February 7, 2014
Fake Lesbian Pop Act t.A.T.u. to Perform at Opening Ceremony
Jason St. Amand READ TIME: 2 MIN.
The once popular Russian duo known as t.A.T.u., who became known for sort of being lesbians in the mid-2000s, are scheduled to perform at the Olympics' opening ceremony in Sochi, Russia, on Friday, Feb. 7.
According to the Wall Street Journal, there have been reports of eyewitnesses watching Lena Katina and Yulia Volkova rehearsing their most popular song, "Not Gonna Get Us" and that the Russian Olympic squad will enter the ceremony during their performance.
This will be t.A.T.u.'s first performance since they broke up in 2011. According to the WSJ, the duo's performance will not be broadcast internationally because it's during the ceremony's warm-up session.
Some may see t.A.T.u's performance as an odd choice. Russia's anti-gay laws have been the subject of much controversy the past year, and especially leading up to the Sochi Games, and the duo became popular partly because of their fake same-sex relationship.
Their other hit single, "All the Things She Said," was riddled with controversy because it featured same-sex lyrics: "I'm losing my mind. I need her" and "I'm feeling for her what she's feeling for me." Though the duo had an image of two lesbian schoolgirls, one member married a man while the other had a baby with her male partner, then divorced, the WSJ writes.
t.A.T.u. made a splash in 2003 for their MTV Movie Awards performance, where the duo was accompanied with hundreds of women dressed in school uniforms. Towards the end of the performance, the women stripped down to their tank-tops, ties and white underwear, and kissed each other, Billboard reports.
Billboard also notes that Russian media reprinted a tweet made by Katina, where she complains about treatment from Olympic organizers.
"They have invited us to perform at the opening ceremony of the Sochi Olympics, but they're treating the artists like shit!!!" she reportedly wrote. "The organization is horrible."
The tweet was later deleted.
Watch "Not Gonna Get Us" and "All the Things She Said" below:
