The number of foreign celebrities who have not visited Moscow decreases with every week. Russian musical promoters tell us about the way the western celebrities see Moscow including myths and stereotypes they have concerning the Russian capital.

Red Square

When coming to Moscow for the first time celebrities try to be “good tourists”. “Though often being marginal and posh, celebrities are still interested in the standard sightseeing objects. They want to buy a Russian nesting doll, Cheburashka, a traditional fur cap and to see Red Square. When celebrities arrive to the country’s main square, they for long stand with their mouths open impressed by the huge paved empty space rather than the architecture. They are also surprised to know that here there is a big clothing store and that it has always been so”, as promoter of “16 Tons” club and UMS agency Pavel Kamakin says.

Lenin Mausoleum

All celebrities get very upset when they find that Lenin “works” only at certain hours. This becomes a reason why many think ill of father of the October Revolution and call him “lazy son of a bitch”. For instance, such celebrities as Telepopmusic, Goldie, Scissor Sisters tried but did not manage to get to the mausoleum.

Vodka

According to director of Attack Concerts agency Atryom Gorny, all celebrities drink vodka in Russia. Some drink it with an obvious effort, some drink it with pleasure. 60-year-old The Fall vocalist Mark E Smith has once happened to drink 7 bottles of vodka within 2 days.

Money

Many consider Russia to be a country of rich people. Mattias Lindblom from Vacuum band is sure that “You can find caviar, champagne and blondes speaking pretty good English at every corner in Russia”. Of course, there are more observant celebrities. “I have noticed that here in Russia there are many rich people. I guess there are a lot of poor people here as well, but the number of rich people is definitely high”, as composer and singer Toto Cutugno marks.

Bears

Celebrities are often surprised when they cannot see any bears in Moscow streets. Technician of the English band Puressence was sure that at 9pm every day bears appeared in Red Square to guard the mausoleum. When he came to the first line of GUM, he was very surprised to see that the biggest animal he could see there was Chihuahua”, director of Killacat Promo group Valentina Kolesnikova says.

Russian Women

The beauty of Russian women is marked by all travellers to Moscow, despite their gender, social class and the level of popularity. Usually, if celebrities happen to spend the whole day in the city, names of at least 15 girls are added to the list of people invited to the concert. Warmth towards Russian women goes out of control in some cases. For instance, one of the fellows from No Jazz band met a girl at a concert and married her. Another example is the French writer Frédéric Beigbeder went for a meeting to Nizhniy Novgorod and disappeared for the whole day. As it turned out, he spent all that time with some local girl.

Moscow Traffic Jams

They often become a reason of concerts and press-conferences delaying. Toto Cutugno has regularly come to Russia for 20 years, but even he cannot put up with the traffic in Moscow. “The only thing that gets on my nerves in Moscow is the chaos on Russian roads”, he says.

Gloomy Russians

The Russian language may sound like Chinese for European ears. It has too many consonants and little vowels. Maria Axenova (Caviar Lounge agency) complains that the majority of celebrities are discontent with the service in Russia: “You still can hear the question – why the staff at airports and hotels does not smile? I usually explain that the answer can be found somewhere in the times of Ivan the Terrible. I also explain that it is not because the staff is trying to show some negative attitude or to be rude, but that it is just the way our people communicate”.

Source:
    www.timeout.ru

Translated by Lavrentyeva Natalya