surprised. "The Japanese are very emotional." (Yulia)
"We were born and brought up in Moscow, so although there are people who come and ask us for autographs while we're just walking around with our friends or family, or follow us and get excited, most of them don't say anything even if they notice us. But Japan doesn't seem to be like that (laughs)" (Yulia)
"But wherever we go, there's no peace. If I could take a two-week holiday, I'd like to go to Cyprus. Cyprus is really popular in Russia right now, and it's really nice because it's hot and sunny. But we have big tours and I have to go to college, so I can only take 3 or 4 days holiday at most. There's just no time to relax..." (Lena)
Apparently, the two girls tend to spend their days off apart. This is their secret for maintaining a good relationship. "We don't spend time apart because our relationship is bad. It's to maintain our relationship as much as possible. If we go abroad, like America or Japan, we're always together, you see. If we're together that much, we end up fighting or arguing. We always make up straight away, though. But we want to maintain as good a relationship as possible, so we spend our days off apart." (Yulia) All the while that she was speaking, Yulia and Lena maintained eye contact and smiled at each other, whispering to each other and giggling, and speaking "couple talk", that only they understand. However, there's no sign of the lesbian, intimate air that they had in the video. They were more innocent and child-like, and seem like a pair of best friends at primary school. How do they feel about each other?
"It's just like things in nature, like the wind or the sun. She's the person whom it's natural to have by my side. Lena is like the sun - she always makes everything around her warmer. She's kind and thoughtful, and really romantic. She always does things right and I really respect her." (Yulia)
"I'm a bit embarrassed to have all that said about me...(embarrassed). It's difficult for me to sum up Yulia in a single word, but my heart always feels drawn to her. She's energetic and fearless, and very emotional. When I'm worried, she always supports me, saying, 'It's OK, don't worry. It'll work out.' But she's also very observant." (Lena)
Yulia speaks proudly of their relationship, in which the two of them supplement and complement each other, describing it as "the perfect partnership". Would their relationship have been different had they not been involved in Tatu?
Lena answers without hesitation "God decided that we'd make our debut as Tatu. I can't imagine that not having happened." It is only at this point that the girls, who had been giggling mischievously all the way through, become serious.
Then we suddenly run out of time and the interview is over. Yulia offers her hand, as she did at the beginning, and says "Arigato (thank you)" with a shy smile, while Lena leaves the room silently with a disarming smile. All that are left are the wrappers of the 10 Snickers (!) that Yulia has managed to eat in just 30 minutes.
Yulia, who is mischievous like a 10 year old boy, and sweet Lena, who smiles quietly when your eyes meet hers. I didn't sense an immediate image from this bright, unruly twosome, but the sense of their presence was stronger than I'd envisaged. This impression became more vivid as time passed after the interview. I realised that this is the aura of people on their way to the top.
I don't know whether all these incidents were staged. But even now I'm convinced that their rare, compelling attractiveness that transcends likes or dislikes is the real thing.
Translation by Lenochka0. |
