Stas Piekha in the program you are super. Stas Piekha: competition "You are super!" is more than just a talent show

12-year-old Valeria Adleyba from Abkhazia won the competition. Today it became known that one of the jury members of the show, Stas Piekha, decided to record a song together with Valeria and another finalist “You are super!” - Kristina Ashmarina. The composition is called “Calendar Sheets”. The verses for the song were written by Viktor Drobysh, who was also a member of the “You’re Super!” jury, and the lyrics to the chorus were written by Stas Piekha. In addition, other artists from Drobysh’s production center took part in the recording of the track - ms.Sounday and IVAN.

According to Piekha, the girls did a great job on their joint song. “I have great sympathy and sincere interest in Kristina Ashmarina - I believe that she has serious prospects! Valeria Adleiba, the winner of the project, also shows great promise - it’s already clear that she has a bright future ahead of her,” praised the participants of “You’re Super!” musician.

The song will premiere on August 13, the singer’s birthday. In addition, at the moment the video for the track has almost been shot. “I really hope that we will get a picture full of bright feelings and bright emotions. After all, each of us invested honestly and with soul in this video,” added Stas.

By the way, in September a new project “You are super!” will start on NTV. Dancing". More than 140 young dancers will demonstrate their choreographic abilities to a huge country and prove that everyone can dance. The unique show is aimed at helping children who are left without parental care take their first steps in the dance world. Two days ago it became known that Alexander Oleshko would become the host of the project.

Finalists of the show “You are Super!”

Stas Piekha during the show “You are Super!”

The jury and host of the show “You are super!”

On the evening of February 11, the Russian television channel NTV airs a joint project with the news agency and radio Sputnik - the international children's vocal competition "You are super!". The competition can be called truly unique - it will give talented children from all over Russia, as well as from the CIS and Baltic countries, left without parental care, a chance to get on the big stage.

NTV General Producer Timur Weinstein and a member of the competition jury, singer Stas Piekha visited the Sputnik radio studio and talked about how the competition was prepared and what TV viewers would see.

“The idea has been in the air for a long time. When we (the NTV television company - ed.) held the event “The Journey of Father Frost,” NTV became the official partner of Father Frost from Veliky Ustyug. Together we traveled to more than 20 cities on the eve of the New Year, visited orphanages and performed the wishes of the children who wrote the letters. When we saw these children and how they performed, the idea of ​​the competition finally crystallized. We realized that it would work. More than one and a half thousand letters and video materials came to the casting that we announced. When we saw all this , then we realized that the idea was very correct, because there are a huge number of talented children,” said Timur Weinstein.

He said who was on the jury of the competition - singer Elka, opera and pop singer Margarita Sukhankina, NTV music producer Viktor Drobysh and singer Stas Piekha.

"We had to gather professionals from the music world. And everyone has their own function: a producer, a singer with a classical education, and, of course, an idol of youth. This is Stas Piekha, who, despite his sonorous surname, spent a lot of time in his childhood spent in an orphanage, was friends with the kids and even lived there. Stas himself went through a music competition, and it was Viktor Drobysh who wrote the first song for him,” said Timur Weinstein.

According to Stas Piekha himself, he actually periodically left home to live in an orphanage.

“I just liked it there. Edita Piekha had a sponsored orphanage, where we first took toys, helped as best we could, came with my choir at the St. Petersburg chapel, gave concerts there, did amateur performances, etc. And I was there somehow I settled in. I constantly spent my free time there,” the singer shared.

As for the competition, according to Stas Piekha, this is more than just a show.

“I was hooked by the fact that with my “skomorokhov” profession I bring little benefit, except perhaps joy and fun for people. And in this case, I have some chance to sort of rehabilitate myself. This is a little more than just a show, a little more "than entertainment content. This is some kind of motivation for the country, some kind of hope that goes beyond the scope of an ordinary talent show, because through the prism of a person’s history we understand that this is a feat, and not some kind of professional promotion of talent," the singer noted .

