David Todua biography. David Todua - about the show “The Voice”, injury and Kuzbass

– David, you were born in Sukhum, lived for some time in Kharkov, then moved to Kemerovo, and now you work in Moscow. Let's start from the beginning. Tell us about your brightest and warmest memories from childhood.

– It’s good that you clarified that warm memories are needed. Otherwise, I would call the most striking thing the beginning of the war on my birthday, when I was 12 years old ( On August 14, 1992, the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict began - approx. ed.). Despite this, I had a happy childhood, I was a very happy child. My most vivid memories are going on stage at the first children's theater in Abkhazia, where I played the main role. When you and your mother are walking along the embankment, around the city, you go into a beautiful restaurant, order a khachapuri boat and lemonade. The distant 80s, when all the neighbors and relatives gather for your birthday, everyone is happy and cheerful. One huge warm memory is my entire childhood.

– How did you become interested in music? As far as I know, you have no professional musical education, you taught yourself everything.

– It was in childhood that my musical activity began. At the age of 4-5 I started singing and performing on stage. After this, he received the main role in the first children's theater of Abkhazia. Then a famous event happened that made me and my parents refugees. We left our home and were sheltered by Ukraine, the city of Kharkov, where we lived for 8 years.

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It was there that I started playing the guitar and bought my first electric guitar by hook or by crook. My relatives helped me with this. And he created his own rock band at school. And so we chatted after school in the assembly hall, opposite the chemistry room. We tortured the teacher, she swore: “Todua, when will you shut up?” And I plugged in the guitar, I didn’t know how to play much, I overloaded it and played so loudly! Everything was cracking at school. But they loved me. Life happened in such a way that people always treated me well. I always performed on stage, read poems, sang songs, so through clenched teeth they allowed me to study music in the assembly hall.

About Kemerovo and serious injury

– Why did you and your family move from Kharkov to Kemerovo?

– I came to Kemerovo thanks to my Aunt Louise. In 1998, my mother died. And when a very important person in the family dies, it is always a great tragedy, both personal and family. Mom was the foundation on which the entire family upbringing rested. My father worked all his life, was directly involved in making money, and my mother directed us along the family vector. And when she died, it became difficult for my father. In order for us to stick together, for the family to have some kind of future, it was necessary to change the environment. And my aunt suggested moving to Kemerovo, working, living here, finishing my studies. All my life I will be grateful to her for the fact that my family and I ended up in Kemerovo. My father began working in the regional administration, in the Capital Construction Department. He achieved good heights in Kemerovo. He has many awards and services to Kuzbass. I also received awards from the governor and rector of Kemerovo State University, where I entered the third year of law school.

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– Did you stop playing music in Kemerovo?

– After moving, I stopped working with the Kharkov rock band and completely switched to my personal creativity. Probably, the decision to become a vocalist arose here. When I first moved to Kemerovo, I had doubts about music, played more guitar and didn’t sing much. But something happened to the voice, it seemed to open up. I began performing at various venues in the city, taking part in concerts of non-professional student creativity “First Snow” and student spring at KemSU. I even went to Samara for the All-Russian Student Spring and won a prize. And it was in Kemerovo that I began to sing and position myself as a vocalist.

Here I released my first pop album. Many guys from the Europe Plus radio station helped me record and promote it. When I released the album in the winter of 2002, I even had a solo concert in an operetta ( Musical Theater of Kuzbass named after. A. Bobrova - approx. ed.), where the Coliseum club once was. And I wanted to give myself completely to Kuzbass and the city of Kemerovo. I can say without a doubt that life in Kemerovo is one of the most vibrant and interesting stages. I lived in Kuzbass for about three years, but it was here that I became a man and an artist.

– David, you say that you have many warm memories of the coal capital, but it was here that you received a serious injury, which still affects your health.

