Blestyashchiye

Blestyashchiye
2012
Background information
Origin	Russia
Genres	Dance-pop, teen pop
Years active	1995–present
Website	Official Website
Members	Nadezhda Ruchka Marina Berezhnaya Sylvia Zolotova Kristina Illarionova
Past members	See: List of Blestyashchiye members Olga Orlova (1995-2000) Varvara Koroleva (1995-1996) Polina Iodis (1995-1998) Irina Lukyanova (1996-2003) Zhanna Friske (1997-2003) Ksenia Novikova (1999-2007) (2011-2015) Yulia Kovalchuk (2001-2007) Anna Semenovich (2003-2007) Anastasia Osipova (2007-2015) Natalia Friske (2007-2008) Anna Dubovitskaya (2008-2011) Yulianna Lukasheva (2008-2009) Natalya Asmolova (2015)

Blestyashchiye (Russian: Блестя́щие; IPA: [blʲɪˈsʲtʲæɕːɪɪ], lit. the shining ones) is one of the first and most enduring all-girl singing groups in Russia.

Originally Blestyashchiye consisted of three girls: Olga Orlova, Polina Iodis and Varvara Koroleva. In 1996 Irina Lukjanova and Janna Friske joined the group when Varvara Koroleva left the group right after the release of their first album Tam, Tol'ko Tam (Russian: Там, только там, English: There, Only There). Featuring original arrangements, lovely lyrics, and artistic music videos, Blestyashchiye became quite popular. They went on tour across the country, and they were highly praised. There, Janna became an instant success with her excellent vocal abilities and superb dancing skills. In 1997 they released the album Tam, Tol'ko Tam (Remixes). In 1998, the group released their second album Prosto Mechty (Russian: Просто мечты, English: Only Dreams). This album included such musical best sellers, "Gde Zhe Ti Gde?", "Oblaka", and "Cha, Cha, Cha". After the album was released, Polina Iodis left the group and the three remaining girls continued to work together. In August 1999, Ksenia Novikova joined Blestyashchiye. Soon, the group released a new single "Za osen'yu pridet zima" (Russian: За осенью придёт зима, English: During the autumn comes winter).

They released a new album in 2000, titled O Lyubvi... (Russian: О любви..., English: About Love...). The album featured ten new songs, one of which, "Ciao Bambino", was named the most "provocative" clip of year. The hit "Za Osen'yu Pridet Zima" was another single from O Lyubvi.... The group won many awards that year, and went on tour in cities of Russia, the countries of the Near abroad, and abroad. Soon Olga Orlova (the front member and the songwriter of the songs that made Blestyashchiye famous) became pregnant and left the group. The success of the group was later proven by Belym Snegom (By White Snow), a greatest hits collection, including "Belym Snegom" and "Dolgo Tebya Zdala". The video clips for the songs at the time were in "Russian Top Ten" and "Top-20" on MTV. In June 2001, Yulia Kovalchuk was finishing up her 10th and 11th years of schooling, after which she planned to leave Moscow and return to her hometown, Volgagrad, to take a year's vacation. Her friends had told her that Blestyashchiyes' producers were going to be in attendance at the school's year-end recital. The rumor was that "Blest" was hoping to include more dance in their shows, and thus they were looking for new talent. And the story goes, Julia was waiting to go onstage for her performance, when a Blest producer happened to pass by. The producer took an instant liking to Yulia, and asked if she could sing. Eventually they went to a studio, where she sang for them, and left her contact information. She went home as planned, for her much needed rest. On July 31, she received a call that she would need to be in Moscow on August 1(the next day), to start her new career as a member of the group Blestyashchiye. Yulia did not receive a very warm reception in Moscow. She was 18, and she was taking her first step into a pop group, whose members were struggling with finding an identity for the group, as well as their own survival. Yulia's first performance in Blestyashchiye came at the recording of "Pesna Goda" on September 5, 2001. Yulia described the occasion as "I was in the right place at the right time." Janna Friske is considered the leader of the group, publicity director, and oversees that girls communicate "daily". In their 'free time' the four members wrote songs for their next album, Za Chetyre Morya (Russian: За четыре моря, English: Beyond Four Seas) (2002). The first hit from the album was the memorable "A Ya Vse Letala", the video played continuously on all music channels. In 2003 Irina Lukyanova became pregnant and left the group. Later on Blestyashchiye was joined by the former figure skater Anna Semenovich.

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