Lyubov Uspenskaya, the diva of Russian show business, became the guest of the festive broadcast of the North Show.
The singer received her first money for her performance at the age of five. A whole ruble (which, by Soviet standards, could buy 5 servings of ice cream) was paid by her father when he asked his daughter to sing in front of the guests. Ouspenskaya does not forgive the people who offended her. But on the other hand, it helps couples to put up when a crisis arises in their relationship. We talked, as always, about the cinema: Lyuba shared that she had recently starred in the series. By the way, she could become a movie star much earlier. Back in the late 90s, the famous Alla Surikova offered the singer the main role in the film, where Nikolai Karachentsov was supposed to star. But the film didn’t hit the screens then. All this and more is our conversation.
— Lyuba, this week we had National Unity Day. Do you congratulate someone on this holiday?
– First of all, yourself and your friends. Because the very name Unity says a lot: about unity, about love, about fidelity, about friendship. This is a worthy holiday, and, of course, I always celebrate it.
– On the one hand, this is an alternative to November 7th. And on the other hand, this is November 4, 1612, when the people of Russia rebuffed the Poles. For you, who was born in the USSR, what reason is closer?
– Probably, the date that we celebrated in the Soviet Union is closer. For us it was really a holiday. There are not so many of them: May 1 – Workers’ Day, November 7 – Revolution Day, December 5 was Constitution Day. And of course, the most favorite holidays are the New Year, March 8 and February 23 – the day of the Soviet army.
– When we celebrated November 7, do you remember demonstrations, fireworks? Did you go?
– She did, yes. At that time, in the Soviet Union, it was so memorable, grandiose, we were waiting for this holiday. This is how we were taught and brought up. My brothers and I sometimes went to the parade, and there were always fireworks.
– Were there feasts?
– Well, what is a holiday without a feast. Especially among the Slavs.
Do you remember what songs you sang that day?
– I never sang songs dedicated to November 7th. But I sang the songs that my father taught me. When I was 5 years old, there was such a very famous film – “The Song of First Love”. The famous Azerbaijani singer Rashid Behbudov sang there. I performed all these songs, I had my own repertoire. Dad gave me a ruble, I stood on a chair. The next day I bought plasticine. It was already clear to me that I was “working” at that time for money.
What do you think we should do to feel united mi? What depends on us?
“A lot depends on us. First – to believe in a good future, to love, not to make mistakes, learn not to envy. Learn to be patient. Believe that there will be peace on earth. I believe in this, and every day I pray to God that there will be peace not only with us, but throughout the world. I have already lived a serious life, more than half, and I remember everything good, everything correct. Whether or not I liked the laws of the Soviet Union, this regime. Anyway, we learned something. We had respect for elders, respect for teachers, respect for our loved ones, parents. And thanks for everything. We have a good heritage. And what will our children have to do, what should they believe in? We must, by our efforts, teach them to understand that their home is the most important thing. It is important for me that my daughter is always on the same wavelength with me. So that she understands everything that I understand, correctly understood. So that she does not go on about the masses. To not be a “henpecked”. So that she has her own truth, and I will never change this truth. No matter what, no matter what position I find myself in, I will never change my mind.
– Lyuba, how do you feel about cinema? Do you like to watch, do you have time?
— I love cinema. Living in America, I watched all the hits, all the Oscar-winning films. I love Russian films, I love black and white cinema. Much has been reviewed several times. And today, when I have free time, and it happens on the move, I upload films to a flash drive and watch. Very cool TV shows are being filmed today. Before, about 10 years ago, I thought that Russian cinema had no future. And now I look and see that we have a great future. Just because we were loaded with foreign films and we got used to watching them, our directors didn’t have the opportunity to shine.
– Lyuba, I was surprised to find that you have never acted in films.
– Yes it’s true. But I recently starred in the series “Restaurant by Concepts”, the second season. By the way, I even brought some points there, and they turned out to be, as they say, at the box office.
– And how do you like this experience?
– I like it. To be honest, many years ago in 1995, I could have succeeded as an actress. when I arrived in Moscow. Alla Surikova called me and said: you know, Lyubochka, we have a philanthropist who wants to invest in the film, but always with the condition that you be the main character there. In the summer I went to America, and just at that moment they sent me to see the script. It was a New Year’s comedy, a two-part feature film. I was supposed to play the lead role along with Nikolai Karachentsov, we even had trial shootings. Vyacheslav Tikhonov and Irina Skoptseva also played there. But in the end, the film was not made – the philanthropist fell ill, and the picture was not released.