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Stas Piekha: "You are super!" - this is a show with a good cause

According to him, he liked the idea of ​​​​the project and what was happening here. But being a member of the jury turned out to be emotionally difficult.

“I liked that this is not a 100% entertainment show, but a project that has a good purpose, a project where we can be really useful. I want to know the story of each participant, what they had to overcome, what path they took to get here. It’s very important,” Piekha said.

According to the singer, every time he has to pull himself together and find some right words and arguments, to make it clear to the contestants that this is the beginning of a long journey that remains to be overcome.

"Here it’s not so important to learn how to sing very cool. It’s important to be yourself, to broadcast something of your own. The project develops humanity in people, especially the younger generation. When you understand that there is pain, that there are these difficult stories, there is an incentive to change yourself ", said the artist.

One of the orphanages of Urmat Myrsakanov. Viewers will be able to see his performance on February 25 at 23.00.

The talents of the participants in the vocal competition "You're Super!" judged by professionals - popular musicians and producers of Russia: opera and pop diva Margarita Sukhankina, experienced music producer Viktor Drobysh, bright and shocking Elka and stylish Stas Piekha.

On February 11, the NTV channel will air a joint project with the news agency and radio Sputnik - the international children's vocal competition “You are super!” The competition can be called unique, because it will give talented children from all over Russia, as well as from the CIS and Baltic countries, left without parental care, a chance to get on the big stage. On Sputnik radio, NTV General Producer Timur Weinstein and a member of the competition jury, singer Stas Piekha, spoke about how the competition was prepared and what viewers would see on Saturday.

How was the idea for the project born, how did it develop, who is the author?

Timur Weinstein:

“The idea has been around for a long time. When we (TV company NTV – ed.) held the “Journey of Father Frost” campaign, NTV became the official partner of Father Frost from Veliky Ustyug, and together with Father Frost we traveled to more than 20 cities on the eve of the New Year, visited orphanages and made children’s wishes come true who wrote letters to him, when we saw these children and how they performed, this idea finally crystallized. We realized that this would work. These children from orphanages and boarding schools who have now come to us, not like in Moscow for the first time, they have never left the city, village and village where they are. More than 1.5 thousand letters and video materials came to the casting that we announced. When we saw all this, we realized that the idea was very correct, because there are a huge number of talented children.”

Is the work of the boarding school itself important here?

Timur Weinstein:

“Many children can film themselves; modern technologies allow this. The Ministry of Education also helped us, we spoke with every director of an orphanage and boarding school, people responded incredibly.”

But won’t the competition be a blow to the children’s psyche?

Timur Weinstein:

“These children have already suffered a blow to their psyche, unfortunately. Their fate is so difficult, and everyone has already felt what betrayal and betrayal by strangers is. And we talked with psychologists, and all family psychologists, especially those who deal with such children, told us: “don’t even think about it.” For these children, getting out of there, going on the big stage, feeling new sensations, seeing a new world is much more valuable and expensive. And we see that even those children who do not make it to the second stage, believe me, are psychologically very stable. They are adults already. When they sent us video materials, we selected 92 children from Russia, the CIS, and the Baltics. And they all came to us on January 15 along with their legal representatives, because this is quite serious work and you need to understand that these are special children, special laws apply to them. And they have been living in our sanatorium in New Riga since January 15th. Teachers work with them, and, by the way, no one canceled the secondary school either, as well as vocal teachers and choreographers. They are surrounded by care. Some children arrived a little withdrawn, because they need to get used to the new environment. But they are delighted with everything, and it’s so touching. I always say that for us this competition began long before we went on air. They are so touching, one boy comes up all the time to hug, they thank you for everything. When they filled out the questionnaires, they wrote which stars they wanted to meet. On Saturdays at 20:00 you will start watching it. One dreamed of meeting Bondarchuk, Bondarchuk came. Another dreamed of singing a duet with Kirkorov, Kirkorov came. Someone’s idol is actor Lesha Chadov, Chadov came. And for them this is such happiness! Yes, of course, this is a competition, and it’s quite difficult for our jury. But, nevertheless, I hope that we will continue to work with these children, and they will all have a happy future.”