– The event was unpleasant, it influenced some aspects, but did not change my life. My friend and I were returning through the park in the evening and walked past a crowd of cheerful and drunk teenagers - about 15 people. Apparently, they didn’t like us, and a fight broke out. Retinal detachment has occurred. At first there was anger. I won’t hide when this happened, not only me, but half the city of my friends and acquaintances walked around Kemerovo looking for these people. They were not found. By that time, I was already quite famous in the Kemerovo region, because I was often at concert venues on City Day and Miner’s Day in different cities. I was constantly shown on Kuzbass television and broadcast on the radio. These people probably found out who it happened to. Yes, I already forgot about them. I don’t like to pay so much attention to some things that cannot be changed. Inside myself, I forgave everyone a long time ago and don’t hold any grudges.

– In an interview, you said that after the injury you had about 20 operations. And at concerts, especially at high notes, you are tormented by pain. Have you thought about giving up music?

“I would rather give up my eyes than music.” I had a moment when, after numerous operations, I asked the doctor: “Can I remove this eye?” To which the doctor was very surprised and replied: “You are still fine. It can be fixed". “Okay, I was just asking,” I ended the conversation. I will never give up music. Giving up music is tantamount to my death. Believe me, when I produce, it doesn't mean it doesn't hurt. I work with a monitor all the time. The eyes become very tired and blood pressure rises. But I can’t give it up – this is my life. I ask God every day to give me strength so that I can continue the work that he gave me. It is clear that the injury is unpleasant; it still does not allow me to use my voice 100%. But you cannot attach such great importance to this and elevate it to such a rank that the event changes your life.

– Are there any more operations ahead of you?

– Now I am at the stage of drug treatment, maintaining intraocular pressure, which has become a side effect of numerous operations. Increased pressure leads to these terrible pains, and a new doctor from St. Petersburg and I managed to keep the pressure at the desired level. These are constant drops, constant checks. If we fail to control the pressure within a month or two, if it goes up and does not respond to medications, then I will have a very difficult and long operation. My surgeon wants to avoid this operation.

About the Queen group and the show “Let's Get Married”

– How did your musical career develop after Kuzbass?

– In 2002, I graduated from the university, and the following year I took part in the television project “People’s Artist”. This show pulled me out of Kemerovo, and thanks to it I moved to Moscow and stayed to live here. In 2006, when I was 25 years old, I entered the Moscow College of Improvisational Music, where I studied vocals for almost 4 years with a very good teacher Natalia Kudryavtseva. What I sing and can do now is all thanks to her. I didn’t finish my studies at college, I don’t have a professional diploma or higher musical education. I can't say I regret it. And, believe me, self-development - what I have been doing for several years - is much more difficult than studying at university.

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– In any case, the lack of professional education did not prevent you from writing music for Lars von Trier’s cartoon, creating arrangements for Dima Bilan’s songs and collaborating with Brian May from Queen. Tell us why you chose the song Who Wants to Live Forever for the blind auditions?

– I chose this song because it is very difficult, and I wanted to set the bar high from the very beginning. Plus in 2004 I worked with the group Queen. Then I took part in the casting of the musical We Will Rock Yoy by Queen. Brian May And Roger Taylor They approved me for the main role. After this project, I created the band The Bohemians - the official Queen tribute band. I always wanted to popularize the music of this group in Russia. Because she is unusual, beautiful and simply legendary.

– By contrast, I can’t ignore your participation in another legendary project – the show “Let’s Get Married.”

“Lord, this video will probably haunt me for the rest of my life.” “Let's get married” is my friend's adventure Anton Tsygankova, guitarist of the group “Disco Accident”, with whom we had a group D&A. He wanted to promote our team by hook or by crook. “David, this is a chance to highlight our group on Channel One,” he told me. No, I didn't want to participate. I would never have thought of going looking for a wife on “Let’s Get Married.”

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I met my wife in a group that I produced. It was a girl group. She left the group, we got married. Now I help her career as much as I can. But in fact, she helps me more. It is very important for any artist to have someone you trust next to you. She teaches vocals and corrects some moments on stage for me behaviorally, vocally, and helps me work on myself. My wife is my ears and eyes from the outside.

