In prim England, far from everybody is happy that Russian duo "Tatu" are #1 on the charts, with their first single "All The Things She Said". The management of the two biggest TV stations banned the video from every program, in which "lesbian school girls" kiss and cuddle under the rain. But in Russia, the happiest person appears to be Neposedi's producer, Elena Pinzhoyan, who was the first one to show the future celebritieis their way to the big stage.
"So, you came to ask when Julia and Lena became lesbians?" joked madam Pinzhoyan, as soon as I entered her office. I had to explain to her that I came to visit Neposedi, not because I was interested in Tatu's sexual orientation, but because I was researching their achievements before Tatu.
"Julia joined Neposedi when she was only 9, and Lenochka (Cute name for "Lena") at 11," started Elena about her story. "And Julia came one year earlier. Her mother--Larisa Viktorovna--brought her to the audition, and she sang our national anthem, 'Oi da ne vecher, da ne vechre' ('Oh, it's not evening, not evening'). She was so tiny, so skinny, with huge eyes. I realized almost at once, that she had what it took. Lena also had a nice timbre in her voice, she sang something in Spanish on her first audition. Her father brought her, whom I already knew from before--Sergey Katin wrote songs for "Dyuna" and Marina Hlebova--we often worked in the same studios."
"Did the girls go on tours?"
"Yes, they even performed abroad. Once I took Julia to Tenerife. And she broke her hotel card by accident. Imagine, Julia was afraid that we'd leave her there as a punishment. And Lena debuted at the contest "Bravo-bravossimo" in Italy. By the way, the girls sang their first English song together that year."
"Were they friends back then already?"
"They always had a big happy camaraderie. Julia Volkova used to be really good friends with Yulia Malinovskaya, who hosted the program 'Utrenyaya Zvezda' ('Morning Star'). They also were friendly with boys, especially with the young men who are now in the group "Smash". They were also my students back then. They frequently went out to the movies and theaters together, even gave massages to each other."
"Were Tatu girls paid for the performances?"
"Yes, they were. But, believe me, they were not large amounts of money. They spent all of it on their clothes and phonograms. I always asked them not to spend all of it on themselves, and leave some for their parents, like for a few presents for the holidays."
"A lot of Neposedi members starred in soap opera 'Eralash'. Did Julia and Lena get a chance?"
"Boris Grachevskyi even now invites my guys. Lena did not star, but Julia got lucky. She did a great job in two episodes. In the first, she appeared as a perfidious girl who had a fight with her boyfriend. In the story, she walks proudly in front of him with another guy, forcing him to kiss her, to cause jealousy in the poor guy who is in love with her. In the second episode, Julia broke a model in a shop. To avoid punishment, she takes off his clothes, puts them on her boyfriend, and asks him to freeze. Then comes the seller, and sees the boy-model, he winks at her, and she faints. And Julia runs away with him. Lena voiced over the advertisement for the drink company 'Chernogolovka'."
Shapovalov also looked for two boys.
"Did the Tatu girls ever appear on stage with other celebrities of the time?"
"We constantly appeared on stage with celebrities: from Kirkorov to Kopperfild. But I trained them on how to act on the stage earlier, so that the girls wouldn't be afraid of the lights and the audience. I asked them to present flowers to the celebrities on several occasions. It was then that Julia and Lena started to collect an album from the series of 'Ya i zvezdy' ('I and the stars')."
"Tatu said that they were expelled from Neposedi after Julia was accused of 'obscene behaviour and corrupting other singers'. Is that true?"
"Of course not! No one expelled them. Don't you understand that it is just another publicity stunt as their lesbian image? They left the group when the time came. We do not keep children over 14 here."
"Did you recommend the girls for 'Tatu'?"
"Right after they left Neposedi, I found out that Ivan Shapovalov was organizing a casting for his new project. I recommended all the older girls to give it a go. But Shapovalov did not show me his cards, what kind of group he was making. When he stopped on Julia and Lena, I gave him the telephone numbers of the girls' parents, and he talked to them afterwards. I won't hide, I was really shocked when I saw the first results. Children at 14-16 y.o. had not yet stabilized their psyche, and I was afraid that the girls would be influenced by taking part in this project. I even warned Julia and Lena's parents, but they did not listen to me."
"Did Shapovalov ask you for any more help afterwards?"
"Ivan offered to work together a few times, but I refused. When he called and asked for two boys, I laughed!"
"Did you discuss their lesbian image with Julia and Lena?"
"To be honest, no. When we meet, they just jump on my neck laughing. They are still children to me, happy and open. Most importantly, I don't feel that they have the 'Star Disease'. It's really hard to go through what they went through at this age."
Dmitry Lifancev
18 Feb 2003
Express Gazeta
Translated by katbeidar
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