Yulia Kogan and Alisa Vox - how the former soloists of Leningrad live. New women of Sergei Shnurov: first interview with Vasilisa and Florida Female vocals in the Leningrad group

Alice Vox – Russian singer, who received national recognition as a soloist of the Leningrad group. Resident of the D'12 club. The artist is known to club audiences under the name MC Lady Alice.

Alisa Mikhailovna Kondratieva was born and raised in St. Petersburg. Mother of the girl with early age instilled in her daughter a desire to go on stage. At the age of 4, Alisa’s mother enrolled her in the ballet studio at the Lensovet Palace of Culture and kept her daughter the strictest diet. But when it turned out that the child had no predisposition to academic choreography, Alice was transferred to the children's studio of the Music Hall. It was there, during choir classes, that the girl discovered her talent for vocals.

As a preschooler, Kondratieva performed main role in the play " New Year's adventures Alice, or Magic book wishes" directed by Andrei Skvortsov, and also sang and danced a lot in other children's productions. Thus, by the time she had to go to school, Alice simply had no time left for lessons.

Due to poor performance at school, the parents took their daughter away from the Music Hall, but Alice insisted that she be allowed to continue her vocal training with a teacher. In addition, Alisa was a member of the Dance Sports Federation and even represented the region at city competitions.

After school, the girl goes to Moscow and enters GITIS in the pop department. There, Lyudmila Afanasyeva became Kondratyeva’s teacher, having raised more than one celebrity. The vocalist made Alice believe in own strength and study hard. However, due to the lack of finances, it was difficult for the aspiring singer to live in the capital, and part-time work in karaoke bars did not bring much income. Therefore, at the age of 20, Alisa Vox quit Theatre Institute, returned home and entered the local University of Culture and Arts, in the pop-jazz vocal department. After university, the girl worked as a vocalist in the NEP restaurant-cabaret, as well as a presenter at corporate events and weddings.

Music

The first success came to Alisa Vox when the artist began collaborating with the Duhless club. The singer improvised on stage, singing lines from famous songs to the DJ's electronic beat. Soon this direction, called vocal hosting, became popular, and Alice under the name MC Lady Alice began to be recognized and invited to perform in nightclubs. On the Record radio channel, where the singer was once rejected as a radio presenter, Alisa began recording jingles.

In 2012, the girl heard about a casting in a wide range of famous group"Leningrad". The team needed a new vocalist-sessionist, as she went on maternity leave. At the audition, Alisa showed herself to be quite confident and even joked. As a result, the singer was accepted into the group. Moreover, if at first the girl was only a studio assistant, then in the fall of 2013 she already appeared on stage as a full member of the team. Thanks to participation in creative life"Leningrad" Alice became known to the public under the pseudonym "Vox".

It is interesting that on stage, lead singer Alisa Vox and the leader of the group allowed themselves to act on the verge of, and sometimes beyond, the foul and staged very frank scenes, but behind the scenes their relationship was restrained. The singer even for a long time called Shnurov by name and patronymic.

In the Leningrad group, Alisa Vox recorded many songs that became super hits. Among them are the sensational hits “Patriot”, “Fire and Ice”, “37th”, “Bag”, “I Cry and Cry”. The song “Exhibit” especially stood out, known for its line from the chorus “On Louboutins” and which became a super hit largely thanks to Alice’s vocals. Number of views on this video musical composition reached 60 million.

In 2014, as a sign of protest against the ban on the use of obscene language in performances, the artist completely undressed on the stage of a concert of the Leningrad group in Moscow during the performance of the musical composition “Loves Our People.” At first, the girl found herself half naked, but at the end of the song, Alisa went behind Sergei Shnurov and took off the panties that were left on her, throwing the underwear into the audience. Photo and video scandalous performance got into free access on the Internet and typed a large number of views and likes.

However, after working together for almost 4 years, Vox and Shnurov came to a mutual decision. The singer decided to end the scandalous stage of her own creative biography and set off on a free voyage. At the end of March 2016, Alisa announced her departure from the Leningrad group and the beginning solo career. One of the last songs with the participation of Alisa Vox and Sergei Shnurov was the musical composition “Prayer”.

Some sources of information indicated that the initiator of the break was the leader musical group Sergei Shnurov, but the singer himself declined to comment. A scandal erupted on social networks: many fans of the group expressed disagreement with the departure of Alisa Vox and threatened to stop going to concerts.