About the show "The Voice"

– There have been many interesting and popular projects in your career. Why did you decide to take part in the show “The Voice”?

– I didn’t really want to go to “Golos”. By this point, I was really doing other things: producing artists, traveling to Scandinavia, and had some health problems. But lately there has been a desire and a certain visualization of what I would like. That's why I decided to participate.

– David, during the blind auditions, all the jury members pressed the “I choose you” button. Why did you choose Leonid Agutin's team?

– Honestly, when I went to the blind auditions, I had a rough idea of ​​who I would like to get to, and Leonid Agutin was first on the list. Although with Dima Bilan I have long-standing friendships and working relationships. In 2015, we worked on the arrangement of the song “Don’t be silent.” And, probably, I did not consider Dima due to the fact that there were no rumors about the bias of the project. Only because of this. Like a real man, when all four mentors turned, I dealt with my emotions and did not show that I was happy. It's a very pleasant feeling, really. But you need to try to keep pleasant sensations within yourself so as not to tempt the devil.

– How is your collaboration with Leonid going and at what stage is the “Voice” show for you now?

– Leonid is an incredible professional, a very good, kind and sympathetic person. Of course, we don’t meet as often as we would like. There is a busy schedule of shows. There are a lot of guys and a lot of songs to learn. But I spy on various professional moments and tricks. The next stage in the show is “Knockouts”, three people from the team will go on stage and sing one song at a time. One drops out, two remain. This stage has already been filmed, but has not yet been shown. Therefore, I cannot talk about the results yet. After this, the participants will have a quarter-final with live broadcasts, where viewers will vote.

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– What’s your mood? Are you worried?

- There is excitement. But everything is in working order. It's normal, it's even nice to worry a little. Everything goes according to plan.

– Of course, what kind of person doesn’t set himself the goal of winning? Then, for some reason, either he is allowed to do this or not. So we'll see. Goals should always be set high in order to achieve some results.

– What do you do besides participating in the show “The Voice” and what artists are you collaborating with now?

– My main professional activity is writing songs for artists. The Bohemians and I are now actively rehearsing, because we are going on tour to Surgut on November 16, 17, 18. Then a concert is planned in Moscow. A couple of weeks ago I finished the song “White Magic” for Dima Bilan, which will be released on his new album. I am its author, together with my close friend Dima Mironenko wrote the music and lyrics. I’m currently working in the studio on a song with the legend of Soviet and Russian rock music Lenya Gutkin. I’m also exploring new directions in music and improving my production skills. I read a lot of articles about producing, I mainly engage in self-development.

I recently bought a camera with my wife. And I liked it so much! I didn’t think that anything else would hook me as much as music. It’s very interesting to unload the musical part of your head and go a little into the visual arts.

About plans and concert in Kuzbass

– When you introduced yourself to the jury at the blind auditions for the show “The Voice”, they said about yourself, “My name is David Todua. I am a Georgian from Moscow who is immensely in love with Russia.” Name your favorite cities in Russia.

– I really like Krasnoyarsk, Samara, Yaroslavl, Vladikavkaz, we can talk endlessly about our favorite cities. St. Petersburg, without a doubt, every street. Moscow. Kemerovo, of course. The last time I was in Kemerovo was in 2010. I love this city, I love this region. This smell of Siberia, the aroma of taiga. I can’t tell you how nice it is when you find yourself in these parts. In Kemerovo, I loved spending time in the center, on Vesennyaya Street, Sovetsky Avenue, I loved being within the alley near the Philharmonic, walking along the embankment, along Stroiteley Boulevard, where we still have an apartment. I loved going to the chapel opposite the Philharmonic, across the street. She stands there so small, small. When I left Kemerovo, I bought an icon in this chapel, which is still with me.

– David, what are your plans for the near future? After winning “The Voice,” of course.

– My most important plan is to be in music. What aspect it will be, I don’t know. I will be on stage anyway, whether I win the show or not. There is an idea with one of the participants of “The Voice”, with a person who has become a close friend of mine, to perform a song. I want to become a producer, like Michel Cretu, to make modern good music for artists - these are my plans. And I really want children.

