#Lina Katina

[eurovision-revisited]

Eurovision 2003 - Number 8 - t.A.T.u. - "Не верь, не бойся"

Boooo. Boooooo! Quite why t.A.T.u attracted such a hostile reception was, in this instance, very little to do with politics and more to do with the attitude of the band and the delegation to Eurovision. They claimed they would easily win. The referred to the Germany representative as a witch and said that she should be nursed rather than entering the contest. They insulted the venue and Latvia. They turned up late, missed rehearsals and generally adopted he most distinctly heelish behaviour that Eurovision had witnessed to date. Even the journalists at press conferences booed them

How much of this was kayfabe or stochastic, psychological warfare, is unknown. But given the political statements of band member Julia Volkova more recently, there's probably less fakery and more genuine arrogance and entitlement about what the delegation did. Just who the hell are they anyway?

Well they're the first, widely known product of Neposedy, a Moscow-based children's music group/stage school with a huge and ever changing roster. They will appear throughout the next ten to fifteen years with some regularity. t.A.T.u are their first spin off-pop sensation aimed at the Western pop market. Consisting of Julia Volkova and Lina Katina, the band already have Europe wise success with an act that plays on lesbian posturing and more disturbingly, a sexualised schoolgirl aesthetic that seems calculated to shock and sell records in equal measure. Their huge, debut single was All the Things She Said, which took all of the above and added rain with a video that got banned from several shows around the world. They are also, almost certainly, Russia's most internationally popular pop music act ever.

Given all this unpleasantness and the problematic nature of the band both before and after Eurovision 2003, why is this a number 8 in my list? Не верь, не бойся (Ne Ver', Ne Boisia/Don't Believe, Don't Fear) is a largely shouted proclamation to not let fear, intimidation and bullying hold you back. A welcome message, but given their behaviour leading up to the final, more than somewhat contradictory. The song itself is propulsive and punky in attitude. It has an urgency that almost every other song in Eurovision typically lacks. Several counties have toyed with sending something this raw and rough before but haven't really committed to it. The chaos would almost certainly have been there without the lack of rehearsal, this is just how the band is. Their previous Europe wide chart success attests to the fact that this sound was contemporary and popular in a way the EBU could only previously have dreamt of.

The band kept going until 2011 despite tensions between the leads. They went to Eurovision once more, playing as an interval act in the first semi-final in Moscow for the 2009 contest. They did eventually split with irreconcilable tensions between Julia and Lena. After that, they both had solo careers, but drifted ever further apart on political issues notably Julia eventually expressing homophobic opinions and Lena doing the opposite and playing the St. Petersburg Queerfest in 2012. Julia survived a serious thyroid cancer in that year which subsequently affected her vocal chords and voice.

In the aftermath of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, t.A.T.u. reformed to play concerts in Russia and Belarus. They continue to support the Russian government's actions.

I initially wasn't going to include this song in my write-ups. However, there are going to be several more challenging and political songs coming up (not all of which involve Russia). As much as Eurovision strives for harmony, peace and a non-political standpoint, others will strive to use and subvert that idealism for for their own political ends. It's important to note this and look at what's going on underneath the music.

I think it's instructive to see what Russia was up to as far back as 2003. This was the same year that Roman Abramovich bought Chelsea F.C. and the main liberal opposition leader was assassinated in an election year. The use of international competitions and festivals like Eurovision (especially those hosted in countries Russia has a history with like Latvia) is going to be a plank in how Russia plays politics internationally. In Neposedy, there is a production line of appealing pop acts, song-writers, TV production designers who know what they're doing - and they're good at it. In 2003, Russia could play innocent and deny there was any bigger motive at work. Now the purpose is there for all to see.

