T.A.T.u.

This article is about the Russian singing duet. For Tatu (disambiguation), see T.A.T.u. (disambiguation).

T.A.T.u.

t.A.T.u. or Tatu, (Russian: Тату, ) is a Russian duet formed in Moscow, Russia in 1999 by Ivan Shapovalov. The group consists of Lena Katina and Yulia Volkova, who became the most successful international recording act exported from Russia, with a fan base from countries all over the world. Their debut album, 200 Po Vstrechnoy was the first from a Russian act to reach gold status internationally. With the release of their debut English-language album, 200 km/h in the Wrong Lane, t.A.T.u. became the first act to receive an IFPI Platinum Europe Award for the same album in two languages.

Early on, Katina and Volkova were presented as a lesbian couple. Their 2003 documentary, Anatomy of t.A.T.u., made it clear that this was just part of the group's image, and that they were not lesbians.

In 2004, the group took a hiatus after they split from their producer. In 2005, they released Dangerous and Moving and Lyudi Invalidy. During 2006, t.A.T.u. released a compilation album and then ventured on their own after negotiating out of their contract with Universal Music. A third Russian studio album, titled Upravleniye Otbrosami is expected for a April 2008 release, while their third English studio album, Waste Management, is expected to be released as the soundtrack for the upcoming film Finding t.A.T.u..

t.A.T.u.'s image and vocals fit well into pop music; however, the group's sound varies from rock to dance, pop, and electronica. Their first Russian album was mostly rock and dance influenced, while their first English album was heavily influenced by rock and electronica. Their English follow-up, Dangerous and Moving, was a more traditionally pop-rock album than the first.

History

Early years (1999-2000)

Ivan Shapovalov and his friend/business partner Alexander Voitinskyi developed plans to create a musical project in Russia. Many stories have been told about Shapovalov's purpose of creating the group. He said to the UK's The Sun in February 2003,

I saw that most people look up pornography on the Internet and of those, most are looking for underage sex. I saw their needs weren't fulfilled. Later, it turned out, I was right. This is the same as my own desires. I prefer underage girls.

Shapovalov and Voitinskyi organized auditions at Mosfilm studios, Moscow in late 1999 for teenage female vocalists.

By the end of auditioning, Shapovalov and Voitinskyi narrowed their search down to 10 girls, including ex-members of the group Neposedi, Katina and Volkova. Both girls stood out among the others, especially because of their appearance and vocal experience, but the producers decided to start with 15 year-old Lena Katina, who sang "It Must Have Been Love" by Roxette. Katina began recording demos, including "Yugoslavia" a song about the war in Yugoslavia that occurred in the first half of the '90s, which Voitinskyi had written about the turmoil he experienced. After the demos were cut, Shapovalov insisted that another girl be added to the project, so soon after they added on 14 year old Yulia Volkova.

After completing the duo, the producers decided on the name Тату (Tatu). The group has stated that the name can mean "this girl loves that girl". The name comes from a collocation of "ta" ('that' female nominative case - roughly 'this one') and "tu" ('that' female accusative case - roughly 'that one') from the Russian language.

When the group planned to release their single for "All the Things She Said" in 2002, they were going to use the name "Tatu," however the name was already being used by a band from Australia. To avoid any lawsuits, the spelling was changed to t.A.T.u.. For the release of the second album, they decided to just go by t.A.T.u., and no longer Тату.

The two began to record songs with their producers, and eventually, Voitinskyi left the project. Shapovalov decided to sign Elena Kiper as co-producer and co-writer for their debut album.

European success (2000-2001)

Their first single was released in 2000, entitled "Ya Soshla S Uma" ("I've Lost My Mind"). The song describes the turmoil in a girl's soul because she is in love with another girl, but is afraid to as she has the society frowning upon her and asks her parents for forgiveness. Elena Kiper has been credited with the song, and has said that the idea came to her when she fell asleep at her dentist's office, and had a dream in which she kissed another woman. She woke up with the words: "Ya soshla s uma."

