Tatyana Bulanova spoke about the drama on stage, her young husband and where the children will go for the New Year

— Tatyana, viewers of the “Duets” show on the “Russia” channel will see you again as a participant. Many of your colleagues admit that they love such projects, because there is always intrigue: you don’t know who you’ll be singing with. How do you generally feel about surprises on stage?

– Well, there are different surprises. Because all this is sung live, with an orchestra. In general, it’s great when a live orchestra participates in the program. Well, besides, the participants of the duet are, in any case, chosen for a reason; usually they are connected by something.

— So this is not your first experience? Which seasons were most memorable?

— Well, for example, my first participation was a duet with Olga Buzova, there was a very cool song, as I remember. I liked working in tandem with Maxim Dunaevsky. Although I have known him for a long time, he wrote an entire album for me, he still remains a legend. Because he really comes from a family of stars and he himself became an absolute legend after all the songs he wrote for films. Well, it was cool to meet Vitya Saltykov in one of the seasons, because he was my idol in my youth.

— In the show you have to perform one song – as a rule, it is from someone else’s repertoire. It is usually not difficult to learn. Has it ever happened that you forgot the words already at a concert?

– Yes, this happens to me often, it’s terrible. (Smiles.) I’ve learned to restrain my emotions, but in general, of course, panic begins inside. Unfortunately, this happened many times – both at my solo concerts and at group performances. I even remember that this happened when I was singing with an orchestra. There was an evening of romances in Finland, and among the audience there were practically only Finns, the orchestra was also Finnish and our folk ensemble “Terem Quartet”. I sang two romances in two parts. And suddenly, before leaving, I realized with horror that I had forgotten the beginning of the song. I started approaching everyone in the dressing room with a question: do they remember the beginning of such and such a romance? And since it was in Finland, my Internet did not work, and I could not go in and look up the words. I even addressed the manager in English, who lets the artists onto the stage. He looked at me and did not understand what I wanted from him. Well, I got up on stage, turned to our guys from the Terem Quartet and said: “I forgot the beginning of the song.” At first they rolled their eyes at me, and then I heard from one of the musicians: “I’m in so much pain today…”. In general, I sang more and more. Of course, it’s all funny to remember, but going through it is a lot of stress.

— The pre-New Year time for artists is usually the busiest: rarely does anyone sit in front of the TV with Olivier. What kind of New Year’s Eve will you have?

“It turns out that I will celebrate this New Year at work with my husband, and my youngest son at home with friends. The eldest son will celebrate with his bride at their home. So we will all be in different places.

— And if you remember the brightest New Year, what was it like in your life?

— My brightest New Year was, oddly enough, when the pandemic began. Then we all gathered together: my children, my then fiance, his parents. We even managed to place his dog and our cat in the same apartment – we just locked the cat in another room. Then we noted and went to see the neighbors: our house is quite friendly, we communicate with each other. Then we went up to the roof to watch the fireworks… In general, it was very emotional.

— Have you already planned a lot for the coming year?

– Yes, I have a lot of plans. Firstly, two anniversary concerts are planned – in Moscow and St. Petersburg, and three albums are also being released. One is by composer Yuri Drozdov, with whom we work a lot in the studio, the second is with texts by Irina Mishina, which, by the way, we recorded in just a month. I will release the third one with Andrey Ivanov. We have been collaborating with him for a long time, these songs were recorded at different times. Well, in general, next year is an anniversary year, so there will be a lot of events, as you understand.

“Looking at you, you can’t say for sure that your 55th anniversary is coming.” You belong to the category of women who, if they change over the years, only for the better. Tell your fans a secret: what cosmetic interventions did you decide to undergo?

“Basically, I try to take care of myself the same way as everyone else, I don’t discover any America in this sense. I have a cosmetologist who developed the program; However, I haven’t used it for a year now – I don’t have time. It consists of a course of several mesotherapy, laser therapy, and I can inject Botox. I don’t use fillers – I had an experience once, I didn’t like it at all, it’s not my thing. It was a long time ago. I also met two specialists. One is a plastic massage therapist who works with facial muscles, and in tandem with her is a biotechnologist who herself makes creams from special components. She was recommended to me by a friend whom I saw once and was surprised at how she looked. In general, these serums help me, considering that I haven’t done anything to myself for a year.

— Have you thought about plastic surgery yet? Now it’s like brushing your teeth for some…

“I think that sooner or later I will have to do this, but I am putting off these interventions as much as possible, because I am very afraid of doctors, anesthesia, some kind of surgical operations, and so on. While there is still a supply – as they say, I keep myself in shape. If I turn to him, I know who. I follow some plastic surgeons.

