London.The Russian manager made his own market research:
What do people search for online? Sex. What do they look for? Young girls.
Tatu has now sold over 5 million cds - and have been banned!
A suburb in Moscow: the same grey, boring project buildings everywhere. Grafitti, five stories high, sterile lights in the entrance and rusty old cars under piles of snow.
The English magazine Daily Star: a young girl in designer underwear on stage, caressing the other same dressed girl, on her breast. They are the number one on the Brittish chart and are the hottest popact in Europe.
So far Yulia Volkova, 17, and Elena Katina, 18, have made 52,5 million skr (i.e $525.000, £350.000) thus far.
A certain Ivan Shapovalov may have taken care of the economics. It was he the Russian teenage girls signed a 5 year contract with.
Ivan Shapovalov promised he'd make them popstars, that they would travel around the world and be millionairs in either dollars or English pounds.
Which teenage girl from Moscow - or even Stockholm for that matter - wouldn't have signed the contract?
-We had no idea what plans this manager had, their former music teacher, Elena Pindzhoyan, says.
-We thought it would be a popgroup. Their parents got very upset when the lesbian image emerged.
During the first performances in Russia the girls showed their breasts and simulate sexacts on stage.
-Yes, we did those things, but it was our own choice. We liked it, Yulia says to The Sun.
The manager likes young girls
According to the former writer of the group, Elena Kipper, the manager had a sexual affair with Yulia when she was only 14 years old. Ivan denies it and says "the girls are lesbians". But he admits to liking young girls. According to sources close to Tatu, Shapovalov has had sex with many young girls who dreams about being famouse.
-He makes them believe he loves them and use them to give full expression to his own fantasies, Elena Kipper says.
The manager brags in The Sun:
-I use my position all the time. All the time! This is how I'm going to find my new bride.
He's already rich. Even though the Brittish tv channel BBC bans the video and petitions against this pedophilistic pop has been signed. After the revelation that Elena and Yulia have boyfriends back in Moscow the official statement has been changed to "bisexual".
Lives in the suburb
Their former musicteacher Elena Pindzhoyan says the girls have never been a couple. They knew eachother but were never close friends:
-They were chosen because they look good together.
Both girls still live in the suburb when they're back in Moscow. Yulia's mother is sick with diabetes so the daughter has been working since the age of ten. Elena grew up with her grandmother. All of a sudden they're stars, with one massive hit - and don't seem to bother about having to pretend to be lesbians.
At a pressconference recently, Yulia hollered:
-Go buy our album. Tell people not to buy burnt compies. We need the money!!
The bouncing career of Tatu
1984
October 4th - Elena Sergeevna Katina is born.
[Photo of Young Elena]
1985
February 20th - Yulia Olegovna Volkova is born.
1998
Elena and Yulia sing together in the group Neposedi but are asked to leave the group after they've been suspected of sexually abusing the other members.
2000
* The child psychologist and commercial producer Ivan Shapovalov put together Tatu after auditions with over 500 girls.
* Elena is forced to lose 10kg (i.e 22 pounds)
* Both Elena and Yulia is forced to shave their eyebrows for a video shoot.
2001
Tatu sign the contract. The album "200km/h in the wrong lane" sells in 1 million copies in Russia.
2002
* The video "All the things she said" with their kiss start a huge riot. It also contributes to the megahit worldwide.
* "All the things she said" reach #1 on Trackslistan [Swedish music chart]
* Tatu kiss in front of the everyone at the Swedish Hit Music Awards.
2003
* Their sexuality is questioned when the news of boyfriends spreads. "You know how it is with feelings... they sometimes change and you can't resist anymore" Elena reveals to the Daily Express.
* "All the things she said" reach #1 on the Brittish single chart.
* Tatu is banned inEngland. The duo's manager admits of creating a pedophilistic image.
* "All the things she said" reach #5 on the American chart.
* The songwriter Sergej Galojan claims he wrote "All the things she said" back in 2000 and sues Universal.
* Ivan Shapovalov is accused of using Yulia sexually when she was only 14 years old.
* "All the things she said" have sold 5 million copies in Europe, and Tatu is now the most successful Russian group ever.
* Tatu claim they're bisexual. "I prefer girls. They are more faithful." Yulia says to a magazine.
* News about Yulia and Elena being forced to strip on a tour in Russia is spread.
* Elena and Yulia start a fight in a hotel in the Czech Republic. Elena has to visit a hospital because of the bruises and her swollen right leg.
