Release in 2002, “All The Things She Said” was the most controversial music video ever recorded by the Russian pop duo, t.A.T.u .inspite of being a worldwide success and topping the charts in Australia, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
It immediately made sensational news worldwide. Since it was the first Lesbian video ever, it got banned on ITV in the U.K. and other campaigns, so it gets censored and claimed that it caters to lesbians and pedophiles. Parents were conscious about checking the family televisions in case a sinful video played.
The duo Julia Volkova and Leena Katina called themselves t.A.T.u, and their first music video featured the two Russian teenage ‘lesbians’ kissing each other in school uniforms.
What is ‘t.A.T.u’?
t.A.T.u was a Russian music duo, including Leena Katina and Julia Volkova. Before T. A.T.u came into being, the singers were a part of the children’s music group -Neposedy. The duo was managed by producer and director Ivan Shopovalov and sang with a Russian record labeled – Neformat, after t. A.T.u’s first debut album, 200 Po Vstrechnoy, became a commercial success in Eastern Europe, and the duo signed with Interscope Records to release its English language sequel, 200km/h in the Wrong Lane (2002).
The album was certified Platinum by the IFPI for selling one million copies in Europe and became the first album by a non-Japanese group to reach No.1 in Japan. It was also certified gold in the United States, including international hits like “All the Things She Said” and “Not Gonna Get Us.” The band represented Russia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023, with the song “Ne ver’,ne boysia,” ranking third.
t.A.T.u released albums Dangerous and Moving and Lyudi In Validity in 2005 after parting ways with Shopovolov. The duo was promoted with the international hit “All About Us.” They got engaged in projects like creating their own production company T.A. Music and promoting films inspired by their story, “You and I” (2008).
t.A.T.u finally broke up in 2011 after their last pair of albums-Vesyolye Ulybki(2008) and Waste Management(2009) and decided to pursue solo careers. They perform together on special occasions like the opening ceremony of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.
The Music Video Controversy
The music video of “All the Things She Said” fired controversy in several countries it was played. In Canada, it stood 4th in The 50 Most Controversial Videos and 5th in F.H.M. Music T.V.’s Most Sexy Videos. The song took place in Virgin Media’s Sexiest Music Video ever. Standard.co.UK enlisted the song at no.2 on the Top Sexiest Music Videos.
The song ranked 6th on Wha Culture’s list of the 12 Raunchiest Music Videos ever, got included in Urban Garden magazine’s list of Most Controversial Music Videos of all Times, ranked no.30 on American magazine F.H.M.’s list of Sexiest Videos of all time, Ugo.com ranked it 38th on their sexiest videos of all time, Wme and Fuse T.V positioned it 64th on their Top 100 sexiest Music Videos of All Time.
After its release, it got banned in the United Kingdom by ITV from its Music. C.D. U.K. responded that they could not play it as it was unsuitable for children. ITV personalities Richard and July put out campaigns to ban the music video from British Television as it indicated pedophiles portraying school uniforms and young girls kissing, but the campaign failed.
B.B.C. rejected the fact of banning the video from its weekly B.B.C. One Music show, Top of the Pops. Much Music’s decision to ban the video from airing was scrapped. The show’s president commented that the video didn’t oversexualize the girl, and they looked of age. He added that the video was creating controversies like many other videos, such as Christina Aguilera’s video-it triggers controversy.
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Cancellation of concerts controversy
Between 2002 and 2004, t.A.T.u faced controversy for canceling several concerts and tours worldwide. Due to poor ticket sales, the group dropped the dates for their “Show Me Love Promo Tour” in the United Kingdom just days before they performed.
In May 2003, E.E.M. sued t. A.T.u’s management for 300,000 pounds, complaining that they put “unachievable and numerous obstacles” in ticket sales for their shows. The group also canceled the Asian promo tour for Japan and China with the excuse of Julia’s sickness and that Julia needed urgent surgery. The same month, they postponed their German promo tour.
For a late invitation to the 2003 MTV movie awards, where they performed. The next month they also canceled their Riga concert and Japan concert in June without any official cancellation letters, and as a result, they were charged $180,000 as compensation.
The group canceled their appearance in Chile due to poor ticket sales and the withdrawal of one of the Chilean sponsors while the duo was promoting their studio album-“Dangerous and Moving.” The following month the group made a last-minute cancellation due to inadequate stage preparation and poor ticket sales. In September 2009, many Russian shows were canceled due to the 22 July Tupolev Tu-154 plane crash.
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Fake Gay couple controversy
Russian producer Shopavalov and his then business partner put out an audition for female vocalists, and out of hundreds, they selected Leena Katina and Julia Volkova, both 14 at that time and were former members of the children’s singing group, Neposedy. Shapovalov created the whole scenario, including the band name and their gay image; Katina and Valkova embodied their artist instinct, presenting femme four femme intimacy in performance, music videos as well as interviews,
But it was all an act; Shapovalov put together the “underage sex project,” as he called the group, just because he found it funny, with a hint to attract the male gaze. As our culture treated pop stars like Britney Spears in that era, the same treatment is going to be avail for T. A.T.u as well.
The 2023 documentary, Anatomy of T. A.T.u aired on Russian television revealed that neither was lesbian. Katina even confessed that she was attempting to take away her sinful behavior. Volkova turned out to be bisexual, but in a 2014 interview for Russian TV, she insulted gay men, commenting them as ‘unmanly’ and rebuked the idea of having a gay son, for which she later apologized.
But when their scandals surpassed their novelty, t.A.T.u promptly released four more videos before they split in 2011. They were off to pursue single careers but could never escape t. T. A.T.u’s effect on the audience resulted in their performing jointly at special events.
