Konstantin Meladze about his love for Vera Brezhneva: “I got married on a grand scale!”

The other day, Konstantin Meladze became a guest of the author’s program of Ukrainian TV presenter Dmitry Gordon. In the first part of the video interview, the composer spoke about his childhood and youth, about the beginning of his career, and in the second, the conversation took a more frank turn. Konstantin, perhaps for the first time, spoke about his love for Vera Brezhneva, about their first meeting, about how his life changed thanks to Vera, and about how they managed to maintain relationships in the face of private separations. We publish the most interesting quotes.

About how Vera Brezhneva joined VIA Gra:

Vera came out at one of the concerts of our group, in Dneprodzerzhinsk, then it was still a duet - Alena Vinnitskaya and Nadya Meikher... She went on stage to perform “Attempt No. 5” together with other female spectators. Our administrator saw her, picked up the phone, and at that time we had a constant rotation of personnel, I was looking for some optimal composition. Then she came to the casting, we did a video test, which plunged me into absolute delight, because she was an exact copy of Brigitte Bardot in her youth. And I said: “Well, this is the image we need right now.”

Vera Brezhneva, Nadezhda Granovskaya and Anna Sedokova

About the most talented artist of "VIA Gra":

I don’t want to offend anyone, but objectively, Vera Brezhneva achieved the greatest success of all the ex-Viagras. She really is an absolutely amazing person. She is the most beautiful and sexy.
- The most obnoxious and bitchy? - the presenter continued.
“No, this is definitely not about her,” Konstantin answered. - Vera is the most hardworking person. When we took her into the group, she could neither dance nor sing. I gave her a month, sent her to vocal and choreography teachers and attended these classes once a week to see how she was progressing. But the effect was amazing! It's comparable to some kind of cartoon. You know, like in cartoons - for example, a tomato grows once and in 5 seconds. We had about the same story. After a year of working in the group, he was already an absolute star.

Albina Dzhanabaeva, Vera Brezhneva and Olga Romanovskaya

About the presenter’s remark that Vera Brezhneva got married on a grand scale:

Rather, I got married grandly.

About the duration of the affair with Vera:

I have a feeling that he is eternal. It’s like I met her in 1963 and that’s it (laughs).

Konstantin Meladze and Vera Brezhneva with the organizer of their wedding in Italy

On the reaction to Vera’s wedding with Mikhail Kiperman:

Then I treated her just as an artist. If I had any worries, it was only about the fact that I would now have to interrupt my career. The feelings that arose between us were later.

About how his life changed thanks to Vera:

With her appearance, life changed. I finally raised my head from the keyboard and... More precisely, I didn’t even lift it myself, but rather, Vera lifted me by my hair and said, “Well, there are still a lot of interesting things.” Before Vera, I honestly didn’t care what I looked like. I didn’t care where I rested or whether I rested at all, what I ate, and so on. I missed out on a lot, to my great regret, because I was so obsessed with my work. And I probably would have missed everything completely if Vera had not given me this kick and awakened in me an interest in a life other than just the studio and music.

About children:

Alisa graduated from school and enters the university in Kyiv. Leah, my middle daughter, is now in a luxurious camp in Israel, relaxing and enjoying herself. She does vocals, choreography, she has a clear interest in music and talent, it seems to me. But I won’t push her to the stage. I will help only if she proves to me that music is her destiny, her path. As for my son, he is still in school. Vera’s and my children are friends with each other. Leah was recently with us in Italy; she is very friendly with Vera’s youngest daughter, Sarah. But it was very difficult to arrange all this.

Konstantin Meladze, Vera Brezhneva and Valery Meladze with their daughters

About love for Vera:

There are things that need to be said in person, so I don’t think Vera will be pleased if I shout to the whole country through TV how much I love her. She and I have other signs and codes with which we send all these vibes to each other, regardless of the distance. We are constantly away from each other, she tours a lot, but we have learned to minimize this distance, so to speak. At a distance, you especially need to somehow prove and show your love. When you are at home, sitting in the kitchen, everything is much simpler - you take your hand and that’s it. But when she is in America, and I am here, there are thousands of kilometers between us, then efforts must be made.

About happiness:

More and more often I feel happy out of the blue. If earlier, in order to feel happiness, I needed, for example, to see a crowded hall or my song in first place - strange criteria, but now this feeling arises out of the blue. Recently we were on vacation in Italy, I watched my daughter splashing and laughing in the pool, Vera and my children were swimming, Vera was sitting next to me, the sun was shining, some music was playing... And that’s it, I understand that I’m on seventh heaven Such happiness is much more difficult to achieve. It took me longer to achieve it than to achieve my musical success. It is amazing!