The jury included Yolka, opera and pop singer Margarita Sukhankina?

Timur Weinstein:

“Margarita Sukhankina has two adopted children. It was very important for us to find people who understand the psychology of these children and will speak and explain everything to them correctly. Margarita has read many books on this topic, she is the mother of two wonderful children, and she knows how to talk to them correctly.”

Timur Weinstein:

“It is important for us that the jury has an honest person who has achieved and broken through. And Yolka proved in all her ways that everything depends on ourselves. And the children all sang it together, because they understand that everything depends on themselves.”

NTV music producer Viktor Drobysh is also on the jury?

Timur Weinstein:

“We had to gather professionals from the music world. And each has its own function: producer, classically trained singer, and, of course, youth idol. This is Stas Piekha, who, despite his sonorous surname, spent a lot of time in an orphanage as a child, was friends with the children and even lived there. Stas himself went through a music competition, and it was Viktor Drobysh who wrote the first song for Stas Piekha.”

Stas, did you have to live in an orphanage for some time?

Stas Piekha:

“No, I didn’t have to, I chose it myself. And not for a while, but periodically, I went to an orphanage. I just loved it there. Edita Piekha had a sponsored orphanage, where we first brought toys, helped as best we could, came with my choir at the St. Petersburg chapel, gave concerts there, did amateur activities, etc. And somehow I took root there. And one day I appeared there, and the older children locked me in the closet and for six hours everyone was looking for me, and I was both scared and pleased, so much attention. Well, I constantly spent my free time there, because there was no one at home: my mother went to Moscow to work, because St. Petersburg was not doing well, my dad lived in Lithuania, but I hung out at the orphanage and had a very good time "

P> - But in this competition “You are super!” What got you hooked?

Stas Piekha:

“I was hooked by the fact that with my “Skomorokhov” profession I bring little benefit, except perhaps joy and fun to people. And in this case, I have some chance to sort of rehabilitate myself. This is a little more than just a show, a little more than entertainment content. This is some kind of motivation for the country, some kind of hope that goes beyond the scope of an ordinary talent show, because through the prism of a person’s history, we understand that this is a feat, and not some kind of professional promotion of talent.”

What is the most difficult thing about such a competition?

Stas Piekha:

“All children who did not receive enough love in childhood control love in the future. They want it from everywhere. They look at every member of the jury, behind his every glance, behind his reaction, because they were not given this confidence and this layer - I love it - it is not there. And I have the same story, because I was constantly waiting for someone to smile, for someone to wink, to show “wow!”, well done. And the worst thing for me was hearing bad words addressed to me. This is the comparison when “Petrov sang better than Piekha.” And that’s it, I’m destroying myself, I’m devaluing myself as an artist. I’ve been living with these people in my head for a week, I have an endless internal dialogue, like Yolka here, she’s on our jury - she conducts internal dialogues. But it’s in my head, I’m even afraid to voice it, there’s no dialogue there, so many people talked there. I was very scared that someone would say bad things to me.”

Was this an incentive to do better next time?

Stas Piekha:

“It was an incentive to understand that it doesn’t matter what they tell me. The important thing is to enjoy this life and this project. When I somehow “changed my shoes”, when I realized that I was here to have fun. And when I have fun, then somehow, in an amazing way, people also begin to enjoy me. It was important for me to break myself, probably because I was always afraid, I always hated competitions, I hated being compared, all this.”

Timur Weinstein:
“I must say that Stas is wonderful, he uses everything he says now that he is on the jury, he chooses the very right words. I really have to thank Stas, because finding the right words for these guys is very important. And at the same time, explain what else needs to be learned, what else needs to be added here, and give them invaluable advice. I say again, almost all of our children, even those who fail at some stage, do not leave the stage. They leave as winners, they are greeted, everyone hugs, explains, and they feel it, they understand it. This is very important for them. And it is very important that they arrived earlier for the competition. It’s not like he arrived yesterday, spoke and left. They are all already here, it’s already like a pioneer camp, discos, swimming pools, acquaintances, friends.”

