Rotaru was outraged if he was paid less than Pugacheva. Photo: Persona Stars
“I’ll tell you honestly: I can’t stand other artists,” the scandalous singer Prokhor Chaliapin recently admitted to reporters.
Of course, you can’t expect such sincerity from other celebrities. When meeting competitors, everyone tries their best to keep a “good face in a bad game.” However, according to star promoters, there are conflicts that cannot be hidden from the eyes of fans.
Stas Mikhailov hit Shnura
– I remember the last tour of the Mirage group in the “golden formation” of Natalia Gulkina and Margarita Sukhankina. They ended, like at a village wedding, with a fight,” producer Sergei Lavrov told KP. – The situation was tense. Each of the singers had different riders. But there was only one wish: basically to house the artists in different hotels and provide them with different cars to get around the city. Even their planes and trains were different. God forbid, Rita and Natasha cross paths somewhere offstage. It really came to a fight. They were separated like cats by the entire team. Furthermore, it is unclear what they shared. Apparently everyone wanted to be Mirage’s main.
The same story occurred at the end of the Tatu group’s career. Lena Katina and Yulia Volkova could not be in the same room. And Seryozha Lazarev and Vlad Topalov, when they sang in the group Smash, could not stand each other either. Lazarev said that he sings better and Topalov argued that his father is the group’s producer, which means Vlad’s fee should be higher. Only now, when each had already gone their own way, did they reconcile.
Sergei Shnurov managed to offend many artists.
Photo: Valery ZVONAREV.
Sergei Shnurov also quarreled with everyone. Once Stas Mikhailov approached her and asked her not to sing songs that insulted women, in particular the late Zhanna Friske. But Shnur did not calm down and recorded a comic song about Mikhailov next. He couldn’t stand it and, accidentally meeting Shnur at a corporate party, he gave her a good slap.
Joseph Prigogine also had a fight with Shnur. Sergei wrote rude poems about how artists, including Prigozhin’s wife Valeria, were allegedly complaining during the pandemic that they were unemployed. The cable issued a harsh verdict: they say my colleagues are scared. Prigogine tried to explain to him: they say, we don’t care about ourselves, at that time the entire artistic workshop, including the dancers and costumers, was without money. But I didn’t convince him.
Sofía was paid half as much as Alla.
According to promoter Sergei Lavrov, the competition did not spare the two main Soviet stars: Alla Pugacheva and Sofia Rotara.
– In the film “Soul” by Pugacheva’s ex-husband Alexander Stefanovich, Alla Borisovna was supposed to play the main role, but after a quarrel with his wife, the director invited Sofia Rotaru. Alla Borisovna could not forgive her husband for such an attack: the relationship between the spouses completely deteriorated and the couple broke up. The participation of Sofia Mikhailovna Pugacheva in this intrigue hurt her, although she did not show it, says the star distributor. – In general, Pugacheva and Rotaru never had an open confrontation; It was more like a cold war. For example, journalists approach Pugacheva and ask her what her hobby is. “What did Rotaru tell you?” – Pugacheva is interested. “She said she loves fishing!” -“Well, then he writes that I like to walk through the woods with a gun!”
For participating in the Baku “Heat” music festival (2017), Alla Borisovna received half a million dollars.
Photo: Evgenia GUSEVA.
– But the main reason for the confrontation between two Soviet singers is fees. If Rotaru found out that Pugacheva was participating in the same event with her, Sofia Mikhailovna immediately doubled the price, knowing that Alla would not perform for little money, recalls television producer Alina Krasnaya. – So, for example, Pugacheva once received half a million dollars for participating in a music festival in Baku. Rotaru found out about this after the fact and became very angry because he was being paid half.
And before the money scandal, Sofia Mikhailovna was outraged by the plane. Why did you give Pugacheva a private jet, and I flew to Baku on a regular flight? Also give me a private jet for the return trip, I will not board a regular plane. The organizers had to agree.
However, in force majeure situations, the artists helped each other.