While it is in full swing, one of the judges of the national selection for Eurovision Ukraine, who is also its music producer, gave an interesting interview about the main vocal competition in Europe. In particular, Meladze believes that this is not a talent competition, and politics does not play a role at Eurovision.

Konstantin Meladze, who previously spoke about , gave an interview to channel “112”, noting that he does not consider Eurovision a talent show. The husband said that he is trying to evaluate the participants in the national selection (which will take place tomorrow) as fairly as possible.

Many are now discussing, but there is other news regarding the competition. Thus, Konstantin Meladze, who is now a member of the jury of the National Selection in Ukraine, also spoke about Eurovision 2017, which will take place in Kyiv thanks to.

As for Eurovision, it is not a talent show at all. I’m a music producer there, selecting people to represent our country at Eurovision. I select the songs, I guarantee that it will all be honest, open, truly musical. I have completely different functions. This is not a talent show, this is real music, real life.

He also voiced the idea that the decisive moment in the competition is not politics, but the participant and his song.

For myself, I believe and try to think that Eurovision is not a political competition, it is a musical one, and the people who sing win it, first of all, because last year Jamala won, absolutely brilliantly, simply because she sings better than anyone. And I reject all other sources and reasons for her victory for myself. I've been listening to her sing for many years. For me these are the most obvious things.

We remind you that it will take place tomorrow. It should be noted that the filming of the national selection for Eurovision 2017 takes place in the KPI cultural center. The organizers of the National selection in Ukraine are STB and UΛ: First!

// Photo: Frame from the “Honest Word” program, “Instagram”

Konstantin Meladze gave a long interview to journalist Dmitry Gordon, in which he talked about his childhood, career and shared his views on life. So, according to the producer and composer, he has practically no favorite songs. “I am a deeply insecure person. To this day, the regalia has not made me believe in myself,” said the show business figure.

During the conversation with Dmitry, Konstantin also talked about his wife Vera Brezhneva. The producer remembered his first meeting with his future wife.

“Vera Brezhneva came on stage at one of our group’s concerts and sang into the microphone. Our administrator saw her and took the phone. Then we called her to the casting and did a video test. She absolutely delighted me because she seemed like a copy of Brigitte Bardot in her youth. I don’t want to offend anyone, but objectively, Vera Brezhneva achieved the greatest success among the ex-members of VIA Gra. She is the most beautiful and sexy, and she is also my wife. Did she marry grandly? Rather, I got married on a grand scale,” Meladze noted in the “Visiting Dmitry Gordon” program.

The producer considers Brezhnev an amazing person who is capable of working hard and fruitfully. “When we took her into the group, she could neither dance nor sing. The whole history of “VIA Gra” is pure Pygmalion,” the man noted. To become a full-fledged soloist of the group, the future star was sent to special courses.

“I attended these classes once a week and watched how she progressed. The effect was simply amazing. This is comparable to some cartoon where a tomato grows once and in five seconds. The same thing happened with Vera. After a year of working in the group, he was an absolute star!” – Konstantin shared.

The romance between Meladze and Brezhneva did not arise immediately. When the singer married businessman Mikhail Kiperman in 2006, the composer did not protest against the wedding because he did not have feelings for the artist. “If I had any worries, it would only be about the fact that she would have to end her career,” the man noted. Only over time, the producer looked at the ward differently.

“The ideal woman is the one with whom you feel good and happy. Everyone has their own ideal. It should fit with you like a key to a lock. “I have a feeling that our romance with Vera lasts forever, that I met her in ’63,” Meladze shared, laughing. “With the advent of this man, my life changed. I finally lifted my head from the keyboard... It wasn’t even me who lifted it, but she grabbed me by the hair. (...) I didn’t care where I rested or what I ate. I missed out on a lot because I was obsessed with my work. And Vera gave me a kick and awakened my interest in a life other than the studio and music.”

In addition, Konstantin Meladze spoke about his children - Alice, Leah and Valeria. They were born from the producer's previous relationship with Yana Summ.

“My kids do all sorts of different things. Alisa graduated from school and goes to college in Kyiv. The middle daughter Leah is in Israel at the camp, she studies vocals and choreography. I think she has talent, but I won’t push her. My son goes to school. Vera’s and my children are, in general, friends. Now Leah was with us in Italy, she communicates well with Vera’s daughter Sarah... It’s all complicated, of course. It’s difficult now, and it will be. You know what it is. The more brothers and sisters you have, the easier it will be for you in later adult life. I know this for sure. If I didn’t have Valera and Liana, we wouldn’t have achieved anything,” the composer believes.