Stas Piekha:
“Some of the guys say that we clap harder not even for our friends, but for the contestants whom we only recently got to know; we worry about each other.”

Timur Weinstein:

“They are sitting in the dressing room on the second floor, and when the one who performed comes out, goes up the elevator, the door opens, and they all stand there and clap and shout: “You are super!” It doesn't matter whether he passed or not, they all hug him. I keep repeating the same phrase: this show has already taken place, because when you turn on the TV on Saturday at 20:00, it is such a positive emotion. When you still see how these people, Stas correctly said, accomplish a feat. It’s not like we’re always saying, “Oh, what poor, unhappy kids,” that’s not in this show. Yes, we talk about their fate in the profile. We need to show you about these guys. But the show itself doesn't have that. Just a holiday. They sing wonderfully, they are wonderfully talented actors.”

Stas Piekha:

"Marvelous. This story is about the fact that I remember the orphanage, my childhood, when I talked with these guys and spent a lot of time, and I knew all these fates, someone’s whole family burned down. I apologize for stories like this, but it's true. Someone's mother was eaten by wolves in front of the child's eyes. These were stories from the 90s and 80s, when I went to an orphanage and spent a lot of time there. The most unpleasant thing for these people is when they feel sorry for them. When someone from distant relatives came and started crying, upholstering the corridors, stuffing sweets in, the children simply kicked them out, saying: “Don’t feel sorry for me, don’t come back ever again.” It’s important for them not to be pitied, it’s important for them to be recognized, it’s important for them to be respected, to be loved just like us.”

On the other hand, there is pity, but is there such a thing as support?

Stas Piekha:

“When you are respected, this is such support that mom, don’t worry. When the whole hall applauds you, and the whole country looks at you, what could be better.”

Timur Weinstein:
“Psychologists said that this is such an impetus for their motivation. The director from an orphanage from Vladikavkaz, North Ossetia, took the stage. Such a normal Caucasian, big man. He came on stage with kind eyes, hugged the girl who passed by, and began to cry. He says: “my daughter.” He brought her younger sister. He brought it himself, didn’t even tell us. “When this person, who is with these children every day, calls these two sisters “daughters,” and when he says that this competition is incredibly important for them and thanks them, then all questions are removed altogether.”

Is this the most valuable thing?

Timur Weinstein:
“The legal representatives and directors of orphanages and boarding schools come with all the children. Nobody said: “We won’t let our child participate, because if he doesn’t make it to the semifinals, it will somehow affect it. We have nothing of this.”

Let's move on to the structure of the competition. You had qualifying rounds, they sent you a video, a casting call, 92 participants were selected. What's next?

Timur Weinstein:
“Next is the big first round, in which all 92 participants appear before the jury. One by one. Show off your vocal abilities. And the jury members, there are 4 of them, if three of them voted for this participant, the majority, then he goes to the next stage.”

And they sing songs, they write them specially for them or they re-sing them.

Timur Weinstein:
“Competition is different from competition, I’ve been working on formats for a long time. There are shows where they deliberately make everyone laugh at how bad a person sings, because it’s a show. Sorry, but we need to show some freaks, people love to watch. The people who organize these shows understand what kind of person he is, so if they didn’t want to let him in, they wouldn’t let him in. In our case, all 92 children sing. The only problem they have is that most have never practiced professional vocals, and this is hard work.”

Stas Piekha:
“And another problem is that none of them have ever appeared on such a big stage.”

How big of a shock is it to be on the big stage?

Timur Weinstein:
“This is not a shock, believe me, these children have already experienced their shock. There were overlaps, but the jury did not pay attention to this. The jury paid attention to whether the child could move on and do something within a short time.”