– Who would you like to play?
“Some unlucky woman that everyone makes fun of—a comedy role. I wouldn’t want to play a tragedy – that’s not me. Maybe my daughter will be able to play in the movies, I think it’s more likely. She studied in America for several years at an acting school.
– Do you think it is necessary to help one of your friends, girlfriends, in personal relationships?
– I can say that I am a professor in this matter, I know the psychology of men. There were those who ruined my life, and those who were truly in love with me. But I always knew how to behave. And she always helped her close friends to sort out difficult relationships, if they asked me about it. If you sit on your head, do not appreciate, do not regret, you need to teach people a lesson so that they understand – this is irrevocable.
Have you ever had a situation in your life when something was irretrievably destroyed?
– Not once or twice. There were times when I was literally on the brink of death. And I understood – this is the end, the abyss. But I… believe in an angel. At that moment, when I had already lost all hope, an angel descended and gave me strength. And there was no case that in such moments of disappointment, a split in my life, there was no way out – salvation.
– You create such images on stage that not every director in the cinema will come up with. I remember the festival “Heat”, where you are on a motorcycle, in boots, mini. Are you inventing all this yourself?
— Of course, herself! It wouldn’t be me if I just went on stage and sang. Once with Leps we performed a duet and the song contained the words “I came to you in stockings” …, I went on stage in stockings, in a peignoir, boldly created such an image – I liked it.
– By the way, I remember the clip where you tried on the image of a cleaning lady. I can’t imagine you without gloss at all. Did you come up with this image yourself?
– I am who I am, everyone knows me, this is my image and I have nothing to hide.
Did an accident happen on the set of this video? I think you broke a rib?
– I break my ribs more often than in the clips. Once I was going to a birthday party, went down the stairs in my house and stepped on the floor of my fur coat with my heel. Well the driver supported me. If I had not supported, I would have broken to death! I’m already used to it. The main thing is that injuries do not prevent me from singing. I took a painkiller and forgot about the pain.
– Lyuba, you have been on stage for so many years, it’s probably not realistic to ask about your favorite song, but is there a video clip where you like yourself the most?
– “Carousel”, “Coast”, “Polyushka”. I can’t say that I am satisfied with myself in all the clips, but I am satisfied with the songs. By the way, on the set there were moments when everything did not go according to the script. For example, when the video “I’m Lost” was filmed, the fact that Shcherbakov and I fall into the pool in clothes was not spelled out. Everything was born on the go.
– You and I have the song “Russia”, which we performed as a duet at the White Nights festival, as far as I know, have you already performed it before?
– Yes, back in 1991, when I did not think that I would return to Russia – at that time we were recording an album with Ilya Reznik. I really missed you, there was such nostalgia, and I wanted to sing a song about Russia. My great-grandmother, a smart, wise woman, was born before the revolution and always told me how strong, powerful Russia was, fed all of Europe. And now our country is one of the most reliable. In Moscow, in our cities, young people calmly walk, and parents do not think what can happen. The same cannot be said for other countries. I know that you also love “Russia” very much and I wanted to perform this song with you.
– You have many admirers, tell me, are there those among them whom you know by sight, the most devoted?
“You don’t even realize how much you hit the spot. There is a guy in New York who was born crippled, he has back problems, he had a lot of operations. He lives on physical therapy, drugs and my songs. If you call him at any time and ask for some archival video material from my performances, he has everything. He knows the release dates of each of my albums and even what day of the week this album came out. He knows those songs that I have forgotten and no longer sing. It is very nice.
– And of course, I can’t help but ask you about a new name on our stage, your daughter Tanya, who performs under the name PACHA TATIare you producing it?
— PACHA TATI completely my project, and I really believe in it. But I’m not the kind of mother who wants to promote her child, promote it simply because it’s my child. I never do anything for which I can be ashamed. I am 100% sure about Tanya. I don’t think that she will go on stage and someone will say – oh, this is Assumption’s daughter. No. I want people to look at her and not think about me. Tanya is not her mother’s daughter. She, by the way, was very afraid of this. And I told her: Tanya, you are already known more than necessary, you don’t need to sing for this. So she’s not doing it for fame.
Who came up with the stage name PACHA TATI?
-Tanya traveled a lot in Latin America, communicated with the Mayan tribes, everyone there called her “Tati”. And PACHA is a planet, so everything is not simple, with meaning. And I’m a PACHA mom.