Personal life

Alice Vox got married before she became famous throughout the country. The singer’s husband was professional photographer Dmitry Burmistrov. The girl took her husband’s last name and even on posters sometimes combined it with a pseudonym, signing “Alice Vox-Burmistrova.” The singer repeatedly emphasized that her husband is a wise man who is not jealous because of piquant performances, since he knows perfectly well how to distinguish a show from real life.

However, at the end of 2015, Alice began to appear in public without wedding ring and deleted from social networks all photos of my husband. Soon the public became aware that Vox and Burmistrov.

Alice Vox now

In 2016, Alisa Vox immediately began creating solo musical compositions. The singer's first album contained cover versions of songs from the group of the late Ukrainian musician, which Alisa sang. The artist made her debut on television and on the Internet with a video called. At the end of December of the same year, on her own Instagram account, Alisa announced the release date of her second solo video for the hit “Nights”. Both songs were included in studio album Alice called "Herself". The debut disc also included the songs “Prolyubov”, “Ships”, “Silence”.

Alisa Vox positions herself as a vocalist working in the electro-pop style.

In the spring of 2017, Alisa released a video for the musical composition “Baby” with an “anti-opposition” orientation, for which the singer, according to rumors, received 2 million rubles from representatives of the Kremlin administration. Fans of the artist reacted negatively to the appearance of this video. Alice Vox's ratings began to fall sharply. In August, the vocalist deleted the video from own channel on YouTube video hosting. In the same year, new videos of the singer “Inexplicable”, “Eyes”, “Disco Queen” appeared online.

Now the singer is preparing to release her next album “ New Alice Vox,” which can be pre-ordered by visiting the vocalist’s online page

Last year was one of the most unsuccessful in Alice’s biography - after resounding success, which brought her to the peak of popularity, Vox fell from Olympus, and her professional failure turned out to be quite profound. Failures haunted her not only in her career, but also in her personal life - Alisa Vox’s husband, whom she married even before becoming the soloist of Leningrad, is also a thing of the past.

WITH famous photographer The singer met Dmitry Burmistrov at one of the parties in a nightclub in St. Petersburg, and a romance instantly broke out between them, developing at a rapid speed. They were from the same crowd and treated each other’s lifestyle with understanding, so there were never quarrels or misunderstandings between the spouses due to the fact that one of them sometimes stayed until the morning at the next night event.

In the photo - Alisa Vox with ex-husband

Alice Vox's husband was calm about her participation in scandalous group“Leningrad”, the performances in which were not only shocking, but also provocative. For both, it was just work with its costs and specifics. However, after some time, discord did occur in the family of Alice and Dmitry, and the reason, according to many, was that Vox felt a real star, which affected not only her relationships within the team, but also in the family. This ended disastrously for Alisa’s career - the leader of Leningrad, Sergei Shnurov, kicked her out of the group, although the singer herself claimed that it was she herself who wanted to leave the group in order to start a solo career. Alisa Vox’s personal life also collapsed - she broke up with Dmitry, but this, according to the singer, was not something very difficult for her, her feelings just passed, and they decided to break up.

Some of their acquaintances claim that the family idyll in this couple ended almost immediately as soon as Alisa got to Leningrad; moreover, she was credited with an affair with Shnurov, although Vox herself categorically denies this. After the divorce, she does not communicate with her ex-husband, nor with the leader of Leningrad, who quickly found a replacement for her in the person of two new soloists.

Unfortunately, the first experience in a solo career was unsuccessful for the singer, and she debut video Not only did I not like “Hold” music critics, but even to Alice Vox fans who expected more from her. Everyone is already accustomed to the fact that she performs songs in the style of “Leningrad,” but in the new composition Alisa appeared in a completely different image.

In the photo - Alisa Vox and Sergey Shnurov

Before joining the Leningrad group, Alisa Vox managed to work as a vocalist in the cabaret restaurant NEP - four days a week she performed on the cabaret stage, and during the day she hosted weddings and corporate events, and sang in karaoke cafes. Later, Alisa began touring and got a job as a presenter on Radio Record. Having learned about the casting for the position of vocalist in Leningrad, Vox, without hesitation, went there, first of all, to see Shnur live, and as a result she was approved, and her first performance took place in Germany. Alisa Vox worked in the group for almost four years, and her departure came as a surprise to many.

30-year-old Alisa Vox, former vocalist of the Leningrad group, spoke about how she left the group, seemingly at the height of fame. Many fans of the team still consider her best soloist groups for the entire existence of Leningrad. In March 2016, Alice announced her departure and the start of a solo career. Sergei Shnurov then, at one of the concerts, sarcastically joked about her departure.

