Europop-ski

In the search for good europop, if such a thing exists, I have gone east to Russia to discover the throwaway delights of Zhanna Friske. She rose to fame as a member of Russian pop group Blestyashchie. Upon watching their videos, I realised that Girls Aloud still have quite some considerable depths yet to plumb in terms of sleaze. Blestyashchie are Russia's longest running and most famous girl group, as well as their least-dressed. Their longevity has been the result of the policy that whenever one member leaves (as several of them have), they simply conscript someone new who doesn't mind writhing around wearing very little. Still, the music is trash and you can't argue with that. Just look at the evidence.

Blestyashchie - Agent 007: You can tell the Cold War's over when you see a Russian girl group performing their sleazy ode to James Bond. If you thought Scooch's airsteward uniforms looked camp, try these for size. This video reveals the Blestyashchie girls' secret of slimness, as they bang away on exercise bikes. I'm still at a loss to account for the relevance to James Bond.

Blestyashchie - За четыре моря: Speaking no Russian myself, I've had to make a rather impromptu translation of this song. It appears to be a latino-flavoured song about the lot of Russian housewives. They're glamorous, but they're hard-working. Look at them, vacuuming away, ironing their smalls, looking after the dog. Household chores rarely looked this glamorous.


Blestyashchie - Восточные сказки: You might have heard this one before. The Blestyashchie girls rope in Arash for a Russian take on one of his album hits. It sounds like they're singing about facial hair... Moustache-ni, Moustache-ni...

Having taken pop to its sleaziest level as part of the group, Zhanna Friske then left the group behind to make a number of cheesy Europop records. La La La found her in fabulous form, trilling her way through a singalongable ditty. It's europop-by-numbers and all the better for it.


There's a summery feel to Zhanna's hit, Gde to leto. I've never seen someone accessorise so well with the colour of a swimming pool. She's practically camouflaged in her range of turquoise swimwear. I'm not sure about the bit with the flaming torches though. That silky dress of hers looks flammable and it could all so easily have ended in tears.

You can download Zhanna's songs here. Click the links below. Click Mp3 (next to the speaker icon). A new window appears, then click Скачать. A new window will appear. If your download doesn't begin automatically, click ссылку to start it.

La La La
Gde to leto