t.A.T.u - New Teens On The Block (CelebCentral.Cjb.Net)Time of publication: 08.08.2003 |
t.A.T.u - New Teens On The Block
New pop sensation t.A.T.u have certainly put Russia on the music map during the last few months of their career.
Julia Volkova and Lena Katina, previously of childrens band "Neposedi", have achieved great success as a controversial duo. The girls started out back in 1996 by performing in the aforementioned group, which, unfortunately, achieved relatively little fame outside of Russia. Much to the girls delight the pair formed tatu in the summer of '99 after both successfully auditioned for the spots.
SInce their formation, tatu have attained almost superstardom on a global scale, with record sales soaring into the millions including a record-setting 1.8 million sales of their debut album in Japan. Despite being constantly prejudiced for theiir sexuality, tatu nay-sayers cannot deny the success of their music. The duet's first offering, "200km In The Wrong Lane", is widely acclaimed for being an album not cornered into a particular genre, resulting in music lovers of all kinds taking a liking to the young upstarts. The LP portrays a strong contrast in emotions, ranging from the fear-stricken pulse of "Not Gonna Get Us" to the desire-laiden sounds of "Show Me Love." Cleverly, the girls have managed to stir this pot of emotions, whilst at the same time, sending their message out in one particular direction - perhaps the wrong direction to the more narrow minded person.
Recently the group has experienced a hoard of negative publicity, but not however, for their musical content. A string of cancelled tour dates, interviews and live appearances have made some skeptics question the girls' commitment to the music industry. Numerous overestimations of attendance by the group's manager, Ivan Shapalov, left many british fans bitterly disappointed. Concert goer, Nicholas James, said: "I was supposed to be taking my girlfriend to London for a tatu performance on May 2nd, but tatu pulled out at the last minute after a lot of decision changes over the week leading to the cancelled show. I ended up losing a lot of money because of their decision to cancel."
To Julia's and Lena's credit, however, it was the choice of the girls' manager to cancel the UK performances. Reports suggested the duet genuinely wanted to perform for the Brits as a large proportion of album sales came from the United Kingdom.
Tatu enjoy performing their music because they feel they're sending out a very important message. "We sing about teenagers, we sing about this problem." said Lena on their featured album interview. The problem she is talking about, of course, is the prejudice towards homosexuality in today's society. Their songs have an uplifting impact on people who otherwise would linger in the proverbial closet regarding their sexual preference; tatu are finally giving these people something to relate to.
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