Russian Personalities

People well-known in art, sport, film, fashion

Category Archive: Music and dance

Irina Lukyanova

Irina Lukyanova - Russian singer

Irina Lukyanova – Russian singer


Irina Lukyanova was born on July 22, 1976 in Moscow.
She is a former lead singer of female pop group Blestyashchie (1996-2003), now she is a choreographer.
The girl graduated from the Moscow College of Art (Department of Choreography).
Irina joined the pop group Blestyashchie in 1996, and left it in 2003 to devote herself to the family. She has daughter Anna.
Anna Semenovich was invited to replace the singer.
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Polina Iodis, singer and surfer

Polina Iodis, singer and surfer

Polina Iodis, singer and surfer


Polina Iodis is a Russian singer and sportswoman, first soloist of the famous Russian female pop group Blestyashchie (1995-1998).
Pretty girl was born on December 12, 1978 in Moscow. Since her childhood she was interested in extreme kinds of sports.
When Polina graduated from the secondary school, she chose a profession of a lawyer. But two years later she started touring with Blestyashchie and had to abandon her studies. In 1995, together with Olga Orlova and Varvara Koroleva, she became a soloist of the group. Later, in 1996, Zhanna Friske and Irina Lukyanova joined the group.
Shortly after the release of the second album Polina left the group, and (married or dated) filmmaker Vlad Opelyance.
After leaving the group, Iodis studied architecture, graduating from the Institute of Free Arts and Sciences.
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Marina Zhuravleva, Soviet and Russian singer

Marina Zhuravleva, Soviet and Russian singer

Marina Zhuravleva, Soviet and Russian singer


Marina Zhuravleva is a Soviet and Russian singer, poet and composer. Her songs are in Disco style. The singer became popular at the beginning of the 1990s.
Pretty girl was born on July 8, 1963 in Khabarovsk. Zhuravleva was born into the family of a soldier. From early childhood she was fond of singing and music. After moving with her parents to Voronezh in 1976, she was a soloist of the school ensemble. As a member of Pioneers Palace’s ensemble the girl took first places in different competitions. Later, she graduated from the music school in Voronezh. After that she became a soloist of the amateur group Fantasy, popular in the city. By the way, she was a winner of the All-Union Contest of Young Pop Song Performers in Dnepropetrovsk. Alexandra Pakhmutova was the jury chairman of the contest.
In 1986 Marina graduated from the Gnessin Russian Academy of Music.
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Olga Orlova, pop-singer

Olga Orlova, pop-singer

Olga Orlova, pop-singer


Olga Orlova (her real name is Olga Nosova) is a Russian singer, actress and songwriter.
Pretty girl was born on November 13, 1977 in Moscow. She graduated from the Moscow State University of Economics, Statistics, and Informatics.
In 1995 she was the first girl who became a member of the new Russian female pop-group Blestyashchie. Beautiful girl was a member of the group from 1995 to 2000. Orlova was not only the soloist of the group, but also the author of many songs. In 2001 Olga started her solo career.
By the way, Orlova played the leading role in the movie The Golden Age.
In November 2002, Olga went to the Dominican Republic to participate in the third season of the reality show The Last Hero – 3: Stay alive (Survivor). The singer took an honorable third place. Singers Elena Perova and Vladimir Presnyakov became finalists.
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Glukoza, Natalia Chistyakova – Ionova

Glukoza, Natalia Chistyakova - Ionova

Glukoza, Natalia Chistyakova – Ionova

Glukoza (her real name is Natalia Chistyakova – Ionova) is a Russian singer, solo artist and TV presenter.
Pretty girl was born on June 7, 1986 in Moscow. As a child, her hobbies included ballet and chess. Also she was engaged in acting and starred in the films Triumph and War Of The Princesses, as well as a few episodes of Yeralash.
Her music career began when she was discovered in 2002 by record producer Maxim Fadeev. Together they recorded her first album, Glukoza Nostra and released her first music video Nenavizhu (I Hate), which was entirely computer animated. Her singles found little popularity until 2003, when Natalia released her song Nevesta (Bride), accompanied once again by a computer animated video.
By the way, she was awarded many prizes and awards including the MTV-EMA award for the Best Russian Act, the Muz-TV award for Breakthrough of the Year. You know, her animated character was named Character of Year by Rambler.
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Jasmin, Russian pop-singer

jasmin singer

Jasmin, Russian pop-singer

Jasmin is a popular Russian singer, actress, model and TV presenter. Her real name is Sara Manahimova.
Future singer was born on October 12, 1977 in the ancient city of Derbent in Dagestan. Her father worked as a choreographer and even was awarded the title of Honored Artist of the Republic of Dagestan. Her mother was a famous conductor. Thus, the girl was surrounded by creative people since childhood.
Jasmin wanted to be a translator, her dream was to travel around the world. But in her native Dagestan there wasn’t any suitable college and the girl had to go to Moscow to continue her education. Parents were against and future celebrity entered medical school, where she began singing. Soon the young student became a real star in Dagestan.
One day she met prominent businessman Vyacheslav Semenduev, her future husband.
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Nicole Scherzinger, American singer with Russian roots

Nicole Scherzinger, American singer with Russian roots

Nicole Scherzinger, American singer with Russian roots


Nicole Scherzinger is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, choreographer, record producer, model, television personality and actress. By the way, she is well known as the lead singer of the Pussycat Dolls.
Pretty Nicole Prescovia Elikolani Valiente (her full name) was born on June 29, 1978 in Honolulu, Hawaii, into a Roman Catholic family. Her father, Alfonso Valiente, is of Filipino descent. And her mother, Rosemary, is mixed Hawaiian and Russian descent, as Nicole’s grandmother was Russian while her grandfather was Hawaiian. The parents of the pop star lived together for several years and divorced in 1981. After that, the mother and her daughter moved to Louisville (Kentucky). Soon Rosemary married German Harry Scherzinger.
Participation in performances and acting skills helped Nicole to get into the band Days Of The News as a backing vocalist. In 1999, the band recorded their second album, but then the girl left it. During that time, Nicole did not have time to get recognition, however, valuable experience in the group was useful to the singer in the future.
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