Everyone asks me - where is Alice? In my opinion, this is a stupid question, since it is obvious that she is not here. But we will answer with a song that will be performed by Adolfych (one of the group members. - Note auto). Afterwards it sounded new song a collective whose name sounds like, to put it simply, “go back to where you were born from.”

After Vox released solo album, which many called a failure. Now the singer is still in free swimming. Recently she gave an interview to Cosmo magazine, in which she talked about her scandalous departure and the humiliation that she had to experience from Sergei Shnurov.

In fact, there was no trigger. After three years of working in the group, the relationship began to rapidly deteriorate, Sergei often began to lash out at me, shouting... We stopped understanding each other. I told Sergei about my decision to leave the team on March 12, 2016. In that conversation, I immediately reassured him, saying that I would remain in the group until I found and introduced a replacement. He took this news calmly, even friendly. I asked to stay until July. I agreed. We discussed technical issues, laughed, hugged and kissed goodbye... I started looking for vocalists, showed him demo recordings different girls. I brought Vasilisa to the team, she worked for a year after I left. In the meantime, we went to Ufa, played a great concert, after which Shnurov stopped answering calls and SMS. I learned from Vasilisa that it is forbidden to even pronounce my name in a group, and from the group’s logistician I learned that big concerts Two new girls will go to Moscow on March 24. Just before the concert, Sergei called, said something incomprehensible and hung up, without even allowing me to say goodbye to him as a human being.

Vox admits that this act of Shnurov offended her very much, but she is not angry with former colleague:

What can you say to a person whom you regularly supported, treated, fed, consoled, inspired and encouraged... and he... I have never been so wrong about people. But I forgive him. Apparently, I am his weakness. But this does not justify him. That's why I'm not going to talk to him. And I still communicate with some of the guys from the group.

Although, according to her, Shnurov has a lot to apologize for. For example, for a concert during which, as Vox claims, he forced her to undress on stage. Then Alice, in front of hundreds of people, first took off her dress, remaining topless, and then even “accidentally” showed her breasts to the public. Having finished the song, she stood behind Sergei and, taking off her panties, threw them into the hall.

I didn’t like the division of the team into small communities of interests. These interests, as you understand, were far from books. In the third year, the same jokes and stories (again, not from books) began to irritate me. I remember with hostility my feelings on stage during the performance of humiliating shorthand performances, as well as the scoldings that Sergei gave me when I tried to avoid these gestures. My worst memory is June 6, 2014. This is a nightmare, the trail of which haunts me to this day. The process of adopting a law banning swearing was underway. Sergei was in a panic and couldn’t find anything better than to undress me on stage. To get me to do this, a thorough psychological work. Sergey is an experienced manipulator. And I, a 25-year-old girl who unconditionally trusted her leader, had no choice but to obey. All! Since then, my life has been divided into before and after. I cried all night after the concert and lost my voice for two weeks. nervous soil. To this day I have not been able to wash myself away from this humiliation, in which I was the only victim. Moreover, as it turned out, this sacrifice was completely in vain, since this law did not affect Sergei. I prefer to simply forget about many other episodes.

Still, Vox is grateful for that time because she “became a better judge of people.” She dreams of a house with panoramic windows and every day “to be the best version yourself."

— I have a rule: don’t set global goals for yourself. Setting a specific maximum goal means for me setting a ceiling for myself. Give up early. Marcus Aurelius said: “Do what you must, and come what may.” I live by this principle, and the result always exceeds my expectations. One more rule (my own): work and don’t whine. It opens up vast horizons for me, because I am used to achieving success in all my endeavors.

alisavox

Alisa Vox for the first time about the reasons for leaving the Leningrad group, divorce from her husband and support from Lagutenko

It would not be an exaggeration to say that the soundtrack of 2016 in Russia was the song of the Leningrad group “Exhibit”. Having burst into rotation on radio stations and TV channels in January, the song instantly became popular throughout the country and even became part of cultural life: At the Van Gogh exhibition held in Moscow at the beginning of the year, female visitors in Louboutins and the Seregas accompanying them were allowed in free of charge.

Against this background, another event happened - this time on a local scale. For the first time in the almost 20-year history of the Leningrad group, not only frontman Sergei Shnurov, but also the lead singer of the group, Alisa Vox, came to the fore. It was she who became the voice of “Exhibit”, as well as several others popular songs from the repertoire, which attracted everyone's attention.

