Pop Notes: “Orange” groups top local charts

/P>

The top five spots are held by bands or artists that openly supported the “Orange Revolution” that has swept much of Ukraine:

1. 5’nizza (“Netu doma, netu flaha” – No Home, No Flag)

2. Okean Elzy (“Dyakuyu” – Thank You)

3. Tartak (“Ya ne khochu” – I Don’t Want)

4. Greenjolly (“Razom nas bahato” – Together We Are Many)

5. Tartak and Katya Chilly (“Ponad Khmaramy” – Under the Clouds).

While it’s not surprising that uber-popular 5’nizza would top the list – the song comes from their latest album, which the band debuted for Ukrainian fans at a packed Art Club 44 on Nov. 30 – it did surprise many what the duo did after the show.

Band members Sun and Serega – both of whom are from Kharkiv and sing most of their songs in Russian – went out onto Khreshchatyk and played unplugged for protesters braving the cold and snow. It was a galvanizing move for a band that now considers Moscow its home base, and that had not previously shown public support for the protesters. Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych has, by the way, attracted support from singers Natalia Mogilevskaya, UN goodwill ambassador Ani Lorak and Taisa Povaliy, among others.

Speaking of Ani Lorak and her participation in the Yanukovych campaign, it’s unlikely to affect her work with the United Nations in Ukraine. An anonymous United Nations spokesperson in Kyiv would only say of Lorak and her views that the UN works to promote democracy and unbounded freedom of expression.

“It is not our place to say who someone can vote for or who they cannot,” said the spokesperson.

Afro-Ukrainian Style

African rhythms and music have long inspired other types and styles of music, from Brazilian samba and its infectious drum beat to Cuban jazz. But what about ethnic Ukrainian notes inspiring African musicians? An odd thought, until you discover Kyiv’s self-styled Afro-Ukrainian band Chornobryvtsi (Black Marigolds).

Chornobrivtsi recently debuted their first video, “Ty zh mene pidmanula” (You Cheated Me), which is a remake of a Ukrainian folk song from the 19th century, but with an African beat. Band leaders Steve D and Rastaman Davis of Uganda, longtime residents of Kyiv, realized that they had the market cornered on this style of music – at least in Ukraine. Their unique take on the song has been a springboard for their careers.

As interesting as the song itself, which has seen airtime on Enter TV and other video music channels, is that the video (which was shot overnight from Nov. 23-24 at the Dovzhenko film studios and featured Svitlana Chervonyuk of Karin models and actor Volodymyr Zadniprovsky of the Lesya Ukrainka Russian Drama Theater) has already become a hit in the musicians’ native country, where it is being celebrated as a display of cultural cooperation between Ukrainians and Ugandans.

For now, Steve D says he is content to keep his fulltime job as a travel agent, while Rastaman Davis hopes someday to be prime minister or president of his country. Idi Amin biographers, be forewarned.

Stupka Awarded in Moscow

First legendary Ukrainian actor Bohdan Stupka’s summer movie, “A Driver for Vera,” was nominated in the Best Foreign Film category in this spring’s Academy Awards. More recently, on Dec. 11, he was named Best Leading Actor at the Golden Ram film awards in Moscow for his role in the film “Svoyi” (Their Own; released as “Us” in English).

Stupka plays one of three Russian soldiers fleeing the German blitzkrieg in the early days of war on the eastern front in 1941. It’s a harrowing war movie, and it debuted just this year at the Toronto International Film Festival.

“Svoyi” was the top prize winner at the Golden Ram awards, taking the awards for Best Film, Best Original Story and Best Supporting Actress (Natalia Surkova). Best Director went to the aging Kira Muratova for her work on “Nastroyuvach” (The Tuner), itself a multiple award-winner at the festival. Muratova, an Odessa-born Ukrainian, is best-known for her films “Long Goodbyes” (1971), “Second-Class Citizens (2001) and “Chekhov’s Motives” (2002).