A simple guy from the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic has gone a long way from an unknown rural musician to one of the most popular performers in the CIS. Fate laughed more than once in his face, but he was able to survive everything and prove that Dima Bilan is not just a brand, but part of the history of Russian show business.
Childhood
The singer was born on December 24, 1981. His parents were far from creative: his mother worked in the social sphere, his father was an engineer. They called the future star Victor, the real name Belan. There is an older sister Elena (October 10, 1980) and a younger Anna (July 26, 1995).
Victorâs musical abilities were noticed in childhood. From the fifth grade, he began attending a music school, where he studied playing the accordion. But the teachers quickly recognized his vocal talent in him, the boy became a regular participant in various competitions. In 1999, Joseph Kobzon himself handed the young Vita a diploma at the Chunga Changa festival. This was a good incentive to continue his studies, and the guy entered the Gnesins Music College.
Great and terrible
There were many different rumors about Yuri Aizenshpis . By the time he met Vitya Belan, he had already managed to serve a total of 17 years for currency fraud and counterfeiting dollars, to be a producer with the legendary bands Kino, Moral Code, singer Linda and Katya Lel. He was able to make a sex symbol of young girls with a sonorous name Vlad Stashevsky from a simple voiceless guy. He was not afraid of the bandits who terrorized the stars and their producers. In criminal circles, Yuri Shmilevich was a respected person.
He noticed a modest Kabardian guy back when he was studying at Gnesinka. After observing his first steps on the stage, he decides to take the young talent under his wing. In 2002, the singer went to Jurmala and took fourth place among the New Wave contestants. Aizenshpis categorically does not like the name and surname of his ward. Soon on the stage, a new star is lit under the name Dima Bilan. A slightly changed surname is not able to do miracles, but a high-quality repertoire can open the way. By the way, the young singer never liked the name Victor, he always wanted to be named after his grandfather - Dmitry.
First success
In the biography and personal life of Dima Bilan, his wife did not have a place. The producer took on his next project with all the zeal. A year later, the album âI am a night bullyâ and a video by Dima Bilan for this song are released. A vocal guy was noticed, but these were not the compositions that could give him the love of listeners. The most successful ones: âI love you so muchâ and âBabyâ - were constantly in the rotation of the radio stations, and Aizenshpis understood that it was not worth making a brutal male from Dima Bilan with provocative songs. He had a talent for breaking hearts with lyrics. They bet on her.
Breakthrough
The album âOn the Shore of the Skyâ in 2004 brought Dima Bilan to the ranks of the most popular artists. Almost every song became a hit, Aizenshpisâs calculation was fully justified. The songs of Dima Bilan were sung by the whole country, they went crazy over him, and he was a welcome guest at any concert. And if a new bright star appears on the stage, then they begin to promote it as candidates for Eurovision. Dmitry passed the selection in 2005 and a year later was supposed to represent the country in Greece. In anticipation of this event, another album is being released in which the singer performed his hits in English. The stakes were very high, the whole country believed in Bilan's victory. This could be the happiest year in the career of not only the singer, but also his producer. Life decided otherwise.
Aizenshpis's death
The producer suffered from diabetes for many years. He perfectly understood that Bilan would be his last project, and was in a hurry to bring Dmitry to the top of the best performers. He succeeded in almost everything: he saw success and heard well-deserved applause, but did not live to see the main event. September 20, 2005, Yuri Shmilevich died of myocardial infarction. He was only 60 years old.
The singer was very upset by the death of his producer. Aizenshpis became his second father. In the same year, Bilan received the World Music Awards in the nomination âBest Russian Artistâ. He dedicated his victory to Aizenshpis and burst into tears at the ceremony.
Fight for a tidbit
The death of Yuri Shmilevich entailed a number of problems for the singer. Nobody touched Dima Bilanâs music and lyrics, but his name became an apple of discord. The producerâs common-law wife tried in court to prove the rights to this brand and prohibit the artist from using it. But by that time, Dima was no longer a defenseless novice singer. Behind him stood a powerful team led by Yana Rudkovskaya. But to compete with Baturin's wife was useless. They defended the name and continued the work begun by Aizenshpis.
