Belarusians are unhappy with the «t.A.T.u.» concert in Minsk — because the artists did not sing in Russian
The group «t.A.T.u.», which built its career on songs about love between two girls, is now trying to avoid accusations of LGBT propaganda. Instead of kisses on stage, there is now hand-holding, and some songs are performed only in English. That was also the case at the concert in Minsk.
«t.A.T.u.» gave a full-fledged concert in the Belarusian capital for the first time since 2001 (in 2021, the band came to Minsk as headliners of the Ovion Show festival — but back then, the singers performed only three songs).
«t.A.T.u.» performed at the «Sports Palace», with tickets ranging from 155 to 295 rubles.
Millennials who had been waiting a quarter of a century for the return of their favorite band ended up disappointed. And the main grievance most frequently voiced on social media is the language issue.
The audience had prepared to sing along to the favorite hits of their school days in Russian, but «t.A.T.u.» performed the vast majority of the songs in English.
The reason for this decision is very simple: strict Russian laws regarding LGBT propaganda (in 2024, Russia designated the LGBT community as an extremist movement). Last year, Lena Katina said in an interview that the band decided against singing many of the original versions of their songs out of fear of being accused of «promoting the wrong things».
The English-language lyrics are considered more decent by the singers (and, presumably, Russian censors). Katina herself admitted: they didn’t have many options. Either sing in English or rewrite the lyrics in Russian so that no hints of same-sex love could be detected in them.
The singers also refused to change the iconic lyrics.
In another interview, Yulia Volkova also explained the decision to perform most of the repertoire in a foreign language by saying that the group «values traditions and respects the laws of its country».
Therefore, at the concert in Minsk, the situation looked comical at times. For instance, in one of their most famous songs, «Ya Soshla S Uma», Yulia Volkova and Lena Katina sang the verses in Russian and the chorus in English. The audience in the hall shouted the Russian version of the hit, but the performers held their ground.
It should be noted that even this was a concession for Belarusian fans — in Russia, «t.A.T.u.» sings this song entirely in English.
The singers had also previously promised the Russian authorities that they would behave decently on stage, not like they did in the 2000s. For this reason, in Minsk, instead of kisses on stage, there was only holding hands.
As a result, many concert attendees were left dissatisfied. Blogger Yauheniya Tarasiuk traveled with her friends all the way from Hrodna to hear «t.A.T.u.» — they say it was a waste of time.
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