In a behind the scenes video from 2014, Lena Katina and Ivan Shapovalov are working together, along with Kiril and a young man named Pasha, on the Russian cover version of Sade’s “No Ordinary Love” called “Novaya Lyubov’”/”New Love”.

The first part of the video shows Lena and Ivan finalizing the words to the song as well as working on phrasing (the way Lena is going to sing the lyrics, such as the placement of emphasis and rhythmic patterns). They are listening to and referencing a version of the song by Sherrie Lea.

The second part of the video shows Lena recording the song with constant guidance from Ivan. During the recording session Lena did not have the lyrics in front of her and had to remember the lines of the song or ask Ivan to remind her of them.

27:14
IVAN: Stop. Calmer…Now do it calmer. You are afraid to step in the wrong place, this is what’s starting to happen. Relax completely. Did you hear how she sings? There is no pressure anywhere, at all. Everything is set to the drum…and you are afraid to miss the mark. And then the song becomes about the incorrect thing. Totally. The beginning has to be calm. Very calm, very relaxed. Let’s try.

28:00
LENA: And can’t get it back, and can’t go back….
IVAN: “Even softer…even softer”.

28:32
LENA: I am not holding and not holding on to, I no longer want to love you
IVAN: Okay stop. “You…love you…” – carry it to the end. The energy is falling…One more time. Carry the words to the end.

29:28
IVAN: I still get the feeling that you are hurrying, that you are afraid to not make it in time…You’ll catch up in the next phrase. Don’t rush.

30:11
IVAN: Stop. “Cannot repeat myself” – it’s the same thing. Move the rhythm…extend it. Extend yourself past the limits. Don’t rush…Even softer.

31:23
IVAN: Now, carrying the meaning. Carefully with each word, as if you’re saying it to yourself. “I no longer want to love you” – these are the kind of words, you understand?

32:10
IVAN: First of all, where did the confidence go? I don’t feel confidence and calmness at all from you…Where did you confidence go? Hmm?
LENA: I don’t know…
IVAN: You sang “mute clouds” with more confidence then how you are singing now. Where did it go?
LENA: I’m afraid to be out of tune.
IVAN: No, that’s not it…it’s something else. I have a feeling that you are rushing. Still. Then don’t sing to the music. Sing in your own tempo.

34:55
LENA: (Referring to Sherrie Lea) I have a feeling that she is singer louder. She has an absolutely non-quiet, normal delivery.
IVAN: She is singing calmly. She is singing louder and calmer. I just want you to start off finding a calmer intonation, and then add loudness.

35:09
Lena spills her tea by her microphone.
IVAN You are going to bring the whole bar over to here. There are cups here already. I do not have cups here. No tea, nothing.

1:05:47
IVAN
Lena…It’s mechanical. Very mechanical. Because you can see it in your hand movements. That. This. Is. New…” You can see in your hand that you were singing mechanically.

The third part of the video shows Lena stepping out for a cigarette, then listening to a music track that Ivan shares with her as a potential song for Lena. They also discuss an additional artist to add to Novaya Lyubov’ and whether to promote it as a single with a video.

1:28:01
Ivan plays an instrumental of a new song for Lena
IVAN: So, that’s the track.
LENA: This not at all the style in which I work. Of course, that’s not a problem…
IVAN: Why work though? Record it and then see. Why work?
LENA: Well I don’t know. I am not really feeling it at this point.
IVAN: Okay then…Let’s see.
LENA: Why “the end of victory”? (This is referring to the name / theme of the song)
IVAN: Why? It’s toward something new…the end to something new.
LENA: That’s a really deep thought that I do not follow.
IVAN: What don’t you follow? The end of something is always towards something new.
LENA: What does victory have to do with it? You can’t have the end of a victory. There is a victory and that’s all.
IVAN: Yes, and there is an end in victory.
LENA: The victory to World War II. It can’t be cancelled. It can’t end.
IVAN: With World War III…it ends when World War III begins.
LENA: No, victory remains victory. World War III is, like you said, something new. The other victory won’t have an end because it already exists. Victory cannot have an end. How can you have an end to victory? You are very philosophical in everything.
IVAN: Why “very”? The end of victory is an attitude to the victory. It is a state after awareness. If you have victory you have euphoria.
LENA: There’s victory and its end as a consequence. But it is not the end of the victory, it is the end of the war that equals victory.
IVAN: You have euphoria towards victory, but there is also awareness about what the victory is. And there is a moment of awareness that is the end of the victory. So, that is not a victory, for example. That is the end of victory – being aware that it is not a victory.
LENA: Oh…then this is not victory. It is like the end of a friendship. The kind which ended that never began.
IVAN: Yes, and that is what the song is about.
LENA: That’s intense.
IVAN: Yes.
LENA: I don’t know…
IVAN: How can you not know? How can you not know? Half of what we are doing is completely impossible to know. And the other half you can only feel.
LENA: Well, I don’t feel it…honestly.
IVAN: Until you try it you won’t feel it.
LENA: For me it happens right away.
IVAN: How can it happen right away? To feel means you have to try. A cover is easy when someone has already sung it.
LENA: It’s not at all easy. A cover is a lot harder than your own.
IVAN: Well, it’s harder too. When it is a ready piece it’s clear, but when it is a new piece it is not clear. It is not clear until the end. You need to keep going towards it. There is no need to have to sing it. There are plenty of voices. But if it is sung with you then it will sound differently. Because behind it there is something to talk about.
LENA: There is a story.
IVAN: Yes. It is worth that. But the other voice are beautiful, they’re good. They are worthy.
LENA: Yes, and I want to say that I won’t be able to sing it like that.
IVAN: I know. Right now I am talking about a different facet.
LENA: Can you send it to me? I will listen to it.
IVAN: I will send you a version.
LENA: Yes, one where the idea can be heard.

