End of Tatu: According to rumors, Lena and Julia will immigrate to USA (Sobesednik.Ru)Time of publication: 09.08.2002 |
The girls were obviously not lucky: the young singers became a sacrifice to the show-business. They were forbidden to give concerts , their lesbian image was ruined, and their original group name was stolen.
A terrible scandal happened with lesbian duo Tatu. Lena Katina and Julia Volkova, who for nearly two years with their "peacefully" producer, lost their job on 20th of July. Their place will be taken by two other girls who are now being looked for. We decided to find out what happened.
They are forbidden to meet boys
Not long before the conflict, the girls started to hint the media about their producer mistreating them. They said that he forbid them their personal life, didn't allow them to meet the boys, go shopping or go to clubs during their free time; and above all, gives them no pocket money at all. They hinted that when they will reach the point when enough is enough they will just leave the stage.
"No, it's not like that at all,"-said Shapovalov to me. "We had a wonderful relationship, and we fall apart not because we hated each other. There were other reasons: not-very-honest people want to make money on the girls, without thinking about them."
Names of these not-very-honest people Shapovalov kept a secret, saying that he wasn't going to "anti-advertise" anybody.
Elena Kiper, ex-director of Tatu, also commented the situation.
"It was clear that this was going to happen two months ago, when Ivan signed a contract with the Western label "Universal", not thinking about the consequences, "- says Elena. The contract was 30 pages long and in English. Of course it was very difficult to translate and understand, in fact, almost impossible. When after a few months after signing the contract, one of the unpleasant points of the contract popped up. It turned out that "Universal" could rename the duo without Shapovalov's approval; also "Universal" will decide where Tatu will release their albums. As a result the group was renamed into "t.A.T.u", there were forbidden to release their albums in Russia, and they are allowed to work only in USA. Of course, Shapovalov was very upset that his girls were treated like this, but to cancel the contract he has to pay 300 thousand dollars, which he probably doesn't even have.
From lesbians to normal
In the "Universal" Russian office in Moscow this information was confirmed. According to Aleksey Savin, Tatu's lawyer, it is not clear whether Tatu are going to leave Russia or not, but now the new name and the image of the group are decided on. "The girls are leaving their lesbian image behind,"-says Savin.-" Now they are going to sing for teenagers with a normal sexual orientations, and will promote healthy life style. From August this year they are "t.A.T.u" (Teens Against Tobacco Use). And the rumors about the girls loosing their job, is not surprise. Once they are working for Universal, Shapovalov is not paying them."
"After all this renaming and changes, Tatu have already lost their popularity,"-says Roman Zhukov, producer of R-producering company, "and they are forbidden to sing in Russia." It's almost certain that a foreign duo will not survive in USA. So their future is clear. Probably, they will have the same fortune as Alsou, who also has a contract with Universal. When Alsou started to sing in English, she lost half her fans in Russia almost immidiatly, and her albums are really hard to sell now. Do you know what I think? Probably, some American anti-smoking organization wants to promote themselves and decided to sponsor a group. They chose Tatu. They will release an album or two, have a few concerts and that's it! Bye-bye! Tatu will be used and thrown away. This happens very often. And Shapovalov, he made quite a fortune on Tatu, will find another two girls to take Lena and Julia's place. He has the right to the group name "Taty" anyway."
"What if it is exactly what Shapovalov plans?" We thought and tried to contact him again. But he rejected to speak to us. So his assistant Beata came out to meet us.
"Now all I can say for sure is,"-she said. "Tatu will remain on stage. There is a probability that Lena and Julia will work in New York. Then there will be a contest for new members for group "Taty". By the way, there is a notice on this on our Russian Official Website. We will welcome all letters from the girls who want to take a chance in this and become a member!"
Translation by katbeidar.
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