Russian
diva says she missed her chance
by David Bases (Reuters)
Baltimore Sun, 16 April 1999
Russian americans forgot about the raging economic crisis and struggling relatives back home for one emotional night recently, listening to the rock 'n' roll of their youthful years in Russia and the singer who brought it to them, their queen, Alla Pugacheva.
She drives around Moscow in a white stretch limo, a gift from her husband, and is said to have sold more than 150 million records, mostly in Russia and the old Soviet empire. If you have never heard of her, you are in the majority, but for Russians everywhere there is only one Alla, the reigning -- some say fading -- diva of Russian pop music for 25 years. The East Coast Russian American community descended on the Trump Taj Mahal Hotel and Casino on a recent Saturday, paying $50 to $250 a ticket for a sold-out evening performance or a nearly full matinee of her 2 1/2 hour-long show.
Pushing 50, Pugacheva still plays a vixen on stage, belting out the passionate love songs dripping with melodrama that made her famous in the tense Cold War days under Brezhnev. Adoring, misty-eyed senior citizens clapped vigorously and sophisticated youth, dressed in designer clothes from Armani, Valentino and Dolce & Gabbana, looked like they were at a wedding rather than a concert as they walked down the aisles with traditional gifts of flowers for her.
She's better than these kids!
"Perhaps I'm too long on this stage but I get older and wiser here. It is your fault. You won't let me die," she said. Western critics described her performance as a dinosaur and savaged her performance at the 1997 Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin, where she placed 15th. But Pugacheva has never really lived in the hearts of fans outside Russia's borders and now even she admits her time to reach them is past. "I have a wide audience, but to get a wider American audience I should have started here years ago," she told Reuters in her cloistered dressing room between shows.
"We'll adapt and survive"
Pugacheva was nothing like her reputation for having a poisoned tongue off-stage, speaking humbly after her first performance at the 5,292-seat Etess Arena at the Taj Mahal about Russia's economic crisis and its entertainers. Russia's entertainment community has been devastated by the economic nightmare. In the face of adversity, Pugacheva offered a stoic prediction: "We are Russians, we'll learn to adapt and we'll survive."
"Concert dates for smaller artists are being cancelled because promoters in Russia can't go to banks to borrow money and regular people can't afford ticket prices," said Michael Gulko, a semi-retired nightclub singer in Brighton Beach with its large Russian community in New York's Brooklyn borough.
"Alla and Philip are exceptions," said Gulko, who keeps up with the entertainment community in Moscow. Philip is Philip Kirkorov, a rising star himself and Pugacheva's fourth husband, 18 years her junior. He is producing the four-concert U.S. tour that wraps up in Los Angeles Oct. 21 after a show in Chicago. They are mega-stars in Russia and with the Russian emigre community.
"I cannot play stadiums because the average Russian doesn't have money so I cut back on production for smaller venues, for people who can afford higher ticket prices," Kirkorov said. Stadium shows where thousands more could attend do not make as much money for the artists when the average Russian is not being paid a regular wage, he said.
"My force is the Russian soul"
"The value of my singing is in the Russian language, my Russian voice. My force is the Russian soul," Pugacheva said. And the Russian soul now is tormented with winter approaching, a bad harvest, reignition of inflation and a banking system that teeters on complete collapse. "Now is a time of changing generations. While there is a problem with the crisis, the younger generation wants to change things but doesn't have the facilities yet, while the older ones say don't change what wasn't necessarily broken," she said. "Coming here reminds me of Russia," said Natalie Nekrasov, 30, who emigrated to New York from Kiev six years ago.
"I think she was funny," said her 7-year-old daughter Lisa, who fidgeted in her seat as mom laughed, cried and sang along. "But I like the Back Street Boys the best," she added, referring to the heart-throb mega-bands that have millions in marketing dollars behind them. "I want Lisa to know about her culture, even pop culture," Natalie said.
But if Lisa is a sign of things to come, Pugacheva and her husband will have a tough time breaking through to American audiences to supplement the Russian Americans who form a base of support outside a collapsing economy. She performs a uniquely Russian form of entertainment called Estrada that mixes different kinds of performance art and music and was likened to rock 'n' roll in Soviet days. Kirkorov says popularity means raising production costs. "Being a star is a myth, a persona, a fairy tale to live. I feel like I play a role, lifting the bar higher each time.
"The country may go down, but if I reduce the size of my show, then people will think something wrong with me," he said. Kirkorov, who played to sold-out crowds in New York and Las Vegas in recent years, says he covers his expenses but is forced to spend more each time to match his popularity. "I have very big ambitions. To have all the limits of Russia is too small," he said before his wife's concert.
"I'm the king of Russian pop. I'm good-looking, I will always have a baby face. I have no promoter now but I hope he will appear soon. I am waiting for him to come to me," he said confidently, while fans waited with hopes for an autograph.
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29 September 2000
site author: Eric Norton
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