In the seventies, this guy gets up on Russian television and sings the equivalent of "la la la la la." It's a dud. BUT, after the turn of the Century, the song becomes FAMOUS on YouTube.
After the vid went viral, Eduard Khil (Mr. Trololo) was pleased to be famous. But, he didn't understand that a large part of the world was laughing at him. Whatever. Fame is fame, right?
There is a rumor that Mr. Trololo sang this song on Russian television without the lyrics because the words reflected a positive view of America and the Russians prohibited him from singing them. According to his son, however...
As time went on and his video went viral, while the rest of the world laughed, the Russian people began to appreciate his beautiful voice. In 2009, the Russian government awarded him with a "Fourth Class Order of Merit for the Fatherland." He died on June 4, 2012, in Saint Petersburg, Russia, at the age of 77. He died famous, with the respect and affection of his countrymen.Nobody banned its lyrics, but my father just composed the music during the period of his disagreement with Lev Oshanin. The latter told him that the lyrics are more important in a song and that a composer is nothing without a lyricist. So Dad told him during the argument, "Well, I don't need your verses at all, I'll manage without them."—Mikhail Ostrovsky
See Mr. Trololo's (Eduard Khil's) Wiki Page; And see his audio CD on Amazon.
Awesome...sing like no one is listening!
ReplyDeleteHa ha ha! Exactly!
DeleteAmazing - what a beautiful voice. He followed through on his argument with a bit more bravery than others might have.
ReplyDeleteYes he did. Maybe that's why the Russians are so proud of him. :)
DeleteDenise, as a voice teacher of thirty-five yeas, I can say as an expert that the man has a fine voice. How come Faure and Rachmaninoff can compose their "Vocalise" and singers sing them all the time? Those compositions have no words.I think the Russian folk should have boned up a bit more on classical music before writing this fine singer off.
ReplyDeleteDena, I think the Russian people revere him, it's the YouTube crowd that was laughing at him. It all depends on where you are coming from. If you run across this tune and don't understand the context, it seems comical. It went viral because people thought it was silly. However, the Russians saw it another way, in a positive way, which is why he was honored toward the end of his life.
DeleteAll right! I feel better about the Russian people. I noticed that he had a big twinkle in his eye as he sang. I remember when this video came out and I loved it back then, too.
DeleteHe sorta looked like he was lip sinking. Bizarre. I've never heard of him.
ReplyDelete