The Singing Underpants group, the composition of which you will find in this article, is a popular Ukrainian musical group that appeared in 2008. It was founded by musician Andrei Kuzmenko and producer Vladimir Bebeshko. The group appeared in the contest "New Wave", after which Igor Krutoy became another producer.
Group birth
The group "Singing Underpants" continues to perform on stage. The composition currently includes three singers: these are Olga Lizgunova, Alena Slyusarenko and Irina Ryzhova. It is worth noting that during the existence of the group, many participants passed through the collective. Among them are Nadezhda Benderskaya, Victoria Kovalchuk, Anastasia Bauer, Lali Ergemlidze, Rimma Raymond.
The producer Andrey Kuzmenko came up with the idea of creating such an openly mockery ensemble after the appearance of a huge number of women's groups on the Russian and Ukrainian stage. At the same time, they were distinguished by very dubious artistic and vocal data. Even outwardly looked like each other. According to Kuzmenko, the group was supposed to fault the show business, and the name of the songs spoke for themselves: "Plastic Surgeon", "Bed of the producer."
Selection of participants
In the spring of 2008, a large-scale casting started. The collective name was not reported. Among the requirements were a large breast size (not less than the third), height from 160 centimeters, the ability to dance. At the same time, it was not necessary to sing professionally. As a result, the first composition of "Singing Cowards" was formed. It included Anastasia Bauer, Irina Skrinnik, Alena Slyusarenko and Nadezhda Benderskaya. Even before the casting, it became known that Victoria Kovalchuk and Olga Lizgunova could get into the group. They were familiar with the producers.
Already in April 2008, a debut video for a song titled "Singing Underpants" was released. At the end of the year, a video titled "Basin Olivier" appeared. After that, Nadezhda Benderskaya left the group. In March 2009, the first album called Pops was released.
Success on the New Wave
In the spring of 2010, the team took part in the international contest "New Wave". The singing cowards group was specially taken by two vocalists - Lali Ergemlidze and Rimma Raymond. In this case, only Olga Lizgunova remained from the original composition. Only for the duration of the contest, the group "Singing Underpants", the composition of which you will find in this article, has turned into a trio. The remaining participants remained behind the scenes, although they did not leave the project.
The team made it to the finals. Only then did the director of the contest oppose the name of the collective. The producers refused to change it. Still, the organizers found a way to get out. Presenter Ksenia Sobchak, announcing the participants, emphasized the first syllable in the word "cowards". Also at the competition, the group was banned from performing the song "Like Alla", dedicated to the prima donna of the Russian scene Alla Pugacheva. As a result of the contest, the group was awarded a special prize - a certificate giving the right to create a video clip and broadcast it on the air of Muz-TV.
Awards and prizes
2010 turned out to be very fruitful for the group. The team won the Song of the Year festival with the song “Like Alla”, was recognized as the best corporate group on Ukrainian television, and was nominated for the Muz-TV channel award in the Breakthrough of the Year category. In 2011, new clips were released - "Girl", "Intimacy not to offer", "Girls of the oligarchs", "Kalimera". The second album did not keep itself waiting.
In 2012, the team was at the center of a stellar scandal. The clip “Cornflower” won the “Creative of the Year” nomination at a contest hosted by RU.TV. However, the participants did not receive the award. Nikolai Baskov, who was the host of the ceremony, was offended by his own loss in all categories of the competition and handed the prize to a boy who went up on stage to give flowers.
5th anniversary
In April 2013, the group celebrated its 5th anniversary by releasing a new song, “NaXa!”, Dedicated to girls who expect to find love on the Web. By that time, the composition of the group "Singing Cowards" by name was as follows: Olga Lizgunova, Alena Slyusarenko, Irina Ryzhova, Anastasia Bauer, Victoria Kovalchuk and Rimma Raymond.
The next changes occurred already in June 2013. Victoria Kovalchuk announced her retirement. Despite this, in October the group decided to try to get to Eurovision from Russia. The song "Mu-mu" was supposed to participate in the selection. But in the end it did not take place, and the expert jury determined that the Tolmachev sisters would participate.
Performances Abroad
By that time, the composition of the group "Singing Cowards" and the names of the vocalists were well known not only in Russia but also abroad. At the end of 2013, the team released an updated version of the song "Naha!" in Chinese, as interest in the project in this country was unexpectedly high. Around the same time, the famous video titled “I Don't Remember Anything” was released, which was timed to coincide with the upcoming New Year.
Kuzmenko's death
A shocking surprise for everyone was the death of one of the main producers of the team. Andrei Kuzmenko died tragically in February 2015. Soon the group expired a contract with the production center of Igor Krutoy, which they did not extend. As a result, all organizational work fell on the shoulders of Vladimir Bebeshko.
Despite the difficulties, the group continued to develop. In the summer of the same year, the third album, entitled "Karaoke", was released. Then the team received the Ukrainian Golden Loaf Award for dubious achievements in the field of show business. The text of the song "Mu-Mu" was recognized as the most meaningless in the past year. After that, a few more memorable singles were released: “Friend”, “Cope”, “Good in the Village in the Summer”. In August 2016, Anastasia Bauer left the group.
Participation in Eurovision
At the beginning of 2017, the Singing Underpants group, which included Olga Lizgunova, Alena Slyusarenko and Irina Ryzhova, made another attempt to participate in Eurovision, this time from Ukraine. The team reached the semifinals with the song Singing Pants. But he could not reach the final of the national selection.
Now preparing to celebrate its decade, the composition of the group "Singing Cowards". And interesting facts about this original project are not long in coming. A few months ago, the video "Slimmed" was released, in which, in addition to special shootings, videos of many past works were used. In particular, the clips “Plastic Surgeon”, “Icicle Girls”, “Beautiful End”, “I Don't Remember Nothing”, “Moscow - Kolyma” and many others. And also shots were used with the deceased Andrei Kuzmenko, other famous people who for many years participated in the life of the team. This is Vadim Ermolenko, Petr Listerman, Sergey Zverev. Former vocalists Victoria Kovalchuk and Anastasia Bauer also took part in the video recording.
It is worth noting that although the composition of the team has changed repeatedly, most often everything happened peacefully and without scandals. For example, Irina Ryzhova left the group for a while due to maternity leave, and then safely returned to the project. Also, the rest of the participants did not make any special claims against their colleagues and managers, which is not so often the case in modern show business.