– When can we expect you in Kuzbass with a concert?

– My friends have already called and invited me to perform in Kemerovo. Even before participating in the “Voice” show, they were interested in my affairs and worried about me. Therefore, I can’t say for sure now, but as soon as the opportunity arises, I will immediately come to Kuzbass without delay. It will be a big event in my life - to return with a concert to one of my favorite cities in Russia.

• David Todua (37 years old) was born in Sukhum. On his 12th birthday, hostilities began in Georgia and Todua’s family had to leave.

David Todua: “We had to survive. I remember how we stood in line for flour, bread and other humanitarian aid. Then my parents and I went to Ukraine, to Kharkov. My mother developed cancer due to constant stress. I buried her when I was 17. Then relatives took us to Russia, to Kemerovo. I graduated from university there. I started playing music and moved to Moscow in 2003.”

• David Todua was interested in music and theater from early childhood. At the age of 5, David Todua took first place in a vocal competition and played the main role in the first children's theater of Abkhazia.
• David Todua began performing in 1999 throughout Russia and received support from Radio Europe +.
• In 2002, David Todua graduated from the Faculty of Law of Kemerovo State University, but did not work in his specialty, he studied only music.
• In 2003, in Moscow, David Todua went through 2 rounds of the People's Artist show.
• In April 2004, David Todua took part in the casting of the musical We Will Rock You by Queen and was personally cast in the lead role by Brian May and Roger Taylor.
• After the musical closed, with the help of the Queen fan club in Russia, David Todua founded the group “The Bohemians”.
• At one time, David Todua joined BMI (Broadcast Music Incorporated), an American community of composers. He sent material there, for which he received money. David's music began to be heard in theaters and cinema.
• In 2006, David Todua entered the Moscow College of Improvisational Music.
• In November 2008, David Todua met Anton Tsygankov, and they decided to perform together.
• David Todua has a license to perform Freddie Mercury's songs in Russia.
• In 2015, David Todua worked with Dima Bilan. Together they spent a month and a half looking for a style for the song “Don’t Be Silent”; David arranged the song. Top model and presenter of “Voice.Children” Natalya Vodianova starred in the “Don’t Be Silent” video.
• David Todua writes songs for Dmitry Malikov, Emin and other pop artists. His music can also be heard in Russian theaters and even in Lars von Trier's cartoon. Denmark even selected one of David Todua's songs for Eurovision, but the audience ended up voting for another song.
• Once in his youth, David Todua and a friend were walking through a park (Kemerovo), and a drunken company of 16 gopniks walked past, who did not like them. David and his friend decided to fight rather than flee. They were brutally beaten. As a result, the retina of his left eye detached and David almost lost his sight. David Todua was 21 years old at the time.
• In 2015, there was a relapse with serious complications that were inoperable. There was constant pain in the eye due to intraocular pressure, and fluid accumulated. Later, David Todua found good specialists, he had about 20 operations in three years. And that's not it. Intraocular and intracranial pressure is constantly increasing. Loads are contraindicated for David, and even more so he cannot sing with such an injury. But David cannot imagine himself without music and sings through pain.

At high notes the feeling is as if nails are being hammered into your temples. Moreover, pain occurs not only during singing, but also at night. Due to many operations, the outflow of fluid from the eye is disrupted. It accumulates and begins to put pressure, causing pain. To reduce his blood pressure, David undergoes special procedures. Numerous operations cost David Todua a million rubles.