“We all know that you got married this year, and we congratulate you on that.” How has your life changed since your wedding?

– Nothing special, except that I am now a wife, and my beloved man is a husband. In fact, only the names have changed. I got married consciously; it was mutual consent on both my part and Valery’s. More precisely, it was his initiative. I have never said to anyone in my life: “Let’s get married.” I think this is a little unworthy of a woman. My husband seems to be happy with his married life, and so far I am too. (Smiles.)

—Have you already taken your husband’s last name?

— I plan to change it, but I don’t want to just take my husband’s last name: I’ll have a double one. I would not like to completely abandon Bulanova, because I was married three times and never changed my last name.

— There is very little information on the Internet about how you met. Lift the veil of secrecy…

— Anna Semenovich introduced us. She was then dating a young man, and he was Valera’s friend. He is still Valera’s friend, it’s just that she and Anya have already broken up. And so they decided to bring us together, although no one expected that we would succeed. And now Valery and I are very grateful to Anna and Gregory that they insisted on our meeting. Then I wasn’t particularly keen to meet each other, and Valera didn’t really dream of it either. Nevertheless, it happened.

— When a woman gets married, such an important aspect arises as communication between her spouse and children from previous marriages. How quickly did Valery find a common language with your sons?

— Valery met my children very quickly, probably about a week after we met. He immediately became friends with Sasha and Nikita, and they very quickly found a common language, there was no grinding at all. Everything was wonderful and continues the same way: calm and good.

— Not all husbands are happy with their wives’ employment, and this often becomes clear after marriage. How does your spouse feel about the fact that you are constantly at concerts and tours?

— First of all, my husband is very glad that I am such a sought-after artist. God willing, it will continue like this. He never showed any dissatisfaction with the fact that I was not around, I was leaving… For example, last New Year he celebrated with my youngest son and his friends at home, and I went to work in Moscow. He knows that this is my job, there is no escape from it. He’s proud of me, and that’s very nice.

— Tatyana, after your marriage there was a lot of hate on the Internet. Including about the age difference with my husband. How do you feel about all this?

– Well, I read it, of course. I paid attention to this, on the one hand. But I can’t say that after that I was upset or began to doubt. These people don’t know me, I don’t know them, they don’t know my husband. What may seem to them from the outside is absolutely their own business. Therefore, in this case, I absolutely don’t care what they write about us.

— What is your and your husband’s favorite pastime?

— When there was a pandemic, Valera and I loved to get into the car and go to Kronstadt, Pushkin, Pavlov, Petrodvorets… Yes, just for a walk, when it was still possible; and when they couldn’t, they just sat at home and watched a movie. Now we like to go to the cinema, have dinner, walk with him – in general, spend as much time as possible. And when I perform and he has free time, he almost always comes and looks at me from afar. He has a great relationship with all our guys in the group, he knows them.

— Is there any topic on which you and your husband don’t see eye to eye at all?

“We’ve been together for more than four years, and I don’t remember that we ever quarreled or had any disagreements.” Despite the fact that we like different music, different movies, and TV programs. Although such differences are probably not fundamental in a relationship, on the contrary, they make life more interesting. Sometimes he opens my eyes to something, sometimes I open my eyes to him. Thanks to my husband, for example, I watched Game of Thrones, which I had never seen before, and the Marvel universe opened up to me…

— You are the mother of two adult children. Alexander is already 30, Nikita is 16. Tell us about your sons. What are their successes?

— The eldest works with her husband, and the youngest studies in the tenth grade. I don’t know what will happen next, but for now he had thoughts of connecting his life with chemistry and biology. Let’s see how it goes.

– Admit it, did you usually strictly select girls for your sons?

“I believe that parents should not interfere in their children’s relationships at all.” If my sons’ girls love them, that’s the most important thing. And what they do, how beautiful they are and what families they come from – to be honest, I don’t care at all. And, of course, it is important that sons love their wives. Everything is based on love: if there is love, everything will be fine. There will be respect, tenderness, and happiness.

— Is there already any expectation of grandchildren, or does the status of a grandmother confuse you? Have you asked your eldest son when he plans to become a dad himself?

— To be honest, I never asked my son or my friends about children. Because this is such a very personal topic. As it will be, so it will be; as the Lord sends, so it will happen. Therefore, making some plans and including your relatives in them is a thankless task. And I am gladly ready for the status of a grandmother.