Valeriy Meladze (Russian: Валерий Меладзе, Georgian: ვალერი ძე მელაძე) is a singer and pianist, Honored Artist of the Russian Federation, and People’s Artist of the Chechen Republic. Born June 23, 1965 in Batumi, now the the second largest city in Georgia, Meladze was considered a disobedient child while his brother and songwriter, Konstantin (Russian: Константин, […]
Mystery of the Third Planet (Тайна третьей планеты) is a 1981 animated Soviet feature film based on the children’s sci-fi novella Alice’s Travel by Kir Bulychov (Кир Булычёв), from the Alice (Алиса) book series. The year is 2181, and Alice Selzynova (Алиса Селезнёва), along with her father Professor Selznyov (профессор Селезнёв) and their trusty compadre Captain […]
Prisoner of the Caucasus, or Shurik’s New Adventures (Кавказская пленница, или Новые приключения Шурика; sometimes called Kidnapping, Caucasian Style in English) is a 1966 Soviet comedy produced by Mosfilm and directed by the comic genius Leonid Gaidai (Леонид Гайдай). The film was initially censored (apparently for showing the controversial practice of bride kidnapping in the Caucuses), […]
Agnieszka Chylińska is a Polish singer, songwriter, TV personality, and member of the Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry (Związek Producentów Audio-Video, ZPAV) known for her high-energy live performances. Though her music is largely styled as dance/pop, her abrasive vocals set her apart from contemporary artists. Chylińska was born on May 23, 1976 in Gdansk, […]
Lube (Любэ; also recognized as Ljube or Lyube) is a Russian rock band that formed in the Moscovian suburb Lyubertsy (Люберцы) in 1989. Contrary to the sugary-sweet style saturating pop music at the time, producer and songwriter Igor Matviyenko (Игорь Матвиенко) wanted to incorporate elements of rock, Russian folk music, and Soviet military songs with […]
Eurovision is a TV broadcasting agency providing international news, entertainment and sport coverage to in-network members. Founded in 1954 as an apparatus of the European Broadcasting Union, Eurovision is now the world’s largest contribution network with 75 broadcasting organizations in 56 countries. Although a major broadcasting organization in its own right, the name “Eurovision” is […]
The Leningrad Rock Club (Ленинградский рок-клуб) was the first legal rock-club in Leningrad, formed in 1981 under Leonid Brezhnev. Located in the city center, the LRC inspired similar clubs across Russia, most notably in Moscow and Sverdlovsk. None, however, rivaled the success of the original, perhaps due to its proximity to Finland and easier access […]
Shoro (Шоро) is the Kyrgyz drink of choice on a hot summer’s day. Considered an affordable, healthy refreshment and thought to improve digestion, Shoro, which means “salty” in Kyrgyz, produces pungent and slightly tangy fermented drinks. Shoro is a truly self-made brand, built from the ground up. The company began in 1992, when brothers Tebaldi […]
Neuromonakh Feofan (Нейромонах Феофан) is a mysterious and extraordinary product of the Russian club scene. The name “Neuromonakh” is derived from “Neurofunk,” a subgenre of drum and bass, and the Russian word for “monk.” The band sings exclusively in Russian, but mixes contemporary language with obsolete words and Old Church Slavonic to create epic verses […]
Bitva Extrasenov (Битва Экстрасенсов), Battle of the Psychics, is a Russian-language TNT (ТНТ) TV show based on Britain’s Psychic Challenge. Running since 2007, the show reached peak popularity in November 2013 with a season dedicated to the death of Vladislav Listyev (Владислав Листев), a Soviet TV personality and journalist killed by two unknown assailants in […]
The Zolotoi Gramofon (Золотой Граммофон, lit. “Golden Gramophone”) is one of the most important music award ceremonies in Russia. It was established in 1995 by Russkoe Radio, a Moscow radio station that specializes in Russian pop music. The awards were then attached to a the Russian Hill (Русская Горка) radio show, which aired the 12 […]
Гостья из будущего (Guests From the Future) is a five-part children’s science fiction television mini-series from 1985. Based on Kir Bulychev’s popular 1978 children’s book One Hundred Years Ahead, Guests from the Future became an instant classic. Produced by the prestigious Gorky Film Studio, the show featured, for its time, convincing sets depicting the far […]