• Dima Bilan supported David Todua after the operation. David was injected with gas into his eye and had to look down for 2 weeks so that the eye would press against the detached retina. And so all the time: and walk, and lie, and eat, and sleep, and look down all the time. It was very difficult mentally. Then Bilan came to David and asked him to make an arrangement for the song “Hang Glider” for “New Wave”. David put all his pain and all his soul into this track. And thanks to this work, he coped with depression and continued to create.
• David Todua jumped with a parachute, lifted weights in the gym - he liked the stress and adrenaline. Now you can’t not only go to the gym, but even swim, overwork, or sit at the computer. But David Todua cannot live without music, he writes songs, sings in his group “The Bohemians” and never complains or feels unhappy.
• David Todua’s motto: “It’s better to regret what you did than to regret what you didn’t do.”
• Once upon a time, during difficult times, David Todua was thinking about returning and becoming a lawyer, he told his father about it. David's father never liked the fact that his son was involved in music, but he said: “Son, you will be the most unhappy person if you give up your dream.” David Todua remembers these words like this: “He filled my empty tanks with fuel, which I still have enough of.”
• At the Blind Audition for Voice 6, David Todua sang “Who wants to live forever” by Queen. The song was written by Brian May for the soundtrack to the film Highlander. Leonid Agutin was the first to turn around, then Pelageya, Dima Bilan and Alexander Gradsky.
• David Todua introduced himself to the mentors: “My name is David Todua, I am a Georgian from Moscow who is immensely in love with Russia.”

Leonid Agutin began with the offensive: “David, before you go to Pelageya, as all bearded Georgians do, let’s talk a little more about you.”

• Agutin hinted that he was the first to turn even though David's start was not very impressive. But after Agutin’s turn, David Todua sang brilliantly and everyone began to press the buttons.
• Gradsky: “David got off to a bad start. Sorry, but it’s bad, somehow cowardly. And I thought, here again, why did he take this thing? Lenya suddenly turns around, and I think he’s crazy or what? What is he doing? And suddenly you started screaming!”

Dmitry Nagiyev was waiting for David Todua backstage: “When you sang, my hair began to grow.”

• At the Voice 6 Duels, Dave Dario and David Todua sang “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me” by Elton John. Sir Elton released the song in 1974, and in 1991 he recorded it with George Michael.
• The guys blew up the hall with their power, the mentors could not sit still. It was a strong, male duet.

Dmitry Nagiyev: - You probably noticed how your talent, your energy went into the hall. Truly: voice is not eyebrows, if not, you won’t draw it!

Dima Bilan: - As you know, music will never betray you, you should always bet on it and you bet on it.

Alexander Gradsky: - It's great that it doesn't look like Elton John at all! Because when they start singing Elton John, it's usually his they fight, and when they beat him up, they always beat him up worse than Elton John himself does it.

Dmitry Nagiyev: - Elton John doesn’t really like it at all when he gets bullied.

Alexander Gradsky: - For which I am grateful to Dmitry Vladimirovich Nagiyev: for the fact that, unlike Elton John, he did not grow hair on his head.

Dmitry Nagiyev: - And he doesn’t allow himself to be torn!

Alexander Gradsky: - I have an accurate eye, I even know, I’m almost sure who will be left in the project and who will be saved.

Let's continue the story about the musicians who worked on "Looking at the Sun". Next in line is David Todua, the “second musical driving force” of the Album.

We met David through Alexey Danilov - all in the same 2007, before starting work on the single “Wind in the Head”. Even then we decided that I needed to improve my vocals - and David agreed to take on the work of teaching me. Essentially, vocal lessons, working on new arrangements of our songs and their subsequent recording - all this merged into a single continuous process that began around September and ended only a year later, after recording the final vocal parts for the album.

The importance of David’s participation in the work on “Looking at the Sun” is also difficult to overestimate. He wrote new arrangements for the songs “Not in Measure”, “Unbridled by Will”, “Hey, Friend!”, He took part in most of the other compositions of the Album - not only as a guitarist, but also as a vocalist: together with Danilov they composed several interesting backing vocal parts, the most striking of which I think is the vocalization after the third verse in “Without You.” Together with Alexey Danilov, David participated in almost the entire recording process of the Album, partially mixing the compositions.

