Police general gives Khlebnikova invitation to prison

Pop star Marina Khlebnikova turned 36 recently. Her birthday party was organized in one of Moscow’s billiard clubs for a narrow circle of her closest friends, the weekly Mir Novostei reported.

What surprised many, however, was the conspicuously large number of uniformed men in attendance, who, judging by their shoulder insignias, were high-ranking officers.

Khlebnikova’s press secretary Natalia Petkina hurried to explain that generals, like all other men, cannot but love Khlebnikova. Immediately, a police general climbed to the stage. To confirm the statement and to demonstrate his sense of humor, he announced that an "honorable, cozy place" has been prepared for Khlebnikova in one of Russia’s correctional facilities, and should the star find herself in trouble, she would get a most friendly reception. "I would prefer to see you as my guest," Khlebnikova joked back, and went on unwrapping her presents.

Some other presents turned out to be no less exotic than the general’s "invitation to prison." She got a medal and 10 kilos of red caviar from the border guards and a toy set of windmills from her Dutch friends. The highlight of the party was when one of the guests gave Khlebnikova a live scorpion, which she immediately named Javdet, after the terrorist character in the famous Soviet action movie "White Sun of the Desert."

As Mir Novostei has managed to find out, the scorpion is still alive: Khlebnikova keeps it in her mini-terrarium and feeds it roaches and crickets, which she buys from pet shops.

"I feel remarkably safe now that I have Javdet. If anybody dares to attack me, I’ll set my new guard on him. And I won’t be afraid to do that because I’ve got a cozy reservation in the penitentiary system," Khlebnikova joked.

Age doesn’t hurt Krugozory at the Sign of Quality awards ceremony

DJs Krugozory – Boris Mikhailovich and Georgy Vsevolodovich – often dubbed "the dinosaurs of Russian pop music," had a strong showing at the Znak Kachestva (Sign of Quality) awards ceremony held in the Marriott Grand Hotel in Moscow on Nov. 15. The Sign of Quality ceremony awards journalists for distinguished show-biz coverage.

The ceremony would have been routine and unremarkable were it not for Krugozory, who infected everyone with joy and made them feel like dancing. Their gray hair – the guys are far into their ‘60s – only added color and spice to the performance, as Krugozory, fancily dressed for the occasion, danced beautifully in the booth while spinning pop records. And afterwards they were joined on stage by Lidiya Ivanova, a journalist and writer and – probably even more important – a voluptuous and appealing lady. All eyes were riveted to the stage. Frankly speaking, Ivanova is fat, but she does not feel the least bit ashamed about it. Indeed, she demonstrated excellent dancing skills.

"We will be happy if Lidiya Ivanova decides to perform with us in the future," Mikhailovich said. "You can take that as an invitation," he added to Ivanova.

When asked whether she was in a position to accept the offer, she laughed and said that the journalists, as usual, had distorted the facts. "Well," she explained, "I heard good, danceable music and I couldn’t stand still. All the more so because it was played by such interesting people." (By Dmitry Mozheitov)

Vitas to insure his ‘siren’ voice

One of the most mysterious figures in the Russian pop scene, Vitaly Grachev (known as Vitas), who is particularly well-known for the siren-like melodic scream he harmonically incorporates into his songs, has decided to insure his voice. Fans have dubbed Grachev "the distinguished Russian alarm," the weekly Mir Novostei reported.

The singer’s reason for his decision: Vitas’ life and stage work are filled heavily with extreme events. Suffice it to say that during a recent music video shoot, he appeared in shoes with 80-cm high soles and his costume weighed no less than 20 kilos and cost at least $5,000.

Vitas isn’t planning to insure any other parts of his body at the moment. His producer, Sergei Pudovkin, explained that the singer values his voice mos of all.

The problem is that policies of this kind are quite new for Russian insurance companies, and negotiations with an insurance company may take a long time.

In Russia, Vitas has emerged as the first singer to decide to insure his voice. Maybe this is because Vitas really has one, which cannot be said about many other Russian pop singers.

Alyona Sviridova officially recognized as a writer

Pop singer Alyona Sviridova has recently acquired official status as a poet – she has received a membership card in the Russian Union of Writers, the weekly Mir Novostei reported.

As her director Viktor Mikhalin explained, Sviridova submitted a number of her works to the union’s membership panel in the recent past.

"In itself, membership [in the Russian Union of Writers] does not provide any social or career benefits," Mikhalin complained. "She wanted the card very much, and she got it. She has always gotten what she wanted," he added.

It should be noted that Sviridova is not the first Russian singer to have acquired writer’s status. Poetry has been submitted to the Russian Union of Writers’ high jury in the past by singer Alexander Shaganov and poet-bard Bulat Okudzhava.

Now we can only guess what Sviridova will do next. Maybe she will go further and decide to become a member of the Union of Artists? Rumor has it that she has been dabbling with an easel and paintbrush lately…

Pop singer Yulian: firestarter?

Pop singer Yulian Vasin (known as just Yulian), 28, rushed into the Mir Novostei editorial office the other day shouting: "I’ve heard you are writing a sensational story about my recent visit to Switzerland. I forbid you to publish it!" the weekly Mir Novostei reported.

Suddenly, a crackling noise spread throughout the newsroom along with a smell of something burning. The source of the noise and smell was precisely the computer where the "dangerous information" was recorded. Fortunately, the fire was promptly put out, but the data was completely lost as the computer’s processor and hard-drive were destroyed by the fire.

Later, after the singer had left, those who witnessed the incident recalled that the computer started burning right after Yulian aimed his stare at the monitor.

Now the editorial staff of Mir Novostei is firmly convinced that Yulian possesses some kind of psychic powers. Incidentally, the singer promised to tell the story about his Swiss journey – but sometime in the future.