Oh. My. Word.
We at Dolores Delargo Towers always love discovering a new, and especially camp, wannabee diva from foreign climes!
And here's another one from that eternal melting-pot of pop-kitsch (think Svetlana Loboda, Asiya Akhat, Kamaliya (also here) or indeed the marvellous Kazaky) - the Ukraine.
She's blonde, she's brassy, she's completely and utterly bonkers - laydeez'n'gentlemen, here's Miss Olya Polyakova!!
In Russian Style, she gets her boys to show us how to keep warm in mid-winter - with lots of baby oil...
For some reason she was not picked to represent the Ukraine at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2012 with Petal. Heaven knows why not...
She takes cartoon life to a level not seen since the heady days of Aqua with Shlepki:
And here is her newest single, Lioli, Lioli:
Which you must agree is classy.
Well, maybe not - but Miss Polyakova knocks loads of the other attitude-laden pop trash that haunts our charts into a cocked hat, as far as I am concerned!
Her country may have a terrible gay rights record (that Mr Elton John spoke out against) almost as bad as its neighbour Russia, but it seems the Ukraine is unbeatable for tackiness at the moment.
Olya Polyakova on Wikipedia (translated badly into English by Google).
[Thanks again to the lovely Henry at Barbarella's Galaxy. Of course!]
Fantabulosa !
ReplyDeleteA new Diva-ette well any thing rather than Ga Ga I say.
Love the hats where can I get the peacock one. I loved that outfit.
The music is in need of a good remix though.
Oh those Russian - sorry Ukrainians !
I'm not certain a remix would provide any more improvement to the lady's "art" - but it is always good to discover another source of genuine pop-trashiness... Jx
DeleteI see you have indeed decided to get more info on one of the many current "queens" of Ukrainian pop: the lovely Olya Polyakova (thanks again for the translation sweetie). I had not had the change myself to check out more then her current single, but that alone was enough to make me adore her! I only hope that she will get another change to represent her country in Eurovision soon ;)
ReplyDeleteThere seems to be a lot of artist in Ukraina and Russia that are trying to speak out in various ways to support gay rights, although they can't really do it in a straightforward manner (Max Barskih and Svetlana Loboda for example). Even the acts that are not so secretly gay (Dima Bilan for example) have to stay in the closet if they are to have any hopes of a career in music. I always thought it was a little annoying that people like Ricky Martin felt the need to stay in the closet for so long, but in the case of Dima I must say that considering his surroundings it is more understandable.
What we do get from Ukraine and Russia is a lot of over the top, colorful and perky music that must provide some sort of escapism for a lot of the people who live there, especially the LGBT community. I don't think there is any other place in the world that has been churning out so many fun/shameless/tacky songs and videos in recent years. That said, there is also some excellent music coming out of Ukraine, so I always keep an eye out on the music scene there.
Glad you enjoyed Miss Polyakova - I'm already waiting for the lady's next move...
Escapist music is always necessary in the face of oppression - there was a huge revival of samba music during the brutal Brazilian dictatorship, for example. Good on her (them)! Jx
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