David was born in Sukhumi. Since childhood, he studied classical guitar; while still in school, he organized his own rock band. After leaving his hometown, he lived in Ukraine, then in Siberia, where he studied at Kemerovo State University at the Faculty of Law. Representing his university, David took a prize at the All-Russian Student Spring festival in Samara, and the Europe Plus Kemerovo radio station released his solo album with his own songs. David began to successfully tour with a solo program. After graduating from the Faculty of Law of KemSU, Georgian by origin, Ukrainian by citizenship and Russian in essence, David set off to conquer Moscow. Being an author and performer, he tried for a long time to interest a number of recording studios with his songs, but did not receive recognition. As part of the TV project "People's Artist", David, however, achieved some success and was seen as part of the final 50.

Finding himself in Moscow at the invitation of the "People's Artist" program, David decided to try his hand at casting for the musical "We Will Rock You" and luck smiled on him: in this large-scale production, David got perhaps the most significant role - the role of the legendary Freddie Mercury, who died from AIDS in 1991. The Russian premiere of the rock show took place on October 17, 2004 at the Variety Theater. The producers of this project were members of the Queen group - guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor, as well as the famous actor Robert De Niro. Moreover, May and Taylor personally participated in the selection of actors - they were the ones who approved David for the main role of the musical.

Currently, David is the artistic director and lead singer of the group The Bohemians, which is a unique musical project created through the efforts of the Russian Queen fan club and David himself. Many members of the group went through tough casting during the production of the musical “We Will Rock You” - and after its closure they continued their activities in “The Bohemians”. Over several years of fruitful musical activity, the band gave several dozen concerts at the most prestigious club venues in Moscow, establishing themselves as a professional team that easily repeats the most complex guitar riffs of Brian May and vocal parts of Freddie Mercury, and at the same time introducing their own original musical compositions elements. In 2009, literally on the eve of the QUEEN Festival in Moscow, the leader of The Bohemians David Todua became a laureate of the Festos 2009 Jazz Festival.

At the moment, David combines his musical activities in The Bohemians and collaboration with Unbridled Wills with production work in the production center he created together with his companions

", season 6, on Channel One.

David Todua. Biography

David Todua born in Sukhumi (Georgia), but lives in Moscow. David was interested in music and theater from early childhood. Already at the age of five he took first place in a vocal competition and played the main role in the first children's theater of Abkhazia. Since 1999, he began performing throughout Russia and received support from Europe Plus radio.

In 2002, David Todua graduated from the Faculty of Law of Kemerovo State University, but did not work in his specialty, continuing his career as a singer. In 2003, in Moscow, he went through two rounds in the TV project “People's Artist”. In April 2004, he took part in the casting of the musical We Will Rock You by Queen and was cast in the lead role personally by Brian May and Roger Taylor. After the musical closed, with the help of the Queen fan club in Russia, David Todua founded the group The Bohemians.

In 2006, David entered the Moscow College of Improvisational Music. In November 2008, I met Anton Tsygankov, and they decided to perform together.

David Todua's motto: “It is better to regret what you have done than what you have not done.”

David Todua in the show The Voice on Channel One, season 6

37-year-old David Todua performed the song “Who Wants to Live Forever” by Queen during a blind audition for the show “The Voice”, season 6. All four mentors turned to David, but he “assessed the degree of trust” and chose Leonid Agutin.

Alexander Gradsky agreed with Agutin that David began to sing “badly and cowardly.” But Dima Bilan noticed that while singing, Pelageya got goosebumps, and Dmitry Nagiyev joked that his hair began to grow from David’s singing.

Leonid Agutin turned to Todua after his performance at the blind auditions: “Maybe, after all, you will understand the level of trust I have in you, David: you started out a little weak, you stumbled, you couldn’t “inflate” your voice... Then, at the end, when you I turned around and you sang amazingly cool! And everyone began to turn around. Of course, after this you might think that everyone trusts you as much as I do..."