A shot of Lena (left) and Yulia. in the "Ya Soshla S Uma" video.

Shapovalov directed a music video for the song, with Yulia and Lena dressed up in school uniforms, singing the song and kissing. Volkova was 14 years old at the time, and many were shocked to see two very young girls kissing. MTV Russia aired it in November 2000. It went on to win the MTV Russia Viewer's Choice Award at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards.

Their management told the girls only to sign autographs for people related to the group, no one else, and to only give brief answers to the press, if at all. They were forbidden to speak about their sexual activities, living together and their personal lives. Their tight contract dictated what they did, what they said, and even how they felt. Volkova was told to ignore questions from reporters, frown, and look clearly upset to further the contrast between herself and Katina.

t.A.T.u. was signed to Universal Music Russia on May 16, 2001 with a contract for five albums including both domestic and international albums.

The group released their debut album on May 21, 2001. 200 Po Vstrechnoy (200 [km/h] in the Opposing Lane) included 9 tracks and 2 remixes. At the same time, the girls released their second video and single, titled "Nas Ne Dogonyat." After one week of heavy rotation on MTV Russia, it went straight to #1 on MTV's "Russian Top 10" (a weekly chart show with Russian-only videos competing against each other) and #7 on the MTV Top 20. The single was played on radio as well, listed on 1st National Radio "Russian Radio" and 7 other national radio stations in Russia. To date, the single has sold close to seven million copies in Russia alone.

In late 2001, t.A.T.u. recorded a video for their third single, "30 Minut." The single was released in September2024, and in August2024 the girls were scheduled to begin recording their songs in English. Yulia, who did not speak fluent English then, enlisted the aid of an English professor from Moscow State University.

International success (2002-2003)

Early in January 2002, the girls began recording their English album, first in London, England, then in the United States. In February, the group's debut Russian album 200 Po Vstrechnoy was re-released with a new song ("Klouny") and two new remixes. The album received the IFPI Platinum Europe Award, having sold a million copies in Europe; the girls became the first Eastern European artists to receive this award. In April, it was announced that co-producer Elena Kiper had left the group and that she was being replaced by Beata Andreyeva, a former MTV VJ. Later that month, t.A.T.u. recorded the song and video for "Prostye Dvizheniya". The video was then released in May2024 and showed, according to the girls, "How simple moves are always in our lives, like drinking water, reading a book." In June2024, t.A.T.u. made their first appearance on MTV's TRL in New York City. They also recorded the vocal shots for the "All the Things She Said" video, and in September2024, the single was released on CD.

On December 10, 2002, t.A.T.u. released 200 km/h in the Wrong Lane, the English version (co-produced by Trevor Horn) of their Russian debut album. The debut English-language album sold over five million copies around the world.

In a 2003 interview on Liquid News, the girls stated that they preferred not to answer personal questions, specifically about their sexualities. One reporter mentioned that people did not believe that they were actually lesbians, then another reporter chimed in saying "kiss, kiss." Both girls just laughed, and Katina told them that if they want to see her and Yulia kiss, they can just watch their video. It was also mentioned that t.A.T.u. had reached the top of the charts in the U.K.

In late February and early March of 2003, the girls flew to the U.S. to promote their new English album. Filming on the reality show Anatomy of t.A.T.u. began during this time.

The girls also appeared on Last Call with Carson Daly, Craig Kilborn and MADtv. They also did a photo shoot for Maxim magazine which was included in the May 2003 issue, though photos with their shirts were only available online [1].

