Vladimir Levkin: Prize for the winner
S.R.
Vladimir, has your life changed a lot since the birth of your daughter? V.L.
Life changes, of course. A man must think about his family, and if he has responsibility, it works immediately, like a switch. A child disciplines you and at the same time tests the strength of your friends. Literally in a month you realize that you will continue to communicate with someone, but not with others. I don’t know families whose lives haven’t changed after having children. As they say, if the Lord gives a child, then he also gives for the child. And the mind too. And, of course, you understand that the most important thing is that a child must grow up in love, no matter whether the parents are together or not. And you need to make sure that he understands: everyone around him loves him. The warmth that comes from the very first days from loved ones, I believe, is laid down for life and is not wasted. Although some say that the baby, supposedly still small, will still not remember anything.
S.R.
Two sisters, Victoria and Nika, have winning names. Did they name the youngest one that on purpose? M.L.
We liked the name Nika; that’s what it says on the birth certificate. Although at home we sometimes call her Nicole and even Nicole-Maria. We chose a name for a very long time, my daughter was 9 days old, but she still remained nameless. And then Volodya suggested: “Or maybe Nika?” This is how Nika appeared, the second “victory” of Vladimir Levkin.
S.R.
Marina, what do you do besides raising Nika? M.L.
I have already returned to my previous job at Comedy Club Production and am again the casting director of the Interns project, which I also consider to be my child and I also cannot quit.
S.R.
Vladimir, what new projects have you started? V.L.
Well, first of all, I keep singing songs. Last year I had a big concert at the Kremlin Palace of Congresses, with songs from which I travel around the country - this is my main job. There is also directing activity at two festivals, and there is public activity. I work as the cultural director of an all-Russian public organization for assistance and assistance to people with disabilities and people in need of social protection. Thank God, if with our help someone became a little kinder, someone a little happier.
S.R.
Tell us a little about Nika. Who does she look like? M.L.
Outwardly, she is very similar to Volodin’s mother.
I sometimes tell her: “Raisa Ivanovna, stop looking at me with your mother-in-law’s eyes!” Especially when she frowns and looks angry. Although I love my mother-in-law very much and we have a sunny relationship with her. But sometimes she looks at me with suspicion. V.L.
Everyone says differently: some say that Nika looks like me, and others say that I am the spitting image. But sometimes they will say that it’s Marusya.
S.R.
Is she a calm child? M.L.
You know, when she was just born, everyone scared me that the difficulties and horrors of the first months were about to begin. And our first three months just flew by! Now it seems to me that it will probably be more difficult when Nika crawls and then walks. In the meantime, our daughter only made us happy. She sleeps, doesn't scream, she's calm. The colic went away, I thought it would get worse. Dill water, which doesn't help anyone, helped us! And more about character. I think all mothers will agree with me: the character of a child is formed at the moment of conception. Even toxicosis in the mother depends on the child.
S.R.
Interesting theory! M.L.
Yes!
I had toxicosis until halfway through my pregnancy, and Vladimir said that you girls can’t agree on everything among yourself. Nika was already there giving orders, when she wants to sleep, when it’s better for me not to move, etc. V.L.
But now her character only shows when she wants to eat.
M.L.
Until the 17th week, we called her Vova, because we were absolutely sure that we were having a boy. Only later did they find out the truth during an ultrasound. And last March we had a wedding, and I had absolutely terrible toxicosis, I even had difficulty moving. I remember my relatives bending over my bed with a question in their eyes: “Well, what kind of wedding is this?!” On the wedding day, I woke up and said to my stomach: “Vova, let mom and dad get married!” And that was the only day when I never felt sick, I never fell. On the contrary, I glowed, I shone, I danced such dances that those who knew about my situation sat frozen. And the next day, when the last guests left, I felt bad again and was again admitted to the hospital. This is how our “Vovochka” showed his character.
S.R.
Volodya, there is a common statement that a child, especially a boy, needs a father. But the girl doesn’t really need it, or what? M.L.
I will answer this question.
Women intuitively choose a man who is similar to their father. Volodya looks like my dad. In actions, in behavior. For me, dad has always been a real man, a protector of the family. He always had such a reverent attitude towards his mother! And it has survived to this day. And Volodya’s dad is exactly the same, they also have a strong family. Therefore, I believe that it was no coincidence that I chose Volodya. We will raise Nika in love, and when she grows up, I’m sure her daughter will choose a man like her father. Therefore, of course, it is very important what kind of relationship they will have and what Volodya will be like. V.L.
I think it's really important that we were both raised in two-parent families. This means a lot, because the most important thing for a person is family.
Vladimir Levkin: My personal life is rushing like a locomotive
Author Alena Snezhinskaya
15.05.2006 19:19
Show business » Russian show business
Once upon a time, all the girls in the country went crazy for the lead singer of the Na-Na group, Vladimir Levkin. He had fame, money, and love. But one day doctors gave him a terrible diagnosis - cancer of the lymphatic system. In an instant, there was nothing left of the cheerful and energetic guy.
