RMA 2007 (MTV Awards Russia). October 4, 2007

Usually the most-expected October event here until it finally takes part for everyone to see once again that like always it’s total rubbish :) This time it was held in a new Ice Palace on Hodynskoe Field (Hodynka), specially built for the last year World Cup Hockey. Advertisements loading TV and radio, huge colorful posters all around Moscow…

I left work 1 hour earlier to be on time to see the stars getting out of their cars and walking along the Red Carpet. I did not see many of them, ‘coz I had a ticket to the show, and I had to choose – whether to stand in the rain and watch the stars coming, or have a glance at it and go and watch the concert. Besides there were plenty of young people and journalists crowding the passage to the Red Carpet, and there was no chance for us to get closer. We were looking down from the 2nd level passage, like from a balcony, but thank my digi cam, it has big amplification. There was a stage right in the street in front of the Palace where some of the artists performed before the show. I noticed Aleksa standing behind this stage with her dancers, waiting for their turn to come out. Then a pompous limousine arrived and a glamorous girl came out sticking her chewing gum to the limousine roof – brrr, disgusting! Somebody said it was Slava. Who the hell is Slava?? I don’t care. Then there was a grand ‘traffic jam’ before the Palace, and the stars could not settle who would be the first one to come. Some lost patience, and walked out of the cars far from the Red Carpet and came on foot. Such were “Fabrika” girls (they had a small photo session before it, right in the street), “Otpetye Moshenniki” (two of them actually – Sergey Amoralov with some girl, and Garik). Some good-looking young guy even came up to the fans standing behind the fence and spent some time on autographs. But few people paid attention to what he was doing. Probably because of that the poor lad decided to reach the fan space :) Only at the show I learnt that he was a newly-made MTV star, singer and actor, from some teen soap “Alisa’s Dreams” (“Mechty Alisy”) where he played the leading part – Alexey Vorobyov. He is no way interesting, ‘coz he’s just like all other sweet pop guys of whom everyone is completely sick and tired by now. We have Bilan and Lazarev. That’s more than enough. Everyone was waiting for HER. Paparazzi tried to guess the car where she was sitting, but their efforts kept on failing, at least when I was watching it. After 40-something minutes I left the Red Carpet area, and went to search for my seat.

The show did not start even 30 minutes after the fixed time, and everybody started worrying when it would start and thus be over, ‘coz many were to go home by the Metro and the Metro passages were closing at 1 am. “Mumiy Troll” opened the ceremony with a mix of old and new songs, every next text competed the previous one in the degree of senselessness. I just wonder how one can compose such lines, or in which state one can compose such lines, or in which state one has to be to sing what he has composed in the state he was then!!! :)) Finally closer to 8 p.m. (instead of 7!) the Palace saw the show leaders – Anna Semenovich (ex-“Blestyashcie” girl, and ex-figure skater, too) and Pavel Volya (“Comedy Club). Their appearance started a shocking stream of dirt which continued to increase with every new singer or group showing up. I still can’t forget the dialogue between Sergey Zverev (an epatage showman and a hair-stylist) and Irena Ponaroshku (MTV VJ): “I know Sergey you envy my hair-stylist ‘coz he’s capable to cut my hair in such a cool way!” – “What I know is that he’s absolutely incapable to cut the hair on your mink in a cool way!” AND THERE WERE CHILDREN WATCHING THE SHOW!!! During the whole ceremony they were discussing the boobs of Semenovich, and Irena even asked for her permission to touch them at the end of the ceremony. Well we are becoming more and more like Americans with their vulgar way of leading ceremonies… What I wonder now is whether they think we are such morons not to react to any cleverer joke, or they are morons themselves not to be able to write a wiser script for the ceremony?!

But I didn’t care. I came for HER like most of the people, and I was waiting for HER. In the middle of the ceremony I received an sms from Mom who was watching RMA through direct broadcasting: “How can you watch this shit? No voices, no culture, to say nothing about howlers of VJs! I’m shocked of your music taste!!!” Yes, I can understand her reaction. She was 100% right.

There was Bilan and with a premier of his song “Amnesia” performed together with Timbaland (not a bad one, by the way). There was some group “Boycott” performing a song with Turbo B. There were Maksim, Band’Eros, Stasya, Alexey Vorobyov, Chelsea. Talking about Chelsea, Volya said a cool thing: “These guys want fame so much that they even decided to name themselves after the favourite soccer team of a man whom you all know. Hoping to get money from him, too. But judging by the fact that they did not win in any nomination – he gave no money to them by this time!” GREAT! :) I also liked his commentary to the victory of Bianca in the nomination “Best Hip Hop/R&B Project” /Bianca does not rap, she sings very pop songs with some slight hints on R&B/ “Liga’Lize /a famous Russian rapper, probably one of the best ones here/ is weeping backstage, and the whole Russia weeps with him – the best HIP-HOP project is Bianca!!!” :))) Liga’Lize also performed somewhere in the middle of the ceremony. Also “A-Studio”, “Tokio”, “Serebro” and a big present for the audience was a performance of all members of “Blestyashchie” of all times (including Olga Orlova, Zhanna Friske, Anna Semenovich – they are all solo singers now, Friske is the most famous among them). Zhanna Friske introduced her sister Natasha who’s a new member of the group. Others I just don’t remember… AND FINALLY at the end of the ceremony they were greeting Best Foreign Singer – HER, AVRIL!!! And she was giving a small 15-20 min. performance. The only live performance among all!!! “Sk8er Boy”, “Complicated”, “When You’re Gone”, “Girlfriend”. This was her first and long-awaited by all her fans (including me) visit to Russia. Next day she was giving a solo concert in “B1 Maximum”. But that’s another story. I don’t want to deepen into detail descriptions of everyone and everything, just wanted to provide you with a brief overview of where I’ve been and whom I’ve seen. I left right after Avril’s performance. Could not stand the dirty jokes of the VJs. But anyway I was satisfied. I saw Avril, and felt like I was a part of something special for Russia, even if it was not a thing of a good quality. But where can you find quality when we talk about show biz? (Sure “Hanson” is the exception.)

What I thought about during the whole ceremony is that any of my friends could perform not worse (or even better) than all these girls and guys who chanced to get a powerful show biz rat promoting their mediocre songs. “We’ll be together forever ... Oh yeah… Just say ‘yes’!” (“My budem vmeste vsegda… Oh yeah… Skazhi tolko ‘da’) God! What’s this shit about?? No more comments… Russia truly needs an independent company that would forward independent singers and groups who are not lucky to be sons and daughters of rich papas, but who really love music and can do a good performance without dirt, flam and clownishness. Once we have it, we will be right to say, “Yes, we do have show business in Russia”.