In the fights that started on Channel One on October 20, 2017, David Todua performed in a duet with Dave Dario. David and Dave perform Elton John's Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me. Agutin was very pleased with Todua: “ David, I’ll say that I didn’t expect it, I turned, in due time, to the potential. As a result, I discovered that you are just a great fellow! “The singer continued to fight in the project, however, his opponent also remained with the show “The Voice”, season 6: Dave Dario was saved by Pelageya, and he moved to her team.

David spoke in an exclusive interview with Sputnik Georgia columnist Anastasia Schreiber about how he got from Sukhumi to Moscow, how music became his life, why he was in pain and what Georgia means for a musician.

- David, good afternoon! It's very nice to meet you.

- Thank you too!

— When I turned 12 years old, on my birthday, August 14, the war began in Abkhazia. It was already clear that schools were not working, and I needed to continue studying. All the men, accordingly, remained - uncles, father, grandfather. And the women and children were sent to Tbilisi, to study, to sit out the bombings...

- Did you have relatives in Tbilisi?

— No, we didn’t have anyone in Tbilisi. We rented an apartment on Marjanishvili, more precisely on David Agmashenebeli Avenue, towards the church.

- I’m just calling you from Agmashenebeli.

- Yes? Oh my God! Now I have goosebumps, I remember everything, so much is connected with this place. We lived in Tbilisi for a year. I finished 6th grade at a Georgian school. And we moved to Ukraine, to Kharkov, because it was already clear that the conflict had dragged on. And my father sent us to Ukraine, because there were his friends there who invited us to their place. You understand, there was a war, you had to survive somehow.

© Sputnik / Levan Avlabreli

We were refugees, and you can’t really live on these benefits. So we left for Kharkov, where we just heard the tragic news about the fall of Sukhumi. We had a lot of relatives there. Grandfather and grandmother were captured, then they were rescued from there, our Abkhaz relatives helped.

We lived in Kharkov for eight years, where I graduated from school and entered law school. And my mother died. Then we moved to Siberia, to Kemerovo, where our aunt, my mother’s cousin, invited us. They helped us a lot, dad started working there. I transferred there and graduated from law school at Kemerovo State University. And as soon as I finished, I said that I wanted to study music, and on my birthday I bought a ticket and went to Moscow.

- How did your passion for music begin?

“I’ve been creative all my life. He sang and acted in the theater. By the way, I played in the first Georgian children's theater in Abkhazia, then it was called “Tetri Talga” (note: Sputnik - translated from Georgian as “White Wave”). By the way, in this theater we played together with Zurab Matua from the Comedy Club, he is also from Sukhumi.

photo: courtesy of David Todua

— In Kharkov, I had a group. In Kemerovo I started singing, then I began to develop it. And already in Moscow, where I moved in 2003, or rather six months later, I was taken to a musical by Queen called We Will Rock You. They themselves selected the participants, and I was included in the premiere cast, playing the main role of Galileo. After the musical, I decided to take up vocals professionally. I started studying at the Jazz College, but didn’t finish because I didn’t have time - I had to perform and go on tour.

- Is it true that you have a license to perform songs from Queen’s repertoire in Russia?

“The thing is, I was working with Queen then, and after the musical ended, I decided to create a Queen tribute team and play only Queen.

-Are you talking about The Bohemians? Does it exist now?

— Yes, it exists and tours very successfully. We recently arrived from Vladikavkaz. I have been involved with this team for almost thirteen years. There was a period when I left due to health problems, but then I returned. As for the license, in fact there is none. There is a verbal agreement with Queen management that I am allowed to sing these songs. But, however, there is one song, We Are The Champions, for which my group had a license - to record and publish.

- David, let's talk about the “Voice” project. How did you decide to take part in it? This is the first such experience.

— No, before “The Voice” I participated in “People’s Artist”, thanks to which I moved to Moscow. After that, I didn’t particularly strive to participate in such projects. And with “The Voice” it happened completely by accident. I have many friends because of my work, I produce various artists, write music, sell it in Russia and abroad. And, accordingly, during this time I met both the management and the editors of Channel One. Once in a conversation they said to me: “David, do you want to try?” And I decided to try it and see what would come of it. I didn’t even think about turning to me...