Rather than flinch, I intend to look steadily

[halfaaxxa]

t.A.T.u. , August 2002, Julia Volkova & Lina Katina

[elinakazan]

( ANNIE MURPHY + CIS FEMALE ) —  Have you seen ELINA KAZAN? This THIRTY-FOUR year old is an ART CURATOR who resides in BROOKLYN. SHE has been living in NYC for FOUR MONTHS, and is known to be CREATIVE and CAREFREE, but can also be QUIXOTIC and DRAMATIC, if you cross them.  People tend to associate them with HIGHLIGHTED PASSAGES IN A BOOK and PAINT-SPLATTERED CLOTHES  | @codstarters​

hiya! my name’s ella. i’m SO excited to be here and bring elina to this amazing roleplay. i can’t wait to interact with all of you! so please hmu if you’d like to plot!

. basic information

NAME: elina thisbe kazan

NICKNAME: el, ellie, lina

GENDER: cis female

PLACE OF BIRTH: victoria, british columbia, canada

HOMETOWN: birmingham, england

DATE OF BIRTH: april 26, 1986

AGE: thirty-four

SEXUAL ORIENTATION: bisexual

OCCUPATION: art curator at the moma

BOROUGH: brooklyn

. background

tw: cheating

Not much is known about Elina's biological parents. Her story is no much different than those of many children in the foster system: parents who were too young to raise a kid. She was born in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Although she still retains her Canadian citizenship, she does not remember much of her birthplace.

She was six months old when she was adopted by the Kazans. Both of them had immigrated to Canada ten years earlier. Her father, Estevan Kazan was a Greek citizen who moved to Canada to work on his Master's degree and her mother, Katina Trusova moved from Russia seeking a better life. By the time she was adopted, her parents had been married for five years and after several failed attempts to conceive, they decided to adopt. She does speak Greek and Russian fluently. 

The Kazans lived in Vancouver for three years before Estevan was offered a job in Birmingham. The whole family relocated to England and a year later her parents adopted a baby boy and two years later a baby girl completed the family.

A happy and reckless child, Elina gave her parents several headaches. She had enough energy to light a city and no matter the number of extracurricular activities her parents enrolled her in, she simply couldn't stay still. Regardless of her endless vitality, Elina often gave nothing but satisfactions to her parents. The kind and bubbly girl turned over the years in a clever, outgoing and creative woman.

Elina never really had a plan, most of the time she just went along with the flow. One day she wanted to be an Olympic athlete and the next day she wanted to be a doctor. Her life aspirations were ever-changing. However, the only constant in her life was her love and passion for art, any kind of art. A dreamer per nature, Elina found solace in paintings, songs, films and books. They allowed her to travel to a different world and in the tough moments, art has always been there for her.

Loyal to her capricious nature, Elina tied the knot when she was just 18 years old. Harry Vandenberg was not a random choice. In fact, aside from art, he'd been the other constant in her life. Best friends since she moved to England, Elina swears that she knew she was going to marry him even at the tender age of three. It took years to go from strangers to friends to boyfriend and girlfriend and finally to husband and wife.

Elina started university shortly after the wedding. She decided to take a double program and she graduated with a Bachelor in History of Art and Classics from Oxford. While her academic life kept her busy, she often felt alone. Being in the army, Harry was often away. At first, she didn't mind the loneliness, but soon it started to take a toll on their relationship.

Throughout most of her life, Elina aimed to have a marriage like the one her parents had. In her eyes, they were the perfect couple until she found out it all had been a lie. Her parents divorce came out of nowhere but soon enough her mother explained everything. Her father had been cheating on her for the past fifteen years. Elina's whole world crumbled down upon hearing that and just like that her trust in those close to her was gone.

No one could be trusted. That was all she had taken from her parents' divorce and unfortunately she brought it into her marriage. Elina started to question Harry's faithfulness. Nothing he did or say could change her mind that her husband was not cheating. Without evidence she continued to accuse him and despite his best efforts to prove his innocence, their marriage came to and end. All those false allegations became a reality. She had pushed him away and turned him into a cheater.

Her heartache was enhanced when she saw Harry's face all over the news after his relationship with the princess came out. When it came to settle the divorce, Elina decided she didn't want anything, she just signed it and moved to Italy where she lived until four months ago.