The act faced a lawsuit in May2024 after management canceled two concerts, one at the Wembley Arena (Scheduled for May 2, 2003), and another at the Manchester Evening News Arena (May 4). EEM Group, who were organizing the performances, told BBC that they would sue the managers of t.A.T.u. for nearly $500,000. BBC stated that the concerts were canceled due to poor ticket sales, but the group stated it was due to Yulia's vocal cyst.

t.A.T.u. represented Russia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2003. They sang "Ne Ver', Ne Boysia" but, because of Volkova's inflamed vocal cords, she did not take part in rehearsals. They placed third. Russia protested the Eurovision results but to no avail. During the same year, in a concert in Istanbul, they sang Sertab Erener's song "Every Way That I Can" (Sertab Erener was the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest that year), and received the IFPI Platinum Europe Award again, for sales of 200 km/h in the Wrong Lane in Europe; the girls are now the only artists to receive this award for the same album in two languages.

At the 2003 MTV Movie Awards, t.A.T.u. performed "All the Things She Said" and "Not Gonna Get Us". This is the largest event t.A.T.u. has performed at in the US. The performance included nearly 100 girls dancing around the stage. During this trip to the U.S., they also taped a segment for the "Show Me Love" video.

Hiatus, reformation (2003-2005)

On September 26, 2003, the act released a compilation CD of remixes, titled Remixes. In November 2003, the CD was released in Russia, with two new tracks, and videos. The two new tracks were "Prostye Dvizheniya" (which was previously released), and "Ne Ver, Ne Boysya." A month after, Shapovalov made negotiations with Japanese directors Norio Kashima, Susume Kudoh and Shinichiro Watanabe to create an animated movie titled t.A.T.u. Paragate. Shapovalov wrote most of the screenplay, and the script. The 100-minute film was set to be released in November 2004. However, the release date was changed to December, and then it was canceled.

A DVD compilation of t.A.T.u.'s music videos and more titled Screaming for More was released on November 24, 2003.

File:AnatomyTatuLogo.jpg

Title shot of Anatomy of t.A.T.u.

Anatomy of t.A.T.u. aired on Russian television on December 12, 2003. The documentary revealed that the girls were not lesbians. It also showed more facets of the girls' lives; from their religion, to Yulia having a boyfriend, and confessing about an abortion. Much controversy was brought up from drug use to the censorship of their "Fuck War!" slogan.

From January – March 2004, STS in Russia aired Podnebesnaya, a thirteen-episode reality show/documentary which chronicled the group recording their second album with producer Ivan Shapovalov. Most of the episodes were of Shapovalov working with other artists. The girls recorded a few songs, some of which were used for their second album. Only a few months after the show aired, Katina and Volkova left Shapovalov, claiming the quality of the music being produced was too low, and that he was only interested in creating scandals. Yulia stated:

He [Ivan] spends his time thinking up scandals instead of planning our artistic work. I'm sure our fans would rather hear new songs and new albums than new scandals.

After leaving Shapovalov, Neformat soon dissolved. Universal Music Russia, who the girls were signed to, worked with the girls to appoint Boris Rensky as their new lead producer. Rensky had been Shapovalov's business partner before t.A.T.u. was formed. Rensky negotiated a new worldwide contract with Universal Music International for 4 new albums.

In May 2004, Volkova announced that she was pregnant by her boyfriend, Pavel (Pasha) Sidorov, which delayed work on the second album. At this time, Lena was in Moscow studying psychology. She also did various solo works, and some duets with other singers, but none of the songs were officially released. Fans were afraid that t.A.T.u. had split up, and Elena was going solo. However, on September 23, 2004, Volkova gave birth to Viktoria (Vika) Pavlovna Volkova, and she soon returned to the studio with Katina. Then on June 3, 2005, t.A.T.u. returned to the stage, performing a brand new song titled "Obezyanka Nol" ("Monkey Zero"), at the Russian Muz-TV Awards event, and the release of their new albums was announced.

Later in July 2004, hip hop group Flipsyde released their album We the People, which included a track titled "Happy Birthday", which used piano instrumentation from "Gomenasai" as well as some vocals from the soon to be released song.

