Yulia and the Lena, two teens from Moscow known as t.A.T.u, are everything that Britney Spears wants to be: talented, beautiful and in love with someone who really cares. Their music, a mixture of Pop and controversy, is spinning out all over the world as folks figure out that brilliance and beauty do go together.
"People love us or hate us," said Lena Katina, the soulful redhead in the group. "But nobody thinks nothing about us." t.A.T.u's stage and video performances are causing controversy in this largely straight, keep-it-behind-closed-doors kind of world. Lena and Yulia are lovers, and they're not afraid to express that on stage, on tour, or behind their own closed doors.
One of the twosome's latest videos, Ya Soshla S Uma (All The Things She Said), is the story of a love affair between two young women. It doesn't matter whether you speak Russian. You can hear emotion screaming through the overloaded mic as Lena calls out her love for Yulia. Get the video, and you'll see that love.
MTV in Russia thought enough of t.A.T.u to name Ya Soshla S Uma Video of the Year in 2001. t.A.T.u's 2001 debut album, 200 km/h in the Wrong Lane, on Universal Music Russia, sold more than 1,000,000 copies, and t.A.T.u's concert appearances at clubs and stadiums draw as many as 50,000 fans.
Now t.A.T.u's tempestuous teens are preparing to conquer America. But don't expect thouse of you who fear controversy shouldn't expect ulia and Lena to tone down their bold, fearless music.
"Our songs are not silly," said Lena. "t.A.T.u is more sincere, more honest about ourselves and others. We don't shape ourselves for the audience."
"In Russia, life is not polite. If we don't like something, we say we don't like it," said Lena. "If we don't agree, we say 'fuck you.'" t.A.T.u is not like any band in either the East or the West. Folks try to draw somparisons to Britney Spears, Eminem or Prodigy. None come close. "Russians are not dark but we are not light either," says Yulia Volkova. "We have a different view, maybe deeper, because life is more difficult in Russia."
"t.A.T.u is about saying what you feel, not what others expect," says Lena. "Be in love. Be yourself. We are."