The presenter invited the producer to publicly confess his love to his wife. However, the composer refused and explained why. Konstantin Meladze also noted that he constantly thinks about his soulmate and worries about her. Despite the fact that the spouses are often on the road, they manage to maintain harmony in their relationship.

“There are things that need to be said in person. I don't think she'll be happy if I shout on TV how much I love her. We have other signs and other codes with which we send vibes to each other at a distance. We are constantly away from each other, because she tours a lot, and I travel constantly. But we somehow learned to minimize the distance between us. After all, when you are at home, everything is much simpler: you take your hand and that’s it. But when she is in America, you need to make an effort,” the man shared.

// Photo: Shot from the “Tonight” program

Recently, Konstantin Meladze, in a frank conversation, for the first time lifted the veil of secrecy about his relationship with Vera Brezhneva.

During the interview, the producer spoke about the beginning of his romance with the famous blonde, about their relationship during VIA Gra and about changes in life after marriage. Konstantin and Vera hid their love affair for a long time.

Even regular press reports about the romance between the composer and singer did not receive comment from them.

However, everything secret becomes clear, and in October 2015 the public learned about the secret wedding of famous people.

The wedding took place in Italy. Among the guests were only the closest people. It is noteworthy that even after such publicity, the couple kept silent about all the details of their family life.

It was only in a recent interview that Konstantin Meladze spoke for the first time about his personal relationship with Vera Brezhneva, without forgetting to touch on work issues. The producer admitted during the conversation that Brezhneva got into the VIA Gra group solely thanks to her external data. At the time of casting, the girl could neither sing nor dance.

“I attended these classes once a week and watched how she progressed. The effect was simply amazing. This can be compared to some cartoon where a tomato grows in just five seconds. The same thing happened with Vera. After a year of working in the group, he was an absolute star,” - the producer shares in an interview.

However, at that time there was no talk of any kind of relationship. Even Verino’s marriage in 2006 to Mikhail Kiperman and the subsequent birth of her daughter did not make any impression on Meladze: “Then I still treated her as an artist; if I had any experiences, it was only those that now I would have to interrupt my career, and that’s all. The feelings that arose later were later.”

“I don’t want to offend anyone, but objectively, Vera Brezhneva achieved the greatest success among the ex-Viagras. She really is an absolutely amazing person, the most beautiful and sexy. Did she marry grandly? Rather, I got married grandly" , - summed up the famous producer.

Konstantin Meladze, a music producer and member of the jury of the National selection for Eurovision 2017, spoke about how he found 42 bright talents in Ukraine in two years!

Konstantin Meladze has been a member of the jury for the National Selection for Eurovision for the second year

Konstantin, last year’s National selection for Eurovision was a real discovery for the audience and was remembered as a bright and original show. Will the 2017 selection be as large-scale?

We are trying to do everything to make the National Selection just as interesting this year. That’s why we worked so thoroughly on the composition of the participants: so that it was as diverse as possible and represented the entire palette of Ukrainian modern music. Personally, I have the most optimistic expectations from live broadcasts, because there is a lot of good music in our country. Look, in two years we have managed to raise a huge number of musicians, presenting 42 bright performers to the general public! Among this year's participants there is not a single competitor from last year's selection - this is an excellent result, because our country is not as big as America, for example.

Did any of last year's participants apply for the second time?

Undoubtedly. But their songs were not as strong as last year.

The jury will include Eurovision winner Jamala. Do you think she will be too strict with the participants?

On the contrary, it is very good that Jamala is now on the jury of the National Selection. She has fresh memories of how she went through it herself. And I am sure that she will treat the current contestants with understanding and sympathy. But at the same time it will be very demanding. It’s good for the participants that the recent Eurovision winner is on the jury. For them, this is a huge experience and an opportunity to receive invaluable advice first-hand that will help them reach the finals and win. Jamala is now in great shape, she can teach young artists a lot. Artists like her appear on stage once every decade!

“We are trying to do everything to make the National selection just as interesting this year,” says Konstantin

Did the fact that Eurovision 2017 will be held in Ukraine somehow affect the National Selection?

I cannot say whether this is connected with the holding of Eurovision in Kyiv or not, but this year there was a very large number of applications - from professional musicians to very young guys. We started the selection process 5 months ago, and it turned out to be very intense, complex and interesting. Last year the bar was set so high that we now need to meet it.

