How cheeky!

Dima Bilan apparently thinks Britain is a snobby country,especially when it comes to our musical taste.He has a point- can you really see something as great as Ty Dolzhna in our horrible generic indie filled charts?Still,we love you Dima!
Oh,and in other news,Chelsi have been around for 2 years today.Let's hope they'll be around for lots more,and enter Eurovision next year and come to the Russian Winter Festival the year after!

FZ bol'she ne budet

As an anonymous person recently commented and as I've just read on my usual dodgy Russian showbiz site- Fabrika Zvezd,the series which gave us Dima Koldun,Chelsi,Tishman and oh yeah,Kuba will be no more :( Admittedly,I only ever watched the 6th series anyway (actually,I'm still in the process of collecting episodes of Po Domam now!),but still,it was one of very few reality TV shows that I enjoy- despite not being able to understand much of what went on.Such was its effect on me that FZ featured more than a little bit in a German essay I wrote for coursework this year about Russian media since the end of the Soviet Union (which I got a bloody good mark for incidentally :) ) and my obsessive watching has left me in no doubt that it is one of the factors responsible for my 5% mark increase in oral Russian this academic year :) Diana even made us all FZ T-shirts before we left Guildford...

Anyway,these are some of my favourite bits...

-This was the first video I ever saw.Why I continued watching after this,I'm not sure.


-Whatever anyone says about Prohor,I still think he's 100% fabulous.Especially when he sings 50 Cent songs :)


-That touching exchange between Arseniy and Dennis during Anna Vissi's visit
Anna Vissi- "Give me some Eminem stuff"
Dennis- "Eminem stuff...that's good. (To Arseniy)- "You're not Eminem,get the fuck off"
Arseniy- "I'm 50 Cent"
*They launch into Fly By. By Blue

- "Mama nu ne vinovataya ya,ne vinovataya ya..." Was so exciting hearing this at the Russian Winter Festival :)


- The one and only Kruto Ti Popal (the RTR version of course)

- Dima Bilan's visit The full version is fabulous- Chelsi really need to release that cover of Ya Tebya Pomnyu :)

- Dima K's mad antics.Shame there's no video of him with his cardboard box monster or tower of crispbread.


Also- Prohor's face going from completely disappointed to really really happy after he'd been eliminated but Drobysh saved him anyway,Dima going all emo and sitting in the bushes and getting a bit annoyed with Prohor and Vika,and that weird episode of Po Domam where they dubbed it into loads of different languages and strange accents.

Oh,and of course series 7,where a bit of BiS , a bit of Tishman and a bit of "Georgiy in da tub" was all I really saw.

Hopefully someone from Perviy Kanal will see this,realise what a mistake they're making,and bring FZ back next year!

Onion Rings

That's what the Swedish call sweat patches according to Basshunter.It was a bloody good,yet quite bizzarre night which I will write more about later when I'm more awake.Sad news though,he ain't gonna be in Melodifestivalen next year- he told us that personally :)
I know,the picture is pretty bad,I look like a kind of cross between mad groupie and proud mum :)

Excitement...

Guess who's going to see Basshunter tomorrow?Not quite sure of when and where yet but it should be good.Just another one to add to the list of Eurofabulous people I've seen this year- Dima Bilan,Fabrika,Mark Tishman,Jonatan Cerrada,Ruslan,Euroband,Ani Lorak...and Sash... I will attempt to write about it some time in between coming back from Cambridge and going to Guildford.Busy weekend...

When all the screaming is through,I've always been left with you

So I was updating my itunes earlier,when I came across another English version of one of (if not my absolute) favourite Russian songs ever.I've mentioned Ty Dolzhna on here loads of times before,but never really Not That Simple.It's only recently that I've realised what a great song it is.Well,of course it is,it's exactly the same as Ty Dolzhna,but I do love the lyrics to this one.I think it's one of the best break-up songs ever- yes,the lyrics are a bit odd in places and there's some questionable rhymes in it,but still "you should be loving me,you should be holding me"- it is that simple.But effective too.



Watching this video also made me realise- I'd quite like to be stalked by Dima Bilan :)

Here I am I'm going crazy

Thank you so much to the anonymous person who gave me a link to the English version of Ne Hvataet Eyo Glaz- I knew it existed and I've been looking for it for ages.The clip is only just over a minute but I'm loving what I hear already.English versions are always exciting- I read somewhere quite a while ago that there were meant to be a few English songs on Chelsi's second album.By the way,is that even out yet?Anyway,this is called Every Little Thing She Does and it's written by 2 Swedes (always good)- Franciz and Lepont,and Steve Foster.The lyrics are more typical of a British or American pop song than a Russian one,which is quite nice.And although they might not look like one,Chelsi remind me more than ever of one of the British boybands of my childhood :) I can't wait to hear the full version of this song.
By the way- does anyone know when the new series of Fabrika Zvezd is starting?

From one birthday to another...

Yes,it's the turn of the lovely Dima K,who's 23 today.I think this calls for a bit of Zhizn' v Ritme Tansa...


S nyom razhdeniya Dima!

Happy (blog) birthday to me!

Yes,today is the 1st birthday of Work Your Magic... So S Nyom Razhdenya and Buon Compleanno to me :) Coincidentally enough,the first post I ever wrote wasn't about music at all but about Euro 2008,which of course started this afternoon.Poor Switzerland,I really wanted them to win :( Anyway,more about that another time.
Nowadays of course,Work Your Magic is all about the music (and a bit of Russian reality TV),so what better way to celebrate than to (re)post some of my favourite videos I've put on here in the last year.

Gotta have a bit of Dima of course... I've never liked this video,but let's face it- at least he sounds good on it :)



And then of course,there's Dima B...


Not forgetting the wonderful Chelsi...Gotta love a bit of Krilya


Don't let it be said that there's only Russian music here on Work Your Magic though,I do love a bit of Jonatan from time to time...


And Paolo.


Ooh,and not forgetting the fabulous Marie Serneholt...


There,wasn't that nice?

I know it's very rare that I actually post new music on here,and sometimes my Russian news is a bit dodgy and inaccurate,but I do hope you've enjoyed what you've read.I think you have :)

:(

I'm back home in Kent now,which- thanks to our prehistoric computer and internet connection- means that I probably won't be updating here much for quite a while.Donations of either money or a whole new computer are extremely welcomed :)

A nice bit of Belarussian...

It's times like this when I'm really thankful for Ruslan's makeover...


I love this song- it sounds like a 90s Russian Eurovision song.But seriously,what are that jacket and that haircut about?

Let's look at him after he got all sexy...


Mmm...much better :)

It's the hardest thing I ever have to do,to walk away from you

If you haven't read what the Schlagerboys have to say about Saturday's party at the Scala,go and have a look.I especially like the bit about Dima,as nasty as it is :)
Also,the late and wonderful Toše Proeski's song The Hardest Thing was released yesterday.It's a lovely song with great lyrics and is apparantly part of Toše's English-language album that will be released in autumn.