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Vladimir Levkin: My personal life is rushing like a locomotive
My wife left and many friends left. Some show business figures said: we should make money from it, release something unreleased, but it will soon die anyway. And he survived and replied: “Gentlemen, you were in a hurry with the funeral. I haven’t sung all the songs yet...”
- Volodya, I know that the last few years have been incredibly difficult for you: you were on the verge of death. What has changed in you as a person during this time?
- A lot has changed in me. When you go through something like this, you realize how valuable life is. Just life. I’m not even talking about doing what you love, but just waking up in the morning in a normal state, not thinking about the fact that you have to crawl for forty minutes to the toilet, which is three meters away from you. When you live a normal life and everything is fine, your eyes become blurry.
Now I seize every moment and enjoy it. I began to distinguish the main from the secondary, stopped being afraid of criticism, and stopped paying attention to what others would say. What difference does it make whether I wear expensive clothes or not - the main thing is that they are comfortable. What difference does it make whether my wife is beautiful? What matters is whether I feel warm with her.
What difference does it make whether I have many friends? The main thing is which of them will stay with me in difficult times. For me, all the people became a discovery. It’s as if I’ve landed from another planet and am looking at everyone anew. It also seems to me that I have become more honest with others. Now it’s easier for me to tell the truth than to reassure someone in vain.
— Who supported you during your illness?
— I got through thanks to my mom, dad, sister, friend and producer Sergei Chuchin. They spent a long time looking for the amount of one hundred and fifty thousand euros that was needed for treatment in Germany. But this is astronomical money! And we couldn’t find them. They already had nothing left that could be sold to pay for my treatment.
As a result, I received treatment in Russia. Thanks doctors. I was in good hands - academician Vitaly Grigorievich Savchenko, professor Larisa Pavlovna Mendeleeva, nannies. The fan letters were very supportive. I read them for six months. I decided to read at least fifty letters a day, because my head couldn’t take any more. Low bow to everyone!
- Do you have any resentment towards people who, let’s say, forgot about you in difficult times?
- Not anymore! I don't judge anyone. Lost someone, found someone. People have many problems of their own. I understood this and forgave.
— Do you maintain relations with the “Na-Nai”?
- We are calling each other. But they live in their own world, and I live in mine, with my own needs and feelings.
– Did they visit you in the hospital?
- Of course, the guys and Bari came. But I asked not to be visited. Because I was a terrible sight - pale, thin, bald from chemotherapy, literally all my hair had fallen out, terrible ulcers in my mouth... It was impossible not only to eat, but even to drink and smoke.
I had such a paste with anesthetic properties. I smeared it on my gums, and while the painkiller was working, I quickly ate something. I didn't want to be seen like that. But they still asked for it and visited. True, they left me pale as death.
— Volodya, did you break up with your wife Oksana due to illness or were there some other reasons?
- It seems to me that this question is more for her. She just came one day and said that she fell in love with someone else. What can you do if this is how things turned out? I said: let it be so. A man has fallen in love, what can I do? It would be worse if we just tolerated each other. And so we lived together, rejoiced - and that’s enough. The person has his own secrets, meetings, phone calls.
It's still impossible to fight this. Moreover, let me fight in the position in which I was. As much as it hurt me at the time, I don't blame her. You know, it is difficult even for a very strong person to withstand such changes in family life. We started dating when I was handsome and successful, and then everything changed dramatically.
To see every day how I am fading, how I am changing outwardly, not for the better... How this transformation will end was also not clear at that time. And she is beautiful, young, energetic. She's tired of it all. She wanted to live!
Vladimir Levkin: My personal life is rushing like a locomotive
And then another man appears, successful, rich, courting her like in a fairy tale. She made a choice in his favor. But all the years before the divorce, we lived well, even very well. When I left Alibasov, I created the group “Kedy” and this project did not take off: there were problems, there were no concerts. At least then, she understood everything and helped record several songs.
— Have you ever regretted leaving Alibasov precisely because of Ksyusha?
- Not even once! Firstly, by that time my contract with Na-Na had already expired. And Karimych did not approve of our alliance with Ksyusha. Everyone knows that he did not welcome married people in the group. And I had to choose: either renew the contract, but not get married, or leave.
I chose the second one. I decided to go out on my own and created the group “Sneakers”. She was, in a way, a dream come true and plans for the future. It’s a pity that I lasted only two years as part of the group, the last of which I did not work, but was treated.
— Weren’t you afraid that people who were used to you in the pop “Na-Na” would stop perceiving you in the punk rock “Sneakers”? - Don't know. Different thoughts came. There were just a lot of examples when a person switches from one musical style to another, and this other goes with a bang. Take Yuri Aizenshpis, may he rest in heaven, who first played rock and roll and then moved into more youth music.