After the STB channel announced the names of the participants, comments appeared that among them there were few famous artists who could perform brightly at Eurovision...

I don't agree with these comments. We have an excellent lineup of participants, each of whom can adequately represent Ukraine. Among them there are plenty of famous artists with extensive experience and a serious repertoire. Of course, there were performers who thought that for the second year in a row we would not be able to win Eurovision, so they did not apply to participate. But the overall level of this year, in my opinion, is not lower than last year.

READ ALSO: Konstantin Meladze: “I was pleased with the audience’s choice”

Do you think Ukraine has a chance to win a second time?

If we look at the entire history of the Eurovision Song Contest, there have been cases when a country became the winner two years in a row. I think you should always believe in the first place, because if you believe in the 10th, then there is no point in fighting.

And yet... Some of the names of the semi-finalists are unknown to the general public. For example, will the punk rock group AGHIAZMA fit into the Eurovision format?

Even those artists who rarely get into rotation on TV channels look quite naturally in the National Selection. There are no such rigid formats as on radio, we have an open path for all genres, the most important thing is that it is talented, fresh and of high quality. And then the public and the jury will decide the prospects of each artist and each genre. Look at the Eurovision winners of different years: they are representatives of a wide variety of genres, from rock music and punk, which you just mentioned, to ethnic music. Hip-hop, disco, r’n’b - the Eurovision winner is quite diverse and unpredictable...

Konstantin Meladze has no fewer fans than his artists!

So the group Singing Pants has every chance?

So we'll see. (Smiles.) For example, I’m very interested in how the public will perceive them. For me, all our participants are interesting musicians, the audience should see them. We selected them not from the point of view of popularity, but based on the music, the form in which the artist is. And the fact that we have such a mixed company - both famous artists and very young ones, and the absence of a clearly defined leader - is very good. This means a very interesting fight is expected. Even for me at the moment the result is completely unpredictable.

What advice would you like to give to participants in this selection?

There is only one piece of advice here: express yourself as clearly as possible, be individual, courageous and be able to overcome the anxiety that is completely natural for live broadcasts. The viewer decides everything else.

Then what would you advise viewers who have to choose the best?

I would advise viewers to turn on STB first. (Smiles.) Better yet, buy a ticket and watch the National Selection in the hall - it’s an indescribable emotion. Watch carefully, listen, vote, support the guys - they really need it.

Have you already identified your favorite?

You know, all these five months I have been working with the team to select talented guys, so I treat them with such warmth that I don’t want to and can’t single out one or two. On the jury, I will be more likely to act as their advocate than as a critic. Let Jamal and Andrey (Danilko - editor's note) criticize. (Smiles.)

Konstantin, did you manage to relax after The X Factor? Or was there no break in work due to the selection?

Of course we succeeded. We celebrated the New Year wonderfully with a large group of relatives, the whole family, in full force. We walked a lot. Throughout the New Year holidays, I rested, read, listened to music - in a word, I relaxed and did not go to work. I haven't been to the studio for two weeks. Previously, such a long break from work was difficult for me, I could not sit still for a long time, but now I take such a break with pleasure.

Have your children inherited your musical talent?

My middle daughter is interested in music, does vocals and dances. It’s too early to say how her career will turn out - she’s only 12 years old, but I think she’s very capable. I’ll help her discover her talent, but I’m not going to specifically “push her through” or patronize her. If she chooses the stage as her profession and becomes interesting to the public, I will definitely support her.

And write songs?

If she becomes a singer, then of course I will.

How often do you get to spend time with your children?

It succeeds, but much less often than we would like. This mostly happens on weekends, because on weekdays children are very busy: school until the evening, then music, choreography.

With brother, singer Valery Meladze

Do you often see each other and talk on the phone with your brother Valery? Do you sense from a distance when he needs your help or advice?

Valera and I talk on the phone almost every day. We don't see each other that often. It happens a couple of times a month. He has a very busy schedule, so do I, and we live in different countries. We feel each other, of course. We have known each other for 51 years, so we often get by even without words.

I don’t have any accounts on social networks, and everything that appears is fake. I definitely don’t have any desire to start a page, comment on something, post photos and become a blogger. Everything I would like to say, I say through my songs.

Which are filled with an incredible amount of love. Which of them do you consider the most intimate, personal, frank?

Yes, they are all personal. There are a dozen that I particularly like and even after many years evoke positive emotions in me: “There is no more attraction”, “Foreigner”, “Don’t leave me, beloved”, “In spite of”, “Heaven”, “Love will save the world”...