But they turned to you. And all four of them. You are a member of Leonid Agutin's team. What can you say about him? Why did you choose him?

— We have a good relationship, working, friendly. And as for why I chose him and not another, you know, if, probably, my long-standing friendship with Bilan had not existed, I would have gone to Dima. Because musically Dima is a little closer to me. And then comes Leonid. But I didn’t go to Bilan to avoid rumors about my involvement. Only because of this. And I went to Agutin because I have been familiar with his work for a long time, he is also close to me in spirit. And I think I was not mistaken.

- What is your mood? What do you expect from the project? What do you want: to win, to become famous?

- You know, today I can say from the height of my age, whatever: I want it to be worthy. It’s not just to win, to tear someone apart, to put them on their backs. No. For me, music has nothing to do with competitions. I want to test myself as far as my body will allow me, firstly, after a long illness, as far as I can withstand it and where I can go. And, of course, do your best, but so that it’s all fair.

What do I expect? I probably expect more from myself than from others. Because, after all, I am already realized in music, in creativity. I just want to see how interesting I can be today to both the producer and the public. Of course, no artist can bypass the manifestation of popularity. But in “The Voice” it is fleeting, especially if you don’t make any special efforts and don’t make new songs. You are forgotten very quickly. All adults know this very well. So, let's see, now I just want to sing.

David, you wrote music for both theatrical productions and animation for the Lars von Trier company, arrangements for various musicians and performers. In one of the interviews I read that you want to win an Oscar for film music. Is there such a thing?

- No, my dream is a Grammy. But if they give me an Oscar, I won’t refuse.

- So you haven’t written music for cinema yet?

- But would you like to write?

- Very. The fact is that for Trier’s company I wrote exactly the music that I write for the theater, it is closer to Georgian. That cartoon was called Children's World. It is arthouse animation.

David, I wanted to touch on the injury that you received many years ago, when you were beaten by a group of gopniks in one of the parks in Moscow, and you received serious damage to your eye. I've since read that you've had about 20 surgeries in the last three years and still experience pain, especially when you sing at high pitches. How do you deal with this?

— I just arrived the other day from St. Petersburg, where I met with a new doctor. I have secondary glaucoma.

- Is it contraindicated for you to sing?

- I don’t want to strain myself. Any tension means pain.

- Can this be cured? Only operational?

“Now I’ve been given a chance that I can relieve my blood pressure with medication and then get some injections. I have already started this therapy. Let's see what happens. If the pressure does not begin to fall and does not respond to medications, then a very serious and long operation will be needed. But I want to fight. But this, of course, requires meds for life. This is actually a very serious disease. I developed a lot of side effects after the operations.

- We wish you a speedy recovery, David. You must cope!

- Thank you!

I wanted to ask about your family. I remember you on the “Let's Get Married” program. Firstly, you sang a Georgian lullaby beautifully. You weren't married then. Where did you meet your wife?

— Believe me, I definitely didn’t find my wife there (laughs). I found my wife a little later, four years ago. There is a lot of blood in her: Russian, Romanian, Ukrainian, Hungarian, German.

- David, what about Georgia? Are you coming here? Or haven't been since you moved?

— The last time I was in Georgia was in 2007. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out for me later. Now I really hope that next year I will be able to come. I'm really looking forward to it. As soon as I settle the affairs with the documents, I will immediately go to Georgia.

- But do you remember the Georgian language?

— I not only know Georgian, I also know Mingrelian. And so every day I read the news in Georgian, in my family we communicate in Georgian, and my wife is also trying to learn.

- So you honor and preserve Georgian traditions?

- What are you talking about? It is only thanks to them that I live!

Well then you urgently need to go to Georgia. Because ten years is a long time. During this time, Georgia has changed and been renewed.

— I know, I’m watching Georgia. Believe me, I follow Georgia much more closely than the country where I live. It is very important to me what happens to my homeland, especially the political and social situation. I would really like Georgia to be prosperous, rich and kind, as it has always been.