Tours

The tatu.ru Website (2004 – 2008)

2001

August 23rd, 200(?)
Report about the European promo tour.

Monday, September 16th. Austria – t.A.T.u. arrive in Vienna. In Austria they are not yet playing the music video on television and the song is not yet on the radio. Germany, Austria and France will hear and see t.A.T.u. only at the end of the year. However, Austrian journalists are finding information online and rewriting it from other European publications because things about the sensational project were heard even before the release of the single. This means the next day Lena and Julia had to get up at 8:30AM to start meeting journalists from the Rennbahn Express magazine, Kurier newspaper, HITRADIO 03, Radio NRJ, Austrian Press Agency, PEN Jugendmagazin, Radio Welle 1 and GO TV.

September 17th. Sweden. The night of September 17th t.A.T.u. flew to Sweden where salmon is also on the menu. Breakfast contains salmon as does lunch and dinner. Swedish journalists showed great interest in the band because t.A.T.u.’s first hit can be seen on almost every channel in their country and radio stations are announcing that the song is the most requested. So that is why it was not possible to meet with every publication, but Julia and Lena were able to talk to Aftonbladet, PM, and Goterborgs Posten newspapers, Frida, Spinn, and Okej Interview magazines, with the national music channel ZDT Nytt and with the NRJ TBC radio station. On September 19th they fly out to Italy.

September 19th – Rome, Italy.

The Italians were waiting a long time for t.A.T.u. The video for “All The Things She Said” takes first place on the interactive show TRL on MTV, which is being recorded on one of the Rome squares in the summer. t.A.T.u.’s arrival in Rome was announced ahead of time, and because of this all of the entrances to the square were filled with impatient fans who were waiting for the Russian duet to perform.

Almost everyone grabbed a t.A.T.u. poster. Lena and Julia talked to the VJs for a few minutes and then sang “All The Things She Said” to the squeals of Italian fans. Right after the performance t.A.T.u. waited for the journalists from the popular Kiss Me, for which the girls gave an interview.

September 21 – Milan.

Milan became the city where the single “All the Things She Said” appeared 2 days early. An autograph session was organized in the city’s large music store FNAC. Lena and Julia answered several questions and then began giving autographs and receive gifts from fans. Unfortunately, the autograph session had to end early due to safety reasons – bodyguards could hardly hold the crowd of 500 fans.

September 22 – 26: Madrid
The Spaniards are battling with the Italians for the right to call t.A.T.u. their favorite band. In Spain they love Lena and Julia so much that fans gathered under their windows from morning until night. During the 4 days in Madrid, the girls gave interviews to Spain’s major media outlets, performed on the Musica Si show, were live on air for the Select show on MTV, had a photoshoot of Zero and came to the conclusion that there are a huge amount of gays in this country. So Spain’s anthem may soon become “Malchik Gay”.

September 27th- Amsterdam
The last day before t.A.T.u.’s arrival, the Dutch managers were forced to exchange one hotel for another. The reason – t.A.T.u. are very popular in Holland right now, which means that fans can crowd the hotel where the girls are staying. The famous Grand Hotel, with its five-century history and great experience, was able to provide complete security. This is the place where Eminem and Limp Bizkit stay when they come to Amsterdam. The scare turned out to be in vain because early in the morning t.A.T.u. left for MTV, the building of which is located outside the city, and then afterwards went to the radio station, the office of which is located in the forrest. There are several more press interviews and t.A.T.u. heads to Norway for one day.

September 28th Norway

Norwegians know practically everything about t.A.T.u. Before Julia and Lena arrived people were able to buy magazines with them on the cover everywhere. But specifically in this country, besides the best salmon in the world, there turned out to be the most meticulous journalists. They could not give up the question whether t.A.T.u. are lesbians or not. As a result, Julia and Lena summoned a few journalists for an honest conversation and figured out which one of them was gay and how things are in their personal lives. The stunned correspondents could not understand how two little girls could learn so many secrets from them. Now t.A.T.u. can give a masterclass in interviewing.

September 29 – Returning to Moscow
According to the reports from Europe and America, t.A.T.u. will become one of the most popular projects in the music sphere. They are already being waited for in Mexico where their video is rising on the TV charts, again in America, and of course in Europe, where their album is set to be released on October 7th.

Report About the European Promo Tour (Nov 11-21, 2002)

November 11 – Svitzerland
t.A.T.u. flew into Zurich for one day to meet 10 reporters – representatives of the local television and radio companies as well as the press. t.A.T.u.’s single has only recently appeared in Switzerland and everything is just starting. From Zurich the girls flew the next day to real fans – Spaniards.

November 12 – Barcelona
European Music Awards. On November 12th, t.A.T.u.’s schedule included a performance for CD TV. The performance was on a platform that was built on the street which 500 young fans surrounded, chanting “t.A.T.u.!” Squeals, screams, verses sung as a crowd, autographs and chasing after the girls’ car – everything is just like it is in Russia. Except now t.A.T.u. are world-famous stars.

