TATU: Be yourself, don't be a lesbian

T.A.T.u.'s  popularity in Russia has never been as huge as it has been in the rest of the world. Yet it is t.A.T.u. that skyrocketed to the top of international pop charts some time ago. Motherland should have been proud of them. But the motherland was not impressed by the success of her daughters. On the contrary, the motherland was keen to bury them when the project got stalemated and fell into oblivion at a certain stage of its existence.

The girls finally pulled their act together after all those outrageous scandals, pranks and eventual dismissal of their creative troublemaker/producer Ivan Shapovalov. The papers reported that everything was falling into place little by little and a new long-awaited album being in the works.

The new album came out in two versions, in English and Russian. The English-language version is called Dangerous and Moving; the Russian-language version bears the title Disabled People (Lyudi Invalidy). Several trendy people from the Western world of pop music pose for the album cover: Trevor Horn, Martin Kirzenbaum, Robert Orton. The album is apparently aimed at blowing up the market one more time. Sergei Galoyan who was previously involved in the cooking of t.A.T.u.'s bestselling hits looks like a leftover from the past.

Just like true patriots, the girls chose the Russian capital for their album release show. The venue was an industrial club in an industrial neighborhood. Very faddish. A few dozen female fans were screaming in admiration during the show. t.A.T.u. carried themselves like international pop stars. They shot off eight songs from the new album and vanished into the night. Several as members of an audience walked pompously about the VIP zone making faces as if they expected the show to last till down. The new album has not had any effect whatsoever on the local FM stations.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday last week an international airport in the Mexican capital ground to a halt after at least 500 delirious fans filled the arrivals area to take a glimpse of t.A.T.u.. The duet came to Mexico on a promotional tour. t.A.T.u.'s new single All About Us climbed to No 2 on the national charts. Brazil, Argentina, and Taiwan are reportedly very much excited waiting for the arrival of Yulya and Katya. All About Us already reached No 1 on the Taiwanese charts. In Germany, the single has been sitting in Top 20 for nine weeks. It is No 2 in Greece and Japan. The song reached No 48 in the U.S top 100 list of bestselling singles.

The world is about to go crazy over t.A.T.u. again. The world does no care for the VIP audience making faces and comments after the show in Moscow. British TV station has recently published the results of an opinion poll. The viewers were asked to list notions and images associated with Russia. It is an easy piece of guesswork - vodka, caviar, perestroika sit on the top, followed by Gorbachev, Yeltsin, t.A.T.u., and then Putin and the sputnik.

The girls have recently shared their impressions of the trip to Lisbon, where the duet participated in Europe Music Awards and handed out a prize to Robbie Williams.

Q: Tell us please who did you see at the ceremony?

A: Well, we saw all the acts that took part in the show. We saw Madonna, Black Eyed Peas, Robbie Williams, Shaggy, Foo Fighters, Gorillaz, Craig David, Sean Paul. You know, we hung out at an afterparty when the ceremony was over.

Q: What kind of reception did you get from your colleagues? What did they ask you about?

A: Well, we’ve know some people for a long time. We met Black Eyed Peas. Shaggy is great fun, we kept him company all the way trough that party. Craig David came up to me and asked for my cell phone number. When he finally realized that I was part of t.A.T.u., he went: “I love your project, it is pretty cool, I love your Ya soshla s uma (I went mad) very much, you guys are so cool” and stuff like that. And we met Rammstein, finally.

Q: Rumor has it you almost agreed to make a song together.

A: Yeah, all sorts of rumors were flying around. I heard we even had fallen out with the guys but it is complete bull. We met them at the party, we had a chat and a couple of laughs. They are cool.

Q: Being the stars of worldwide popularity, how did you feel handing out a prize to such a petty artist as Robbie Williams?

A: ‘Petty artist?’ What is that? Some kind of English humor? To be honest, he means nothing to me. He is singing those songs, so let him keep singing them. Those songs simply do not connect to me.

Q: Did anybody make any comment on your present-day motherhood and the image of underage lesbians you and Lena had in the past?

A: No, nobody said anything about our past. On the contrary, they asked me about my daughter, ‘Gee, you’ve got a daughter, it’s cool. They also asked Lena if she is going to be a mother too. Lena just went: “Maybe later, it’s impossible to plan things like that.” On the whole, the reaction was pretty usual. Everybody was pointing their fingers at us: “Look, the t.A.T.u. girls!”

Q: Once you pulled the plug on that pseudo-lesbian stuff, your trendy image on the pop scene went to pieces. Do you miss those happy times?

A: No, I do not. Everything is new now, we grew up, and out fans grew up too. Our music grew up as well.

Q:  What is your new message to the audience?

A: Being yourself is the most important new message. You should not do anything on purpose because people will also notice a fake. We had a very long break. We had a good rest. And now we are set to move forward. Now are going on a promotional tour to South America and Taiwan. We shall be back to Moscow by New Year’s Eve.