Lina Arifulina: "In life, the stars are not what they seem"

2024 Author: James Gerald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-12 17:37

First of all, Lina Arifulina is known as the director and co-director of the first five seasons of the Star Factory show. Thanks to the super success of this project, Lina has become an iconic figure in Russian show business. Having gained tremendous experience of working with both celebrities and aspiring artists, she wrote the book “The Corporation of Stars. How to become a star and stay human”, which became a guide for future celebrities. Lina Arifulina also worked on the STS Lights a Superstar project and the School of Music music show, the first children's music show in Russia.

It is impossible to count everyone whom Lina, a teacher from God, taught to stay in front of the camera, whom she helped to reveal talent, whom she made a professional artist. Over the years, she taught, helped, guided, shared her experience. People needed her, and that is why she opened and headed Lina Arifulina's Workshop, a project specializing in preparing adults and children for public speaking. But Lina is not used to being satisfied with what has already been achieved, so now she is trying herself in a new direction, which she told about in our interview.

Blitz survey "Cleo":

- Are you friends with the Internet?

- Very tight.

- What is an unacceptable luxury for you?

- Get together to relax with the whole family.

- Did you have a nickname as a child?

- No.

- Are you an owl or a lark?

- I can wake up this way and that.

- How do you relieve stress?

- I like to drive a car and turn on music loudly.

- What turns you on?

- People, personalities, those with whom you cannot stop talking.

- Which animal do you associate yourself with?

- With Boniface, my Jack Russell Terrier.

- Do you have a talisman?

- No.

- What melody is on your mobile phone?

- Van Cliburn, piano music.

- What is your psychological age?

- About 40.

- What is your favorite aphorism?

- “People who create a legend are already a legend in themselves” (Coco Chanel).

Lina, you always knew how to consider a star in the participants of your shows, help them open up, but then they continued their way on their own. And recently you tried yourself in a new direction - producing an artist. What does this experience give you?

- Yes, indeed, before it was interesting for me to teach them, direct them, come up with an image, and then transfer them to such producers as Maxim Fadeev, Igor Matvienko, who took our students for themselves. I watched this work, but some time passed, and I wanted to not just leave the students, but somehow move them further. So I decided to try the production experience. That is, not only to train them, but also to develop them, introduce them to the market of the music industry, observe them, and help them. This is the most interesting to me today.

Please tell us more about your ward - Pauline Sky. How did you first hear her, why did you decide to start promoting her?

- Pauline Sky came to us 2 years ago. A lot of such children come to the show: well, she sang, well, she was strange, so tall, awkward, she really wanted to be a singer. She previously studied at school and came with the data that she received there. We had to break it a little, remake it, and so we taught it for two years, changed and transformed it. As a result, quite unexpectedly, Polina began to open up, and I immediately focused on her, and then decided to deal with Polina not just as a student, but as a real future artist. I remember we had a School of Music the year before last, where Polina really wanted to go and was terribly upset that it didn't work out. I say: “Pauline, everything has its time, there is no need to rush. You have to wait a little - the moment will come when you will get stronger, gain strength and be able to master this project and others. And now Polina is such a beautiful, interesting girl who, at the age of 14, really works as an adult artist, and the requirements for her are appropriate. Well, plus everything else, she has already successfully performed at the School of Music project.

Pauline Sky

There is an opinion that a star can be made from anyone, the main thing is the correct promotion and a good budget. What do you think about this?

- This is an outdated stereotype, and for some reason everyone still clings to it. It used to be said: "Be a star - just give me money, and we will do everything." Absolutely not. So you can only do a one-day star. I think that a real artist doesn't come very often. That's how long I sat at the auditions and noticed that 3,000 people can come a day, and only one of them can be interesting. The rotation is very rigid. One in 3,000 is the person who can really become an artist. Therefore, having money is not the most important point. The main thing is talent, even if it is still so clumsy, inexperienced, but if a person has that very spark of God, then this is wonderful. The rest will follow - teachers, education, they will teach everything, everything will come.

“I never had a desire to be an artist; I was apparently born a teacher.”

Tell me honestly, haven't you ever had a desire to become a star yourself and bathe in universal adoration?

- (Laughs.) Absolutely not, I have never suffered from this. And during my projects, I did not strive to be in the frame all the time. I never had the desire to be an artist; I was apparently born a teacher.

You have worked with many stars. Who did you have the hardest time with?

- I can't say that I remember any difficulty from working with an artist. I am a very easy person to work with. I think the artists respect me first of all for the fact that I always tell them the truth, and that's why they turn to me.

Then maybe remember some funny stories?

- It happened with many artists, it's usually just some kind of working moments … It was such that Yuri Antonov just wanted to leave the concert, although he was already announced here, and I just had to take and literally push him onto the stage, although I understood that then it will probably be difficult for me to talk to him, but nothing happened. (Laughs.)

You are the author of the book “The Corporation of Stars. How to become a star and remain human. " Who would you call the most "humane" star?

- Many artists from those with whom we have to communicate in more detail are good people. For example, Kolya Baskov. This is not only a good artist, although one can argue about his work, some like it, some do not, but as a person he is very decent. Oddly enough, Sergei Zverev, with all his anti-charm, extravagance of the character, is a very simple person, devoted, always ready to help, etc. I saw a lot of such examples - when people on stage are alone, but in life they are completely different.

You reveal the talents of numerous students. What is your daughter's main talent?

- I think her main talent is to be my daughter. Because it’s probably not easy to be my daughter. But Aina is doing well. Today I can say for sure that she has every chance of becoming a good comedian. That is, she - an artist of the theater of parodies - perfectly copies everyone, parodies, reads and does it very talentedly.

What is your favorite thing to do with your daughter?

- Aina and I love to watch a movie together, and then discuss it, we are very interested to know each other's opinion on this matter. We also love to read books together, and we read them by roles, sound them together, paint them. That is, if it is written "birdsong", we represent the birdsong. I like the kind of "radio plays" that we play together with her.

And what should a man be for you to pay attention to?

- It should be the one that I already have (Laughs.), Which I have already paid attention to. But the most important thing is that he doesn't want to sing! (Laughs.)

“I think the craziest thing that my beloved man, my husband, did for me was to learn to dance with me.”

The craziest thing a man did for you?

- I think the craziest thing that my beloved man, my husband did for me, is to learn to dance with me. (Laughs.) He had never done this before, he was catastrophically uncomfortable, he really didn’t like it all, and at first he didn’t agree for a very long time. He is not a dancer and in general is very far from creativity, but we decided to learn tango dance together. It was, of course, a colossal effort for him. But in the end we got it and we both had fun!

You invariably achieve success in what you do. What are you striving for today?

- You know, I am striving, probably, for some great latitude … I do not know how to explain this. I want to do a lot, and of an exceptionally high quality. Probably, this means leaving some trace in life. Probably, I'm just already entering a period when I want my descendants, my children and grandchildren to talk about what kind of grandmother they had.