Tatu show us the true face of 18-year olds
The Russian duo who caused chaos with their sudden walkout.
Goodness, but that was one hell of a kerfuffle. Disappearing in the middle of a live TV programme, cancelling a big event for fans... They have gone home, having sung just one song, and even that was in a karaoke box in Ginza. It doesn't look as though we're going to keep our eyes off them.
"Of course we trust our producer 100%", said Lena. They say that they want to come back to Japan again and sing, but will that day ever come?
They were smaller and more juvenile than we had imagined.
The two girls from Tatu set the whole of Japan aflame. It was the day before the uproar that they attended to photoshoot for the cover of Aera. They were almost on time for our
appointment and seemed perfectly calm. They exchanged greetings with the staff from Aera and shook hands with us.
As the fancy takes them
The one with the long, red hair is Lena, and the one with short, black hair is Yulia. They are both 18 and from Moscow. On their album cover they are dressed in high school uniform, but Lena is a university student, reading psychology. Yulia was born in 1985, the year Mikhail Gorbachev appeared on the political scene. They are a symbol of the new Russia.
In front of the camera, the two girls snuggle up to each other and pose. When Eiichiro Sakata, the photographer taking the pictures, exclaimed excitedly "Great! That's just right!", Yulia imitated him in Russian, saying "Da da! Da da da, da!", and both girls fell about laughing.
However, when Sakata asked them to do something, like "Give her a kiss" or "Put your finger on her lips", the reply was "No". They struck poses for the photos as the fancy took them.
During the interview after the photo shoot, Yulia immediately flopped onto the sofa and went to sleep. Apparently, she had jet lag because it was the day after their arrival in Japan. It was just Lena who spoke to us.
"Yesterday, I bought a yukata (cotton kimono) in Harajuku. The illuminations in Odaiba were really pretty. I love travelling the world and seeing different cultures."
Yulia wakes up after the interview has finished. "Sorry I fell asleep."
It feels like these two are not so much selfish as childlike.
Uproar in every corner of the world
This stramash began with the live broadcast of TV Asahi's music show "Music Station". They just appeared at the beginning and left right in the middle of the programme.
There was unprecedented uproar. Hiroaki Nishimura, the chief producer of the programme, fumed, "I am incandescent with rage. If this is just a means of obtaining publicity, then I am
unable to conceal my disappointment and anger." The group held a press conference two days after the rumpus, but Yulia just said "We don't think we've done anything wrong." Nor were there any words of apology from their producer, Ivan Shapovalov.
Such scenes of chaos have been repeated all over the world. In Moscow's Red Square, they filmed a video without permission and were detained by the police. Their video that conjured up lesbian images was banned by the BBC. At a music festival in Italy, they came in for adverse criticism when they engaged in a voluptuous kiss.
Adults are forever raising their eyebrows. However, these girls don't care. This defiant attitude is their selling point.
They stress that one's own feelings are the most important. They refuse to suppress their own feelings and adapt to others. At the very least, there can be no doubt that they do
not feel that they are doing wrong by behaving in a way that seems like this.
However, even though their clothes, words and behaviour are extreme, their hearts remain steady. They have extremely pure, unworn faces. They are a little different from Japan's
high school students who have lived amidst a torrent of material goods and information since their childhood years and look as though they know everything.
Album debuts at No.1
To a great degree, they have achieved huge sales on the strength of their songs. Their debut album t.A.T.u. entered the Oricon album chart at Number 1. This was a feat that no debut album by a Western artist had ever achieved previously. The album was produced by Trevor Horn, who is famous for his work with such artists as the Pet Shop Boys.
The two girls actually have a talent, having studied the piano for 8 years at a children's conservatoire of music in Moscow. Lena's father is a famous musician. The girls formed the group 4 years ago and began to monopolise the top spot in the Russian charts. The English version of the album, which was produced by Trevor Horn, became a worldwide hit.
Katsuya Taruishi, editor-in-chief at Oricon, praises them, saying "It's digital pop, but it feels good. With their melodious songs and vivid sense of being bang up-to-date, the finished
product is of very high quality." He continues with his analysis, "If men see Morning Musume (all-girl group with interchangeable members) as their ideal image of girls, then young girls see Tatu as the ideal for themselves."
With a good friend who is a little delinquent, one can do and say what one wants to. It's not easy to do, but we yearn to do it.
In the video for Not Gonna Get Us, the two girls run away in a big truck. Regarding this song, Lena says, "This is our song, you know. We run away from our parents and everyone at an
unstoppable speed. We run away because nobody understands us."
"At the Dome in the autumn"
Of course, these two 18 year-olds don't do everything on their own. The man in charge of the strategic production for these two free spirits is Ivan. He is apparently an advertising
executive who trained as a child psychologist. He has spread scandalous topics around the world and directs their licentiousness.
However, this time it feels as though he may have gone too far. Universal Music, the record label that is supposed to support them, cancelled the duo's planned live event. The reason they gave was that they were unable to take responsibility for the behaviour of the girls. The duo lost their opportunity to sing and ultimately only sang one song, at a karaoke box in Ginza.
The incident here in Japan could become a double-edged sword.
They certainly generated headlines. Their name has percolated through into age groups that had not previously heard of them. Sales of their album also grew further. Ivan was upbeat, saying things like "We want to do a concert at the Dome in the autumn."
Nevertheless, although they have an image of "We don't do what adults tell us", the result of all this is that they've showed a side of themselves that does do what their producer tells them. In addition, they have caused companies that may try to promote them here in Japan in the future to mistrust them. Such companies will be uneasy, worrying
"what if they cancel at short notice again?" and it will not be possible to do business with them.
Yuka Takada (17), a high school girl from Yokohama who runs a Tatu fan site, said with a regretful air, "I like these two honest girls, who don't pretend to be something they're not. But more than that, I like their songs, which collide with one's emotions. I wanted to go to their live performance."
Cover photo: "She's my girl!"
Yulia said this while hugging Lena, after Eiichiro Sakata repeatedly said "You two are so cute." The two girls, who were apparently childhood friends, are really close and were inseparable the whole time in front of the camera.
Translation by Lenochka0.
Thanks to Smellycat. |
