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Lena Katina
Background information
Birth name	Elena Sergeevna Katina
Also known as	Lena Katina
Born	4 October 1984 (1984-10-04) (age 25)
Origin	Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Genres	Synthpop, Pop-rock, Alternative
Occupations	Singer
Instruments	Voice, Piano
Years active	1992 – present
Labels	T.A. Music
Associated acts	t.A.T.u., Neposedi
Website	official website

Elena Sergeevna Katina (Russian: Елена Сергеевна Катина pronunciation: Yelyena Syergeyevna Katina), born October 4, 1984, better known as Lena Katina is one half of the Russian music duo t.A.T.u.; the other being Yulia Volkova. She has entered the Russian show-business as 8-year old girl, joining the Russian children act Avenue, and later Neposedi. In 1999, Katina was chosen by Ivan Shapovalov for his project, later becoming the most famous Russian group of all time, t.A.T.u. Katina became famous worldwide thanks to hits such as "All The Things She Said", "Not Gonna Get Us" and "All About Us". In 2009, it was announced that Katina would pursue a solo career.

Early years

Born in Moscow in 1984, Katina is the eldest of three children, and the only daughter of Inessa and Sergey Katin, a prominent Russian pop music author. Her younger, half sister Katya has a different father and her half brother Ivan has a different mother. She was raised religiously and is a practicing Russian Orthodox Christian. Lena has also become a skilled pianist, having taken lessons since the age of six.

Career

Entering show business

In 1993, she joined the famous Russian children's ensemble "Avenue" where she sang for three years. In 1996, at the age of 12, she auditioned for Neposedi (the most popular and prestigious children's chorus at the time) and was selected after impressing a panel of judges by the quality of her voice. She remained in Neposedi for three years. During her time in Neposedi, Katina met Yulia Volkova who was also a singer in the group. In 1999, the girls would be reacquainted once again, this time, as the duo, t.A.T.u.

Joining the group

Creator and then-manager of t.A.T.u., Ivan Shapovalov stated that the idea of t.A.T.u. stemmed from the common fascination and fantasy of school-girl lesbian lovers among men, knowing that the duo would be highly appealing to a diverse fan-base.

After auditioning 400 girls, Shapovalov selected Lena for t.A.T.u. at the age of 15. With the project still in development, Lena got the opportunity to record demos (credited as t.A.T.u.), like "Belochka," and "Yugoslaviya," among others. 14-year old Yulia Volkova would be added to the project some time afterward, and in 2001, the duo would conquer Russia, and soon, the world.

Feeling satisfied with his choices, Shapovalov signed Yulia and Lena to t.A.T.u., but the contract with Shapovalov also demanded that the girls present a lesbian image. After breaking away from Shapovalov in 2004, the girls came clean and stated that Shapovalov had created the lesbian-image, and that they were even told what to say in interviews. Shapovalov demanded that Yulia cut her hair short and dye it black, and Lena was also forced to lose 44 pounds and dye her naturally red hair a more vibrant shade of ginger-red, the girls were also forced to shave off their eye brows for a magazine photo shoot early in their career.^{[citation needed]}

Success, popularity & stardom

t.A.T.u. soon became the most successful Russian group of all time, leaving a number of hits behind them, such as "All The Things She Said", "Not Gonna Get Us" and "All About Us". They also took part in Eurovision Song Contest 2003 and finished third with Ne Ver', Ne Boisya. In 2004 the girls revealed that lesbian relationship was just an image, and decided to leave Ivan Shapovalov. During the same time, Volkova got pregnant and started to have serious vocal problems. Since Volkova's vocal-chords cyst operation, Katina has taken most of the lead roles on records and taken many of the higher parts.

In 2007, Lena, along with her bandmate, Yulia Volkova starred in a film You and I, with Mischa Barton as the lead actor. The movie was directed by Roland Joffe and was presented at the Cannes Film Festival in 2008. Its release is expected either in 2009 or 2010.

Going solo

It has been confirmed by the official t.A.T.u. website that Lena is to undertake a solo career under the guidance and management of the T.A. Music label. She started working with t.A.T.u. band-members in the middle of 2009 and is expected to release an album in 2010.^[1]

Katina will give her first solo performance June 12 at PrideFest in Milwaukee.^[2]

Personal life

Since the early childhood, her hobbies include artistic gymnastics, ballroom dancing, figure skating, swimming and horseback-riding. She is also a skilled pianist and also enjoys reading, especially romance novels. Katina stated in a 2006 TeleHit interview that she used to listen to artists such as Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, and Pink Floyd when she was younger.^[3] She is known as a big fan of classical music and green tea. Unlike her musical associate, Yulia Volkova, Lena has managed to keep a low profile on her personal life, even though she has spoken openly about her relationships.

References

External links

• Lena Katina official website
• t.A.T.u. official website
• Lena Katina at the Internet Movie Database