Six months ago, she was offered her dream job: museum curator at the MOMA. She hesitated to take it since she knew Harry lived there and the last thing she wanted was to make everyone think that she was moving there for him but in the end, she couldn't deter her own dreams because of him. So, she took the job and relocated to New York four months ago. She got a nice place in Brooklyn and she hopes that the city is big enough to avoid running into her ex-husband.

. personality

Elina worships her freedom. She loves travel, adventure, meeting new people, and she longs to experience all of life. If she hates something in life that is routine. She doesn't want to lead a humdrum life and she is often doing a bunch of things as she is not tied down to one task. Her upbeat personality helps her to make friends easily and she often attracts people from all walks of life. She has a way with words and an uncanny ability to motivate others, she also loves to make people laugh and tends to be very sarcastic almost cynical. Honesty and loyalty are sacred to her and that can make her feel wary. She doesn't trust easily and chooses very careful who to trust. Elina is also an idealistic and a daydreamer. She is always in her own little world and she tends to get distracted easily.

. potential connections

siblings: she has two siblings, a brother (30) and a sister (28). they are also adopted (so the fc could be anyone). i imagine they have a good relationship, although maybe she could have had a fallout with one of them because they decided to take their father’s side in the divorce.

close friends: could be friends she made in england, italy or here in new york. she has plenty friends but this group is special because she trusts them which is a hard thing for her to do.

partner in crime: so elina is very spontaneous, they kind of person who rarely says no to adventure. unfortunately, not many people are like that but this person is just like her and they always say yes to all her plans. 

art lovers: they run into each other at art galleries, exhibitions, open mics, museums, screenings, concerts, anything that involves art. so obviously they have the same interests, so they are each other art buddy. 

university classmates/friends: she attended oxford for four years, then the royal academy of art and right now she’s doing a master’s at nyu.

before sunset plot: okay so she traveled a lot after her divorce, so i’d love a plot like the one in the movie, ya know, they met on a train and talked for hours, they walked around the cities and talked some more. there was a connection but then their ways had to be split. 

unlikely friends: despite their differences they are friends. elina is very outgoing, reckless and impulsive while your character is the opposite of that.

fwb: since her divorce, elina hasn’t been in a serious relationship, however, this is the closest she has to one. they just fall in tune with the other. it’s easy, no strings attached. (m/f)

ex-flings: she probably has hooked up with a few people, it’s casual. (m/f)

tinder date: yeah she fell into the online dating world and let’s say it did NOT go well. it was akward but in a fun way. everything that could have gone wrong went wrong. it’s a fond memory but obviously there wasn’t a second date.

neighbours: people who live either in brooklyn or in her apartment complex.

OOOF ! okay, that’s all i have for now. i didn’t proofread this so excuse the lazy english but it’s 3 am here so my brain is dead. anyway, enough rambling. i’d loooove to plot with y’all so please like this or come and hit me up with plots. tumblr messages or discord, i’m game for anything!!! :D

[linaskatinas-blog]

Trumpa biografija

 ·        Tapytojas.

·        Gimė 1941 m. Radviliškyje.

·        1964 m. baigė architektūros studijas LTSR valstybiniame dailės institute.

·        Nuo 1967 m. dalyvauja parodose.

·        Nuo 1990 m. dailininkų grupės „24“ narys.

·        Dėstė M. K. Čiurliionio meno mokykloje, Vilniaus dailės akademijoje.

·        1999 m. apdovanotas Lietuvos nacionaline kultūros ir meno premija.

·        Kūrinių yra Lietuvos ir užsienio muziejuose, privačiose kolekcijose.

·         

Apie kūrybą

 Devintajame dešimtmetyje Leonas Linas Katinas, kaip ir Eugenijus Antanas Cukermanas, Dalia Kasčiūnaitė, Rūta Katiliūtė, Laima Drazdauskaitė ir Alfonsas Žvilius, pradėjo eksponuoti paveikslus, kuriuose kaitaliojasi abstrakcijos, gamtos motyvai ir simboliai. Dėl sovietmečio draudimų ir apribojimų architekto profesijos atsisakiusiam Katinui tapyba – laisvės ir eksperimentų laukas. Menininkas žaidybiškai ir ironiškai laužė nusistovėjusias normas. 