However, at the peak of popularity, in March 2016, Alisa unexpectedly announced her departure from the group. She posted the news about this on her page on the social network, saying that she decided to move on regardless of Shnurov. Sergei did not seem very upset. Having said that the group was him first and foremost, Shnurov quickly found two new singers to replace Alisa and continued to work as if nothing had happened. And Alice Vox got busy solo career.

In an interview with HELLO.RU, Alisa Vox for the first time gave answers to questions that concern her fans about leaving the group and talked about what other events had happened in her life in recent months.

Alisa, how did you become the lead singer of the Leningrad group?

This happened in 2011. I found out that they are looking for a temporary singer to join the team. maternity leave current soloist Yulia Kogan. I decided to give it a try and ended up passing the casting. The castings lasted from the moment it became known about Yulia’s pregnancy; about 300 applicants were screened, but they approved me.

You ended up in a very popular group, which became even more popular after the release of the song “Exhibit”. And suddenly they left the group. Why?

Nothing much actually happened. This decision was not spontaneous; it was initially clear to me that I would not survive in the group until I was old. We talked with Sergei and decided that I had already done all the best in the group, it was time to move on.

The press wrote that there was supposedly a conflict between you, and it was connected with the fact that Sergei’s wife Matilda was jealous of him. This is true?

It's a lie. (Laughs.) There was not the slightest reason for jealousy. No one quarreled with anyone, a work situation arose - I made this decision.

So you didn’t quarrel with Sergei?

Sergei is a difficult person, demanding, authoritarian. How was it working with him? Did he allow you to express your individuality?

He manages more than two dozen people - of course, there is no time for simplicity. He is a tough leader, but for me personally this was not a problem. He puts professional relationships first, which I think is right. I felt comfortable working with him.

After you left, Sergei said that the Leningrad group is him, and it doesn’t matter which soloist will sing in it.

Well, that's how it is. (Laughs.) It would be strange to disagree with this. You will stop anyone on the street and ask what associations he has when he hears the name “Leningrad”. They will definitely answer you: Cord.

IN this moment Does the fame of the ex-soloist of “Leningrad” hinder you or help you?

Hard to tell. I try not to exploit this; I don’t perform the group’s songs or Shnurov’s songs. I have a different image, a different direction in music. I don't want to be perceived as part of a team that I'm no longer involved with.

Do you have any restrictions on performing Shnurov’s songs? If you wanted to sing something at your concert, could you do it?

There were no prohibitions or court orders in this regard, and I also did not receive any verbal instructions from Sergei. But, to be honest, we never discussed this.

Your first solo composition, “Hold,” caused a mixed reaction from the public. Some people liked it, others found it downright boring. How can you comment on this?

I'm moving in musical direction, which I consider the most popular today in the world musical culture. It's synth-pop, electro-pop, pop-rock. But people are used to seeing me in a different image, they are accustomed to different vocabulary, so perhaps what I do now seems boring to some - those people who simply do not understand my new image. It's a matter of taste.

Initially, I found myself in the wrong field. A large audience of Leningrad fans watched and expected a continuation from me in the spirit of Leningrad, but this did not happen. People who were not interested in associating me with the group greeted the release positively. My work received four stars from the Intermedia portal - this is the same as received last album Red Hot Chili Peppers, For example. I read the impartial, critical analyzes from a professional point of view and am pleased with the result.

Can you say that being part of the Leningrad group you were not yourself and did things that were not close to you?

"Leningrad" is Sergei Shnurov, starting with music and ending with images. He creates everything, everyone there plays the roles that he assigned to them. This is a theater of one director.

Are you prepared for the possibility that you might lose some of your audience?

I think you need to do what you believe in.

Shortly before leaving the group, changes occurred in your personal life - you separated from your husband. Why did they suddenly decide to burn bridges in all directions at once?

I divorced my husband, but, despite the fact that at that moment the media wrote everything about this, there was no drama. It happens that sometimes feelings just pass - you get up and silently leave. At some point I realized that I had no future with this person - and I left.

Are you currently communicating with Sergei Shnurov and your ex-husband?

No. It is not necessary. Now I'm focused on work. A video will be released soon; it has been filmed, but is currently in the post-production stage. Then an EP will be released - a mini-album, which will include five songs, three of them new and two fresh versions of old ones. In December I will present a song for which I wrote the music and lyrics myself. It is very important for me, new point countdown. In terms of musical style, I plan to continue moving towards electro-pop rock. By the way, Ilya Lagutenko supports me in this. He listened to my songs and reacted very positively to them; his assessment is very important to me. I was pleased to receive words of encouragement from him. So life goes on.

Fans of the Leningrad group are getting used to the new lineup - the bright and lively Vasilisa Starshova left the team in the summer. And this is in the midst of a huge tour on the occasion of the 20th anniversary. First she said she was sick, and then she admitted on Instagram:

“Yes, I no longer sing in Leningrad. I’m doing well, I’m happy, healthy, not tired, I have plenty of strength and energy. Thank you everyone for your good words, excitement and support. Well, in the near future... wait for it.”

Vasilisa did not explain the reason for her departure. But now with all his posts on Instagram he is trying to prove to fans that life does not stop after Leningrad.

Shnurov also remained silent for a long time, but when fans on social networks bombarded him with questions “Where is Vasya?”, he replied that the girl was tired.

Who will understand the motives of women? I’m probably tired,” Sergei wrote.

It’s a pity,” the fans lamented.

Regretting the past is the most unproductive activity,” Shnurov put an end to the conversation.

Now Florida Chanturia is responsible for the female component of the group. Shnurov took her to Leningrad along with Vasilisa.

IN last clip group for the song “CHPH” Florida played the main role. However, many Leningrad fans believe that she is far from Vasilisa’s charisma:

“Without your energy, without your youthful enthusiasm and without your voice, the sound of the Leningrad group is rather poor.” “Florida is boring. She has no fire! Squeezed! And somehow too distant!”

So why are the Leningrad soloists fleeing the group? Let us remind you that the first girl in the team was red-haired Yulia Kogan. She joined the team in 2007 as a backing vocalist, but a year later the project disbanded. In 2010, Leningrad was revived, and Kogan was taken to the team as a soloist. Julia performed until the fall of 2012, and then went on maternity leave. In 2013, Kogan finally left the team.

At first, Julia’s departure was explained by the birth of her daughter. But later it turned out that Shnurov and Kogan stopped getting along with each other and the leader of Leningrad showed the girl the door.

A year later, Julia took up a solo career, released an album, and became a TV presenter. Now Kogan’s popularity rating is far from the time she worked with Shnurov. She still tours, but no longer attracts stadiums like before. And on Kogan’s posters there is always a note “ex-vocalist of the Leningrad group.”

In November 2012, new backing vocalist Alisa Vox starred in the video “Gulf of Finland” along with Kogan, who later took Yulia’s place.

Vox lasted in Leningrad for three years. During this time, she sang such hits as “37th”, “Prayer”, “Bag” and, of course, the legendary “Exhibit”, the video for which blew up the Internet. But suddenly, at the peak of her popularity, Alice leaves the team.

“I decided to leave the Leningrad group and am launching my solo project! - she announced on Instagram. - Working with Sergei Shnurov gave me a huge experience stage life, I am eternally grateful to him for the opportunity to develop and improve.”

In a year and a half of solo sailing, Alisa released a solo album and shot several videos, none of which reached 500 thousand views.

Shnurov explained Alisa Vox’s departure from Leningrad simply: she became a star.

“At my own whim, I turn average singers into stars,” he wrote on Instagram. - I come up with an image, material, and promote it. I decide how to present them so that they will be loved. Well, not exactly theirs, the image, of course... The audience loves the image we created and really don’t want the end. But it is inevitable. The Heroines of the myth, invented by me and created by the team, quite quickly and naively begin to believe in their own Divine nature. But we don’t know how to deal with Goddesses. We are burning pots here..."

Nor did Sergei’s husband have any special love for Alice. Once Vox posted a photo from the Sobaka.ru magazine awards, where she was invited as a presenter. The girl thanked the publication for good evening and in the comments received a scolding from Matilda Shnurova. The rocker's wife accused the singer of ingratitude.

“Alice, it’s surprising that there was no thank you either for the Ice Palace, where 12 thousand spectators watched you, or for the sold-out Moscow concerts. You have it here most of subscribers are fans of the Leningrad group.”

By the way, many fans believe that Matilda does not play last role in the fate of the group's soloists. Not long ago Sergei posted on Instagram joint photo his wife and Florida. And judging by it, the current soloist of “Leningrad” has no problems with the boss’s wife yet.

However, Florida does not seem to need to relax.

When can we expect a new female representative as a soloist? - they asked Sergei on Instagram.

Always,” answered Shnurov. - There are about 5 billion women in the world. We need to see everyone.

No one from the Leningrad group leaves on their own! - Shnurov’s friend, as well as a former Leningrad participant, Stas Baretsky, said in an interview with World of News. - The soloists messed up and were removed from the team. But they pretended to leave on their own with their heads held high.