On NTV’s anniversary, Vadim Tekmenev spoke about the behind the scenes of popular shows

— Thirty years is a serious milestone for a channel, and it so happens that your activity on NTV lasts a little less. For you, was the decision to work on this particular channel conscious or spontaneous?

— At that time, it wasn’t a person who chose NTV, but NTV chose a person. Then the channel was already booming, and among novice reporters this was an unattainable height. Everyone looked at her as if she were on the moon, where it was simply unrealistic to get there. While still a student, I worked at the State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company “Kuzbass” and in some materials I replaced the correspondent of the Siberian bureau of NTV. As a result, the channel paid attention to me and offered to collaborate. Literally a year and a half later, an offer was received to head the South Russian Bureau of the channel. It was scary, but somehow everything flowed and went. Perhaps this can be called a happy coincidence. My dream coincided with the need of the channel.

— In the nineties, the life of a journalist resembled an endless adventure, which, of course, did not cancel the typical doubt for a young man about the correctness of his chosen job. Is this familiar to you?

“I didn’t have the slightest reason to even think about it.” The nineties were truly an enchanting time. Every day something new. I started working on the channel back in the era of pagers, then satellite phones appeared, and then mobile phones. Everything around was developing rapidly, including journalism. There was no opportunity to even sigh sadly, only delight and immersion in work.

— From the very beginning of working on the channel, did you roughly understand what you wanted to become there?

“I didn’t have an approximate, but a very specific idea of ​​who I wanted to become.” In order to work on television, I went to the Faculty of Journalism at Kemerovo State University. I wanted to be a reporter and became one. At that time, there was no need to think about any other television direction. The presenters were rotating somewhere very far away, real mastodons were sitting in the frame, and at my age it was difficult to even imagine that this could ever be done. But I also did what I loved and felt great.

— Now you yourself are already, in a sense, a mastodon and work on television in an era when broadcasting is constantly called a relic of the past. How seriously do you take the Internet as an alternative media universe?

— For a long time I did not perceive the Internet as something that had its own journalists and big projects. And then, when all this appeared, I had the confidence that just to each his own. I tried to get involved with Internet projects, including as a producer, but I haven’t really gotten the hang of it yet. Maybe I just don’t like it, because there is television and it’s closer to me.

— As a producer, you probably have reason to complain about the incredible and, perhaps, not entirely logical popularity of some very primitively made Internet projects…

— I have understanding and even sympathy for some Internet heroes. But for now, television and the Internet are two different universes. What is understandable to a television audience is often completely inappropriate for an Internet audience, and vice versa. But I have a rather indifferent attitude towards this. I believe that these two parallel lines will eventually begin to intersect, but I do not believe that the Internet will replace the telly. Although it varies. For example, America is progressive in terms of technology. Tucker Carlson (an American television commentator who worked for the Fox News channel and left there, presumably for political reasons – “MK”) was fired from television, where he was mega-popular, he moved to the Internet, and there he has approximately the same audience and big success. It’s all a matter of delivering information, the rest is details.

— You have a rather varied portfolio, with both serious information projects and entertainment ones. Is your interest in music related to your youth or is it just another area that is important to you from a television perspective?

— For me, musical projects are a completely different activity and a different scale. With information journalism, everything is basically clear. She lives and lives. Another thing is big musical projects, especially if you not only lead them, but also work on them as a producer. You need to know everything: from lighting equipment and scenery to costumes and arrangements. This is incredibly interesting and a reason for self-development. The Central Television program is already thirteen years old, of course, I also devote a lot of time to it, but it is a locomotive that runs on rails, and it is clear which station is next. Musical projects are reminiscent of an airplane, and each time it is unclear whether it will take off or not. And when it takes off, the feeling of professional happiness cannot be compared with anything. I live and feed on these moments.

— You probably clearly see the difference between the political establishment and show business stars. Which one is more terrible?

— Your personal attitude is important. If you are angry – “well, you have to be such people,” then in politics and in show business you will only meet such people. I have encountered politicians much more often in my life as a reporter. They are very complex people, but that is why they are interesting. Of course, I remember the few days spent with President Putin. This was probably the most powerful collision with politics, and I still have enough of those impressions. I then realized: if something was happening in the country like this, then there was simply no other option. And this belief of mine was not changed by all subsequent events.

People in show business are also difficult. There is one expression, and it seems to me correct and not at all offensive: “Wherever you kiss an artist, there’s an ass everywhere.” The profession, the atmosphere of universal adoration in which they find themselves, structurally changes a person. I know many people, and among them there are wonderful people, but every single one of them is a little traumatized by their profession. There is nothing evaluative here, they are just the way they are, you either need to perceive them or not communicate. I mostly prefer not to communicate. There is Lolita, with whom we host the “Superstar” program and often call each other not only on business. But she is the only big star I can call or write to just like that. I treat everyone well, but, fortunately, I can afford not to waste time on artificial communication.

— The program “You are Super!”, which you also host, has become one of the most notable talent competitions in recent times. There is, however, a dramatic moment in projects of this format. Participants in the show, in this case children, often think that when they go on stage in front of the cameras they are starting a big musical career. And, to put it mildly, they are mistaken. Do you somehow try to explain this to children in order to protect them from disappointment?

– You are fundamentally wrong about this program. We communicate with many children who have been through the project since the very first season, that is, for seven years now. There are those who graduated from music schools and colleges and are already helping us with the music production of some projects. In general, the children in “You are Super!” there is no indication that they are starting a musical career here. They have hope for changes in life. And life changes, because after the project their perception of themselves as children, not similar to the same age as their mothers and fathers, is broken. They no longer feel like they are locked in a box from which they cannot escape. Even if the participants do not reach the final, the children remain confident that everything is in their hands. It’s very interesting to watch how they change. So this is not the beginning of a career, but the beginning of a normal life, and it develops one way or another.

— Your clientele from Superstar have completely different problems. During their career, they are faced with the fact that success does not always depend on talent. Many people in this situation, of course, feel humanly sorry…

“I returned to this project years later because I still wonder: why artists who, including me, evoke powerful nostalgic feelings, disappear somewhere. Many participants in the program are from the times when their songs were heard on records and tape reels. When I meet them decades later, I a priori love them all, it was simply impossible to miss these songs and voices, no matter what music you listened to, they simply pierced the youthful body. When asked “where did you go,” they most often say that they never disappeared. You can argue, of course, but if they are sure…

Here in the new season we have a singer who won a competition more than forty years ago, and since then very little has been heard about her. And when we discussed songs that could be performed, she burst into tears, she simply did not believe that she would sing again. Moments like these are very inspiring. In general, on television I’m interested in real life, which suddenly results in some kind of project.

— In the nineties, television was a very attractive place to work for young people. They tried to get there in any way, regardless of education and experience. What about now?

— According to my observations, young people now not only do not strive, but diligently bypass television. They have their own examples of successful media activities, but they are all on the Internet. But this year I went to teach at the Institute of Television and Radio Broadcasting with the goal of convincing someone that a turning point will definitely come and the development of media will go in the other direction. And to develop in the other direction, we need people who are passionate about television. Because there is no point in doing it and not getting burned.