 Pirmiausia jis naujai interpretavo peizažo žanrą, vėliau ne mažiau netradiciškai traktavo pačias įvairiausias temas praplėsdamas abstrakčiosios tapybos įvaizdžių lauką ir specifines raiškos priemones. Neramią jaunystės dvasią Katinas išsaugojo ir vėlesniais kūrybos periodais. Anot Viktoro Liutkaus, menininkas „yra amžinas nenuorama, provokatorius, nenusikerpąs plaukų vyngėrys, visokių kultūros tekstų ir žemiškų kontekstų interpretatorius, sumanymų skleidėjas Vilniuje ir provincijoje. Jeigu dabartinės Lietuvos dailės atstovų tarpe pradėtume ieškoti kūrėjo, kurio darbuose ir veikloje jungtųsi dar sovietmečiu brendusi ir išsaugota avangardo dvasia su šių dienų meno raiškos laisve, atsimuštume į L. Katiną.” 

 Menininkas inspiracijų semiasi iš pačių įvairiausių šaltinių – nuo Tibeto budistinio meno iki lietuviško etnografinio palikimo, nuo gamtos iki kasdienės buities. Katino tapyboje yra užuominų į peizažus, augalus, vėliavas, kilimus, antklodes, taip pat ir į archetipinius ženklus, sakralinius objektus ar net kitų dailininkų kūrinius, bet kartu visi motyvai smarkiai abstrahuojami. Kai kuriose drobėse yra ir užrašų ar arba pavienių raumeninių elementų. 

 Ankstyvuosiuose paveiksluose peizažo ir kitus motyvus jis apibendrindavo pasitelkdamas organiškų ir geometrinių formų redukciją. Taip kopų kraštovaizdis pereina į lakonišką kartografinį žemėlapį, kuriame supriešinamos netaisyklingos žalia ir rusva plokštumos. Kitose drobėse jis komponuoja dviejų ar daugiau spalvų horizontalius dryžius arba apsiriboja baltos plokštumos monochromija. Svarbus šiuo periodu daugelyje drobių ir plokštumos reljefo išraiškingumas. 

 Menininkas paraleliai plėtoja geometrinę, gestišką, emblemišką tapybą, kurią papildo tekstais. Pavieniuose kūriniuose ar jų grupėse ši skirtinga meninė kalba labai susipynusi. Svarbią reikšmę įvairiais periodais menininkas skyrė kūrybos procesui. Ypač vėlyvojoje kūryboje jis palieka matomus spontaniško tapymo pėdsakus. Dailininkas dengia spalvą keliais sluoksniais išgaudamas reljefinę faktūrą arba drobės paviršiaus fragmentus palieka neužtapytus. Taiko ir liejimo techniką. Perpjauna plokštumas ar naudoja asambliažui ir koliažui artimus elementus. Tapytoją domina paveikslo plokštumos ir krašto, tapybos ir rėmo dermė. Jis tyrinėja paveikslą tiek kaip atvirą lauką, tiek kaip objektą. 

 Kai kada savo kūryboje Katinas nutrina tapybos ir performanso ar akcijos ribas. Po 1995-ųjų šalia grynai tapybinių akcijų yra surengęs ir kultūrinių politiškai angažuotų performansų. Sukūrė ir nemažai tapybos darbų ant popieriaus. Jie daug kameriškesni ir lyriškesni. Buities daiktai, archetipiniai ženklai, kosmologiniai motyvai čia apibendrinami ir komponuojami į griežtas konstruktyvias kompozicijas. Tarp redukuotų kompozicijų, taupių grafiškų ženklų ir transparentiškų švytinčių spalvų dekoratyvaus rafinuotumo atsiranda ypatinga prislopinta įtampa. 

 Savo aliejinės ir akvarelinės tapybos idėjas Katinas plėtoja gausiose darbų grupėse, kurios nesudaro griežtos ciklo ar serijos sekos. Dažnai tą patį motyvą jis daug sykių interpretuoja varijuodamas linijinius ir spalvinius derinius bei ritmą. 

 Raminta Jurėnaitė