1:34:04
IVAN: Regarding the cover (Novaya Lyubov’), I think we need to shoot a video. We will see here if we add a second voice or not…
LENA: No.
IVAN: What do you mean, “no”? Relax. We will see if it is male or female.
LENA: I am fine by myself. Very much. I like it.
IVAN: I get that you like it. But I need to understand how this song will progress.
LENA: What do you mean how will it progress? Meaning where it will go?
IVAN: No, how…It’s understood where – to the listeners.
LENA: Because a duet is not very interesting. Or less interesting than a one-person story. But you’re saying you can be the exception.
IVAN: In a one-person story I do not understand the moments…regarding how this track will progress.
LENA: What does that mean how will it progress? It depends on how cool it turns out.
IVAN: Well you see that it’s cool now.
LENA: Well, yes, I like it. I like it a lot. But regarding a plan, a demo can be created, like once it is ready with a voice. Then send it to Olga to she could go to radio stations and see if they take it or not.
IVAN: And then what?…
LENA: Well, for instance, if it gets accepted by the radio stations, if they like it, then at least we will know it makes sense to develop it and push it further, to film a video, and so on.
IVAN: And then what?…
LENA: Then I will have a Russian single. I like that!..It’s because Olga is in communication with these people. Like, when she works with Sasha, T-Killah, she takes it to the radio station, they listen to it and say if they will play it or not. After, if it makes sense, they create the track. If they say that they won’t play it, then it get scrapped and they create what will be put on by radio stations. Because it is important. Then they promote it. So we need a good story here, one that captures your soul…I am talking about the video…something that pulls out emotions from people.

The last part of the video shows Ivan, Lena and Kiril, and Pasha talking about transexuals.

1:38:20
IVAN: What, don’t you like Pasha? Don’t look at him as a boy…
LENA: Oh, you are like, trans?
IVAN: What trans?
PASHA: I am not a trans. I am not getting breasts, ew.
LENA: Well, that is none of my business.
IVAN: No. What trans? I am talking about based purely on appearance.
LENA: From appearance he’s a boy who looks like a girl.
PASHA: That’s a compliment.
LENA: I am serious. Even when I saw him for the first time I had to think if he’s a boy or a girl. Then I understand finally that he’s a boy.
IVAN: What feeling do you get from this? Bad or good?
LENA: It’s totally normal. I do not have bad feelings from anything.
IVAN: Some people I talk to connect convey the situation.
LENA: …Thailand also has a lot of pretty trans.
IVAN: Have you been to Thailand?
LENA: No, my mom showed me photos.
IVAN: But you’re telling me…
LENA: Yeah! I saw it on a video…Oleg shot it for me!
IVAN: What are you going to see through a video? You are walking in Thailand and see a beautiful girl….
IVAN: I know.
KIRIL: The way they raise people is [different].
LENA: Yeah. They say that every fifth child…
PASHA: It is very bad for the boys who are born there because they start saving money for gender reassignment surgery. They commit crimes, steal.
IVAN: You are walking and see a beautiful girl….
LENA: You don’t know if it is a girl or actually a….
IVAN: You’re not thinking about that! At first you see a pretty girl.
LENA: Yes.
IVAN: Even if, in a second, you think, “Is this a girl or not?”, right before that, when you see a beautiful girl, you are already in it. You understand? A second later you may think, “Oh, maybe that is not a girl”. But you are already got into it.
LENA: Into what?
IVAN: Into the zone of own interest. You’re attention is on that. You understand, “I am in Thailand. Maybe that is not a girl”. So what happened? What changed?
LENA: Nothing changed. You walk past and then forget about it in 10 minutes.
IVAN: Why if you liked it? The girl…Maybe it’s a girl.
LENA: Yeah, and what?
IVAN: Maybe it’s not.
LENA: And you have a wife.
IVAN: No.
LENA: What do you mean?
IVAN: I don’t.
LENA: Well, anyway, I have a husband.
IVAN: Oh, congratulations! That’s not what I’m talking about right now. What I want to ask you is…
LENA: There should be a development of events!
IVAN: What development of events? You see a girl, you like her…Do you walk past her or do you go up to talk to her?
LENA: As a married woman I would walk past.
IVAN: …So what I am trying to say is that it’s foolish to flinch like this?
LENA: Who is flinching? No one is flinching.
PASHA: Conchita won Eurovision, of course people are flinching. Russia gave the most votes.
LENA: A lot of people are flinching.
PASHA: Russia voted the most for her.
LENA: And now Russia does not want him…her to come…
IVAN: Yes they do. Who gave the most votes?
PASHA: Russia.
LENA: But a lot of [countries] gave him 12 points…
IVAN: …So why are you telling me about you husband?
LENA: What is the big deal? I don’t get it.
IVAN: Exactly. What is the big deal? You really found what to be proud of…
LENA: Yes!
PASHA: Just to look is not a sin.
LENA: Yeah. I mean, look, of course. We always look at everyone and talk about everyone with my husband.

1:44:28
LENA: Well, I should go.
IVAN: Where?
LENA: Home.
IVAN: To your grandma’s?
LENA: No, I am going to my grandma’s [inaudible].
IVAN: Where?
LENA: [Inaudible]
IVAN: For long?
LENA: [Inaudible]