November 13th
In good faith, Julia and Lena answered questions from 15 journalists, talking to each one separately. To do this, they visited NRJ Radio, MTV, Dixie Club, where there were another 5 correspondents from Catalan and national Spanish magazines and newspapers waiting for them. The girls decided to free up earlier that night as they needed to make it to a friendly dinner with Bill Rowdy, the President of MTV International, and then go to a party with Eminem and Marilyn Manson.

This evening t.A.T.u. were also invited to the premier of the movie “8 Mile” with Eminem in the main role, but were not able to make it, so they had to limit meeting everyone at the party after the movie. At the party Marilyn Manson let everyone listen to his new songs, which will be released only in Spring. Then, Eminem introduced his brothers and songs which he produced. Throughout the party Marilyn Manson was very drawn to Lena Katina and, under various pretexts, kept appearing next to her. No one was able to look at this indifferently, which is why everyone was taking photos of this strange pair – angelic Lena and scary Manson. Julia did not like him at all. Lena did not like him so much either, as stated by her. Eminem got the girls’ sympathy right away and after closer inspection they liked him even more.

November 14 – EMA Award Show
This is the most responsible day for hundreds of artists and managers gathered in Barcelona. It needs to be said that in the most well-known hotel in Arts city, along with t.A.T.u. were Robbie Williams, Christina Aguilera, Eminem, Marilyn Manson and all the others. This is the approximate order in which the participants began rehearsing for the ceremony at 1PM in Barcelona’s huge concert hall. Across from them is where Dolce and Gabbana settled in. The latter turned out to be true t.A.T.u. fans. A month before the ceremony Dolce and Gabbana sent over their catalogue so that Julia and Lena could find outfits for themselves. The girls picked out a bunch of stylish jeans and t-shirts. Dolce and Gabbana came themselves to evaluate the choices. It turns out that, in their opinion, t.A.T.u. look a lot nicer and more natural than Christian Aguilera, who has a ton of makeup. In fact, before the beginning of the ceremony Domenico and Stefano had to be called so that they could help rip off the famous D&G letters from the jeans. Product placement is not allowed for the EMA broadcast. There were no scissors, so they were ripped off using a corkscrew.

t.A.T.u.’s participation at the ceremony was in three parts. At first, Julia and Lena had to walk past photographer’s lenses at the red carpet where all the celebrities walk on when getting out of their limousines. This is something Julia and Lena have been accustomed to for a long time, so they felt naturally on the red carpet. Of course t.A.T.u. could not have walked passed MTV Russia and not greet VJ Alexander Anatolyevich and Russia. When asked who the girls want to see the most on stage, t.A.T.u. modestly answers, “Ourselves!”.

t.A.T.u. took the stage very soon, during the pre-show, that is, a 2 hour broadcast that precedes the main ceremony. The performance took place near the hall entrance close to the red carpet and the crowd of journalists and spectators. A second before the start of “All The Things She Said” it began to rain in Barcelona and fans had to hide underneath umbrellas. Cameras recorded t.A.T.u.’s performance from different angles, including overhead, showing around 100 viewers under huge, black umbrellas. It was just like in the music video and completely unexpected for everyone! The pre-show ended and the most important part began – receiving the MTV awards. t.A.T.u., along with Kylie Minogue, Alicia Keys and other nominees, waited to walk out on stage in a special [ложе]. To announce the winners of “Best Dance Video” Julia and Lena walked out on stage with The Calling. Kylie Minogue won, who t.A.T.u. does not care for so much, but still gave her the award with pleasure. Who knows, maybe it will be the other way around next time. After spending some time hanging out behind the scenes Julia and Lena decided to go to their hotel because they were extremely tired from the day.

Eminem had invited everyone to a party at around 2AM, but the girls decided to skip it. They had dinner in their hotel room and happily fell into their bed. In the morning they have their flight to Milan – it cannot be missed.

16 ноября – Финляндия
November 16th – Finland
t.A.T.u. met journalists who have been waiting for this visit for 3 months – that is how long their hit has been on the radio and television. One of the journalists was so charmed by the how relaxed the girls were that he began asking them about their favorite sex position. Julia and Lena answered him by saying they could not only tell him, but show him too. After this, the journalist was put into different poses which not not all men would agree to call their favorite. He left completely happy, knowing that not all of the girls’ interviews are so fun.

On November 17th, there were the Swedish Music awards in Sweden. It was mainly Swedish artists, but several global stars were nominated, such as Anastasia and Westlife. t.A.T.u. came to Stockholm to meet with journalists and to perform their hit at this main Swedish ceremony.Before t.A.T.u., a hall of thousands greeted Anastasia, A-Teens, and Westlife.

November 18th
In comparison to other European countries, France was a little behind – the single was released only recently here and the release of the album is being prepared. In contrast to Spain and Italy, France saw t.A.T.u. for the first time in their country. Right away 30 publications and radio and television programs announced their desire to meet Julia and Lena for an interview. That is why the visit to Paris lasted 3 days. However, the first day, to everyone’s pleasure, was declared a day off and was dedicated to walking along the streets of the most romantic city in Europe. Julia bought a huge Eiffel Tower and Lena focused on the amount – she stocked up on bunch of little Eiffel Tower souvenirs for all of her friends.November 19th and 20th the girls had interviews with French journalists, laying and hugging on a large couch in their room at the Hyatt hotel with a view of the Eiffel Tower.