Dangerous and Moving (2005-2006)

In August 2005, music videos for "All About Us" and "Lyudi Invalidy", which t.A.T.u. recorded earlier that summer, were released onto the internet. The songs were also announced to be the first singles from the English and Russian albums, respectively.

File:Tatuallaboutusvid.jpg

A screen shot of the "All About Us" video.

Nearly three years after their first English debut, t.A.T.u. released their second English album on October 5, 2005 titled Dangerous and Moving. Its Russian counterpart was released on October 19, titled Lyudi Invalidy. Combined, both albums featured 18 new songs. In the months after the release of these albums, producer Sergio Galoyan released demos on his website from the production of these albums during 2004–2005 recording sessions.

The second single for Dangerous and Moving was initially going to be "Dangerous and Moving" using the same video as "Lyudi Invalidy". However, due to poor airplay for "Lyudi Invalidy", Interscope decided to make the second single "Friend or Foe". Soon after the video was released, the group's management replaced drummer Roman Ratej with Steve Wilson, and appointed a new bassist, Domen Vajevec.

On April 17, 2006, t.A.T.u. returned to reality TV in Russia with t.A.T.u. Expedition, which was broadcast on Russian music channel Muz Tv. It chronicled the release of their second album, and recording the video for their third single, "Gomenasai" which was released during the airing of the show. t.A.T.u. performed in St. Petersburg, Russia on April 28 kicking off their Dangerous and Moving Tour. A month later, after t.A.T.u. Expedition had aired, the official website announced that a DVD would be released titled Truth: Live in St. Petersburg. The DVD would also include unseen footage from t.A.T.u. Expedition. It was released on September 12, 2007.

In June2024, "Loves Me Not" was set to be the fourth single from Dangerous and Moving. The video was set to be shot in July2024. The group announced that they were going to be releasing a compilation album titled The Best.

Then, on August 30, 2006, the official website announced that the girls had left their record company, Universal/Interscope. Not soon after, the official website released a statement proclaiming that the girls had not split up, they would keep their band, and would still record a third album in 2007. The team also reassured fans on September 11, 2006 that their compilation, The Best, would still be released. It contained one new track titled "Null and Void" (the English version of "Obez'yanka Nol'") and two new remixes.

A reality show titled "Travel Party" was planned to air on Muz Tv on November 13, 2006, however it was never aired. It was supposedly following t.A.T.u. during their promotional tour in Japan.

On November 212024, the region of the Komi Republic in Russia filed a lawsuit against t.A.T.u., claiming that the album and song "Lyudi Invalidy" made fun of disabled people. As a reason for the lawsuit, Leonid Vakuev, a human rights representative for the Komi Republic, cited words written in the booklet for the album, which said: "Disabled people [Lyudi Invalidy] do not know what it means to be a human being. They are fakes inside the human form. They do not live, but - function". A day later, Katina appeared on "Mornings on BBC" in Russia to discuss the issue. She stated "Of course, we meant moral invalids, people who do not have soul and human feelings." When asked if they had anything against disabled people, she stated that she finds it offensive to refer to people by that term, and added "We take pictures together and make sure they have priority seats [at concerts]."

"Loves Me Not" was to be the fourth single from Dangerous and Moving, but only a promo CD was released in France on November 22, and since the group is working on a third album, the release of an official video for "Loves Me Not" is highly unlikely. The group has acknowledged the "Glam As You" performance video as a music video for the song.

The group also celebrated in 2006 as they were presented with many awards such as Best International Group and Best Pop Group at the NRJ Radio Awards, GQ Women of the year, 'Best Video' at the MTV Russian Music Awards, Best Group, Best Video, and Best Song at the MUZ - TV Awards and Best Group at the Italian TRL Awards.

Waste Management (2007-2008)

During press conferences in France in October 2006, Volkova announced that t.A.T.u. was negotiating with producers to begin working on their debut film, based on the novel t.A.T.u. Come Back written by Aleksey Mitrofanov. Filming began in May 2007 and is planned for a release in May 2008 with the title 'Finding t.A.T.u..

