Rendez-vous in the Red Square ("Bravo" - Russia)Time of publication: 19.02.2003 |
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Rendez-vous in the Red Square
BRAVO visits t.A.T.u. in Moscow
What's up with t.A.T.u.? Even the record company seems to have lost contact with the two girls from Moscow, ever since they became the hottest pop act in the world, in record time. The official reason for the lack of information and cancelled appointments: Yulia had surgery and is still in the hospital, in Moscow. With all the wild rumours ranging from the alleged sex scandal with their manager to the separation of the band, the whole t.A.T.u. confusion seems like a thriller. To even get in contact with the girls - an adventure!
BRAVO tried to solve the "mystery" of t.A.T.u. at the place where it all began - in Moscow, in the "biro" (bureau?) of t.A.T.u. manager Ivan Shapovalov (36). Five desks in fifty square meters, in a gloomy building not far from the Red Square. Gold and platinum CD's on the garishly green painted walls give proof of the overwhelming success of t.A.T.u. in the former Eastern Bloc countries. In the adjacent room, there is a couch to relax in and "Taiga Snack" - pickled mushrooms as refreshment for the guests. Ivan the Notorious seems surprised but friendly. He makes one thing clear. "Money, record sales' numbers - whatever you write about us, we don't care!" What do you work for then? "Ask the girls!"
We meet them in the winter sports paradise Wojen near Moscow. Two girls, happily smooching on the ice. It is really them! Lena (18) with fire-engine red hair, Yulia with newly-cut "Prechoska", black with blonde highlights. With 1,57 m and the flyweight of 40 kilos, she seems even more petite in real life than in the video. Lena, 1,62 m tall, brings seven kilos more onto the scales. The blue eyes and the slightly frozen features of the girlies - it's an icy minus 15 degrees Celsius - are beaming. No traces of illness! "I had problems with my vocal chords, but never surgery," Yulia explains in Russian, and Lena translates: "My doctors got it under control." Are you lesbians? "Don't ask stupid questions, get our skating shoes off instead!" Lena commands. Giggling, she holds out her foot to me, condescending as the Czarina herself. "We love each other! Love is the only thing that counts!"
The relationship between those two is indeed more than tender. On the way back to Moscow, "Yul" falls asleep in the arms of her girlfriend: smiling beatifically, her hand underneath "Lenochka's" bra. She [Lena] keeps answering my questions: "No, we just have each other, no boyfriends. Yes, we still live with our parents. We may come to Germany - when we feel like it." Later on we see t.A.T.u. put up a real fight. On a TV talkshow they defend themselves in a witty, charming and clever way against the attacks of a spooky bourgeois panel consisting of sour looking pedagogues, politicians and a Rasputin in a black priest-gown, who threatens them with hell-fire.
You can sense it: In truth, the girls enjoy the stir around t.A.T.u. But they present themselves as the embodiment of innocence: "Only people with dirty thoughts can think of our love as a scandalous thing!" the smart psychology student Lena chirps with an innocent look in her eyes.
In the Pictures:
At the top, in red writing:
Lena and Yulia - Europe's Most Wanted: While the whole world scrambles to get them or worries about them, looks for them or talks badly about them because of alleged sex scandals, the two of them amuse themselves calmly with ice-skating at home. BRAVO found the t.A.T.u. girls near Moscow
Next to Yulia and Lena posing in the Red Square, it says:
Lovers in the Red Square: Yulia (left) and Lena in front of the famous Basilius Cathedral and the Kremlin Wall (right)
The three pictures below that one (from left to right):
- Once more unto the breach! Lena and Yulia on their way to the TV studio. At present, they have to visit talkshows frequently
- Quick make-up: If necessary t.A.T.u. can do their own hair and apply their own make-up - in record time
- Waiting for the talk - Yulia is an absolute mobile phone and SMS freak! Her mobile squeals every two minutes. Beata (right, in blue) is the best friend and tour manager of the girls
At the top, picture showing the girls behind the fence:
Lena and Yulia behind bars: The girls hide away at home in Russia from the worldwide excitement regarding t.A.T.u.
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In the Pictures:
Picture showing girls putting on skating shoes:
Lena and Yulia do sports daily in order to keep fit. In the wintertime they amuse themselves with ice-skating and snowboarding, during the summer, it's jogging, horseback-riding and swimming
Next to that: The picture showing the girls kissing
The girls' love is for real: There's passionate smooching every couple of minutes
Small picture of Yulia and the guy
Departure to Moscow: Edik (left), the chauffeur, looks after the girls and drives them around all day
Picture in the middle, girls sitting in the car
This is the way t.A.T.u. travel: The trunk of their mini van is fully-laden with their clothes - instead of a suitcase there are only plastic bags.
Picture on the right, sitting in the car
"We only do what we want to do!" Yulia and Lena say. "We do not grin on command for the camera."
Picture showing them walking away:
Done. After an hour-long TV debate, it's clear: The t.A.T.u. charm offensive triumphed over Russia's "guardians of virtue"
Below that, girls sitting at a table:
Love's the only thing that matters: With charm and wit, t.A.T.u. defend their point of view in front of the camera
And finally the text on Lena's hair:
Moscow's Most Wanted: The West did not impress Yulia and Lena very much. They prefer to relax at home in Moscow.
Translation by xena225. |
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