– I remember that Pugacheva had a headache at a national concert. Alla Borisovna sent her director to look for the pill. Rotaru offered to help: “Here’s a pill, just tell Alla that I found the medicine for her!” – recalls promoter Sergei Lavrov. – Pugacheva had a similar confrontation with Gurchenko, although they worked in different genres. As you may remember, Pugacheva dedicated the song “Primadonna” to Gurchenko and even included the actress in her video. But Lyudmila Markovna somehow fell: they say, Alla did not dedicate this blow to me, but to her beloved.
There are legends about how Alla Pugacheva fought with her competitors on stage. According to producer Evgeny Morozov, Pugacheva’s biggest confrontation was with Larisa Dolina. She was the only one who was not afraid of AB, so Alla could not stand her and even at the last moment she crossed out Dolina from the “Song of the Year” participants.
– El Valle has always dared with Pugacheva. And the only one who stood out among her competitors, says producer Evgeny Morozov.
However, Valle himself denied any hostility.
-My name was on the “Song of the Year” poster. The audience was misled. Why should they suffer? – Larisa Alexandrovna then explained to KP. – Of course, I was lost. I received an invitation to this concert a month ago. And suddenly I discovered that it wouldn’t be there. But I took it easy. I’ve been over this for a long time. I have no competition with Pugacheva. And she never was. I have my own place on the stage, my own niche, which I occupied a long time ago. And she has it. What should you complain about? Pugacheva and I never had quarrels. I have never said a single bad word about her in my life. I am above all gossip. I believe that one should demonstrate one’s personal position with actions, not words. And for someone to say something about me behind my back… Let them talk! I have never paid attention to this and have no intention of doing so.
Confrontation between Polishchuk and Vasilyeva
– In the world of acting there are also quite important Star Wars. For example, there was a time when Tatyana Vasilyeva and Lyubov Polishchuk competed terribly and could not stand each other,” says Evgeniy Morozov, director of the Ru-concert company. Both are character actresses and often cross paths in castings. Much to Vasilyeva’s chagrin, the roles they most frequently auditioned for went to Lyuba. I remember that we tried to invite them to the same venture, then they both made a fuss: “Either her or me!” Neither Kalyagin nor Raikin could convince them to reconcile. They just hated each other.
Olga Drozdova and Chulpan Khamatova fought for the main roles at the Sovremennik Theater. Two terrible competitors and the main favorites of Sovremennik artistic director Galina Volchek.
And Anastasia Zavorotnyuk didn’t like Alika Smekhova. And Olga Kabo competed with Evgenia Kryukova. The latter performed in the same theater, but the main roles went mostly to Olga. A role, a type…
Irina Alferova and Alexander Abdulov lived together for 17 years. Photo: Igor GNEVISHEV/GLOBAL LOOK PRESS
There were also conflicts for personal reasons. Alexander Abdulov had the play “Everything Happens”, where the artist, in addition to producing, also played the main role in the production. Elena Proklova played the wife of the hero Abdulov in the play. She sometimes changed roles with Irina Alferova, who, as you know, was Abdulov’s wife in life. So Abdulov barely managed to persuade Alferova to share this production with Proklova.
Elena Proklova herself never spoke about her romance with Abdulov, but she assured that he was in love with her. Photo: Boris BABANOV/RIA Novosti
The fact is that Proklova was Abdulov’s mistress in his youth. There were rumors that at one point she almost drove the actor away from the family. That’s why Alferova doesn’t like her. But Abdulov offered Irina such a fee that she reluctantly accepted his offer.
WHO ELSE?
Gurchenko was offended by Moiseev
“In the last years of her life, Lyudmila Gurchenko did not speak with Boris Moiseev and refused to perform on the same stage with him,” promoter Sergei Lavrov told KP. – But how well it all started: we recorded a duo, we traveled with him halfway around the world. But while on tour in the United States, during a small disagreement, Borya offended Lucy and told her: “Say thank you for bringing you out of the ashes with this duo, whoever needed you, everyone has already forgotten you!” And that’s it, the artists fell apart. Lyudmila Markovna did not forgive Boris for these words.