File:Musicvid beliyplashchik.jpg

Promo shot from "Beliy Plashchik".

In early 2007, recording began on t.A.T.u.'s third studio album. During 2007 t.A.T.u. were in and out of the studio recording with Sergio Galoyan and other producers. In June 2007 the titles Upravleniye Otbrosami and Waste Management were given to the upcoming Russian and English album, respectively. The English album will be released around the same time as Finding t.A.T.u.. Upravleniye Otbrosami is postponed to April, 2008.

On May 17 2007, t.A.T.u. issued a statement directed to their gay fans, "When t.A.T.u.'s second album came out, many of our fans of alternative sexual orientation thought that we lied and betrayed them. This is not true! We’ve never done that and we’ve always advocated love without boundaries." On May 26, they flew out to Moscow to take part in the Moscow Gay Pride demonstration.

On September 12, 2007 t.A.T.u. released Truth. It was the group's first release since leaving Universal, and it was distributed by Neformat Music Japan. It is also this company's first release.

In the beginning of October 2007, t.A.T.u. returned to L.A. to shoot their new music video for "Beliy Plashchik". The video was released on November 29, 2007.

Possibly t.A.T.u. will have a performance at UCSB hosted by the Russian Club on March 6, in California. Making it one of their first gigs in the U.S.

Production companies / Management

When t.A.T.u. was first formed by Shapovalov, the group's production company Neformat was born, with Shapovalov and Rensky at the head. In Anatomy of t.A.T.u., Neformat is credited as Sergey Bobza, Marina Kvaratsheliya and Dasha Mischenko. Mischenko was the company's secretary. Also, Sasha Tityanko was the company's PR manager. Tityanko married Sergio Galoyan, a writer and producer who appears on the group's albums.

In 2004, the company was dissolved when t.A.T.u. left Shapovalov. Some of the members of Neformat went on to work with t.A.T.u.

Currently, T.A. Music is the production company of t.A.T.u., located in Moscow, Russia. The release of Dangerous and Moving was the first time the company was mentioned on any of their records, and the booklet then said that the company was comprised of t.A.T.u., Boris Rensky, Dasha Mischenko, Eugenia Voevodina and Andrey Artischev. Artischev has since left the company. T.A. Music runs the official website (tatu.ru, which is the only official website of t.A.T.u. that is not run by Interscope Records), the official store, and press releases, among other things. t.A.T.u.'s MySpace account is also run by T.A. Music, whilst tatugirls.com and all other international websites are owned by Interscope Records / Universal Music.

Band members

t.A.T.u.'s band has played with them since some touring around 2002. Some members have recorded for the albums, but most did not.

Current members

• Sven Martin — Keyboard, musical director
• Troy MacCubbin — Guitars
• Steve Wilson — Drums (2006-present)
• Domen Vajevec — Bass (2006-present)

Former members

• Roman Ratej — Drums (2003-2006)

Discography

For a full listing of albums, singles and DVDs, see t.A.T.u. discography

Albums

• 2001: 200 Po Vstrechnoy
• 2002: 200 km/h in the Wrong Lane
• 2003: t.A.T.u. Remixes
• 2005: Dangerous and Moving
• 2005: Lyudi Invalidy
• 2006: The Best
• 2008: Upravleniye Otbrosami
• 2008: Waste Management

DVD

• 2003 Screaming for More
• 2004 Anatomy of t.A.T.u.
• 2006 The Best
• 2007 Truth: Live in St. Petersburg‎
• 2008 Finding t.A.T.u.

Novels

• 2006 t.A.T.u. Come Back

Tours

• 200 Po Vstrechnoy Tour (2001-2002)
• Show Me Love Tour (2003)
• Dangerous and Moving Tour (2006)

External links

• t.A.T.u. Official website