In fact, inside myself I was never a pop boy. While working at Na-Na, I constantly lobbied for some rock and roll tricks, but since there was a project there, and Bari was the head of the project, practically nothing could be implemented. Bari said: “Don’t cross daddy! Initiative is punishable!"
— And yet “Sneakers” were not successful...
“It pains me to admit it, but I agree.” The listener needs the product he expects, not the one you like. And that’s why my music will be different now. I'm currently working on a new project.
— Are there people in modern show business whom you sincerely admire?
- Undoubtedly, this is Philip Kirkorov.
- Yah?!
- I am not kidding. I sincerely believe that as a manager and promoter he is one of the strongest in our scene. Someone would like to collaborate with Tarkan, but cannot do this, but he could. And they criticize him out of envy. I still can’t imagine our country without the Lyube group.
— What tasks are paramount for you today?
— The first is the recording of the album, the second is its advertising.
— But it’s a little expensive to be on television!
- We can handle it! In addition to television, there is also popular advertising, which is transmitted by word of mouth. And everything else will come, I’m just sure of it. It’s only been two years since I started my new life and during that time I’ve done a lot. Myself.
— Is it true that some enterprising show business figures wanted to publish a disc in memory of Vladimir Levkin?
- Is it true. But I found out about this later. My producer told me about this when I left the hospital. At first, one publication told him: “You know, for now we won’t write anything about Levkin. But when he dies, we’ll be the first to write.”
And enterprising figures started the following conversation: “You have unreleased songs by Levkin? Let's prepare the disk now and arrange everything. As soon as he dies, we’ll immediately release him and warm his hands!”
— Volodya Politov once said that some crazy fans more than once introduced the group’s lead singers to their own children...
- I had it better! Once I met a girl. We met several times. It feels good. And suddenly... She writes a statement against me to the police, saying that she allegedly has a child from me and that I robbed her: I took three hundred thousand dollars, took all the carpets and two VCRs from the apartment...
- ...three cigarette cases, three leather jackets?
- Well, something like that. Nonsense! Now I remember this with a smile, but then it cost my mother a heart attack. It was so unpleasant: letters poured in from everywhere, even from the Ministry of Culture. Everyone demanded to “deal with the artist and send the case to the prosecutor’s office.”
The most offensive thing is that on the dates she indicated in the statement, we were on tour in Macedonia: this could not have happened, because it simply could not. Everything ended well: the girl, as it turned out later, turned out to have minor mental disabilities.
- It was fun. Do you miss those times?
with Alina
- How to say? Yes and no. Ten years in “Na-Na” was a colossal experience, a time when we went on stage almost every day. Without “Na-Na” I would not have succeeded. But nothing lasts forever: popularity fades, money runs out. Popularity is not the main thing in life, the main thing is health. It's a pity that you realize this too late.
— Tell me honestly, when you were going through terrible physical pain, did you have any desire to try drugs?
- There was a desire. But I knew that this could not be allowed, otherwise why bother fighting for life at all? Once upon a time, at the very beginning of my career in Na-Na, I tried drugs. I think everyone has gone through this. Every artist has periods of creative crisis in his life and at such moments he needs to “recharge”.
Then experiments with the expansion of consciousness begin. Thank God, it didn’t cross the acceptable line for me, and I stopped in time. But the masses of people who were in front of my eyes could not. I'm lucky! But after leaving the hospital, I still got hooked on one “drug” and now I can’t do without it even for a day. I fell in love again. My “drug” is called Alina.
- We know - a TV presenter.
— Yes, but actually, she is a linguist by training, she interned at the Sorbonne. Knows French, Spanish, English, even Latin. Very smart girl! Alina has a little daughter, with whom we became friends. And in general, my personal life is just rushing like a steam locomotive!
— Didn’t have time to leave the hospital and immediately rushed into love affairs? Famously!
- I didn’t expect it myself! But seriously, after the hospital I had no time for love affairs. But, apparently, God gave me this happiness, gave me a chance. We met by chance, in the company of friends. Do you know how she saw me? I was just after the operation: exhausted, with bruises under my eyes... Horrible!
Alina came up to me and asked if I had AIDS. I calmly explained that I had a completely different disease. And she stood in front of me so bright, sparkling, well-groomed, just like Jacqueline Kennedy! I fell in love at first sight. I looked at her with all my eyes, as if spellbound, and did not even understand what she was talking about. I couldn't take my eyes off it!
- When is the wedding?
— Our relationship is developing every day. The more you know a person, the more you want to get to know him. We are still at the recognition stage. I made an offer. But we think that the time is not right for the wedding yet. I don’t want our relationship to fall apart because there isn’t enough money. Everything should happen gradually.
Any girl wants a normal life. It is a man's task to provide for the family. I like the development of our relationship, I don’t want to rush it. If before I was a revolutionary, now I am an evolutionary. It is important for me that everything happens at the moment when it is needed, and that this moment coincides with my capabilities and ambitions.
Svetlana Tkacheva
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