Eurovision 2006
It was decided to go to the music contest without pompous scenery and stunning costumes. Rudkovskaya and Bilan correctly reasoned: the closer to the people, the closer to victory. Simple frayed jeans, a white T-shirt, sneakers of the same color, and a sloppy hairstyle made him a guy from the crowd. Two backing vocalists, a couple of ballerinas and a grand piano with intrigue. During the second verse, Dima climbed onto it, and a girl appeared from rose petals. Many then accused the producer and the whole team of simply frightening Europe with this appearance. It was like the dead rising from the tombs.
Be that as it may, the first place went to the Finns. The rock band was able to impress the people with its powerful performance and original song. But Bilan became a national hero. Before him, only Alsou occupied the second place. He was greeted with a standing ovation at home, and the jury considered the decision to be a mistake.
Best
2007 was a triumphal year. People did not forget his bright performance in Greece, just three awards at the Muz-TV ceremony: âBest Albumâ, âBest Compositionâ, âBest Performerâ. Dmitry shoots two new videos, and in October receives new music awards, this time from the MTV Russia Music Awards. In his piggy bank there were three nested dolls: âThe Best Compositionâ, âThe Best Performerâ, âThe Artist of the Yearâ.
Second attempt
Eurovision 2008 has become another milestone for Dima Bilan. The team took into account all past mistakes and decided not to arrange surprises for timid spectators anymore. This time, world-famous figure skater Evgeni Plushenko and violinist Edwin Marton are traveling as a powerful support. The song was called Belive. And the whole country believed in victory. But the bookmakers did not take into account the hot Russian performer at all. Bets were placed on other musicians, but Dmitryâs team did not lose heart. They had trump cards in their pocket in case the public did not appreciate the vocal data.
But Belgrade is not Greece. Bilan was well received, and after the semi-final he was already, according to forecasts, in third place. It remained to wait for the final vote and count on the support of neighbors. Eurovision has always been famous for its bias. Countries were happy to give high scores to their neighbors, regardless of whether they liked the song or not.
Victory
But this time, the CIS votes would not be enough anyway. Three performers immediately took the lead, and no one could predict how the vote would end, even when it was left to receive data from several countries. With a minimum margin, Bilan was able to get around other competitors. This time, nothing overshadowed the joy, and Dmitry returned home already a real national hero. The first and so far the only singer who managed to bring such a grand competition to Russia.
The other side of popularity
Along with success came not the most pleasant things for any artist. The close attention of the press and the lack of a constant girl gave rise to many rumors about the unconventional orientation of the artist. Out of despair or just to shut her mouth to lovers of gossip, Bilan starts an affair with the former "tattoo" Julia Volkova. They record a song, shoot a video and fly away to rest together. From a hot resort, pretty candid photos get into the network. For a while, everyone believed in their relationship, and the people stopped washing the bones of the popular singer.
But they began to notice something else - Dmitry behaved too strangely on the program âVoiceâ, where he was one of the jury members. His behavior was quickly attributed to the effect of drug use. A new scandal flared up, which still has not ceased. Dmitry continues to sing and delight fans with hits, leaving dirty gossip without comment. Now he is already a solid, accomplished singer, from whom no surprises were expected. But he could surprise everyone!
âDrunk Loveâ by Dima Bilan and Polina
Filming provocative and high-quality clips began Sergei Shnurov. It was he who quickly realized that ordinary love and tearful videos had long bothered the viewer. Bilan decided to go the same way. A clip of almost 10 minutes shocked everyone. The video on the topic âRussian Weddingâ has already collected more than 10 million views on YouTube in just a month. This was another victory in the biography of Dima Bilan. The photo of his wife (Polina herself played in the video) was at first presented as real, but when the video appeared in public access, everyone realized that this was another duck.
The video itself was filmed by Alexander Gudkov, who knows a lot about humor. A bit of foul language, a scene with a fight, a few invited stars - and success is guaranteed!