Stas Piekha:

“We still have a chance to do something with them, to somehow reveal them. We are looking to see if we can do something about it or not. If we say that we can, then we take it, even if we see some shortcomings, false notes. Here is a girl who came out yesterday, and at first her microphone shook within a radius of 30 cm. I waited until the microphone calmed down, and the voice, and then this vibrata went away, the microphone stood up, and she finished well. It’s clear that this isn’t some kind of natural mediocrity on her part, she was just very worried.”

Timur Weinstein:
“Stas said wonderful words on the first day of the competition, he said: “We are here about honesty.” We have an honest show. We will not engage in singing to soundtracks, especially since NTV is now the territory of live sound. Only live will everyone sing. We have an honest show, and if a child is worried, we don’t say, “One more take, you’re worried.” These are normal emotions. These are children, 98% of them are going on the big stage for the first time, 99% are singing into a microphone for the first time. It is clear that they rehearsed with them. But like this, with this acoustics, you come out, the stars are sitting in front of you, a huge hall. Yes, they are nervous. And there are guys who are not nervous at all. A guy performed who didn’t succeed in something during rehearsals, and all the teachers and music directors said: “Well, unfortunately...” And he went on stage and sang so that everyone was with their mouths open, not a single false note, moving, smiling , dancing. Well, a born artist. There are different reincarnations."

Stas Piekha:
“Here it becomes clear who is a fighter and who is not quite yet. Perhaps their fate is already being determined here, they themselves are beginning to understand their potential. He couldn’t, couldn’t, and suddenly he came out and tore everyone apart. Got ready. We, it seems to me, are revealing their future potential.”

Timur Weinstein:
“Then we give them special numbers, because we really want this to be not just a continuation of the vocal competition, but we put on numbers for them. A professional group: directors, choreographers, vocal teachers, all together we put on a performance for them. In the first round they chose the songs themselves. Everyone has their own idols. By the way, there’s a lot of folk music.”

Stas Piekha:
“It’s a discovery for me how popular folk songs are for children under 13 or 12 years old. It turns out that this is not old people’s music, this is precisely children’s music.”

Timur Weinstein:
“The first girl who will perform is “Yagodka” - a girl from an orphanage who was abandoned by her parents at the age of 3. She sang "Berry".

Perhaps they even sound different in their performance?

Timur Weinstein:
“They sing well, a natural gift. This girl came out and sang, with those eyes. When you look at the eyes of these guys, and how they sing, with these smiles, and when you know their story... A girl from Azerbaijan, whose father and mother died in a row last year. She came out with such a smile, with such happiness in her eyes. Yes, maybe she was a little nervous and hit the wrong note somewhere. But they don’t have to be clean right away; we’ll prove it later. We will have such a finale that all the talent shows will be jealous, because we have about 20 very serious votes, and some where the jury stood up. The whole audience jumped up."

Stas Piekha:
“Some amazing stories, when a girl came and sang Zemfira’s song, when in one song she showed 5 different singing styles, completely transforming herself. And it was so honest and organic that I wanted to just go out and hug her and stand there. And the girl from Abkhazia? Gorgeous."

Timur Weinstein:
“And by the way, I want to thank Sputnik for helping us fantastically with casting in the CIS and Baltic countries. I saw the casting from Abkhazia and realized that the show would take place. We were worried - what kind of materials would come?”

Why did you decide to expand the area for selecting children for the competition? - after all, these are not only cities of Russia, but the CIS and Baltic countries?

Timur Weinstein:

“When we announced the casting, we started receiving applications from different countries. And, having teamed up with Sputnik, which has its representative offices in most of these countries, all Sputnik representative offices through their websites announced casting in all these countries. Plus, of course, it’s easier to find and search locally, and we are very grateful, because a lot of work has been done. All countries have different laws and different attitudes towards these children. We agreed with the Ministry of Education, and from the border with Mongolia to Kaliningrad we acted according to the same laws. But each country has its own laws. I don’t want to talk about difficulties, they existed in some countries, and they still exist. But that's not what we're talking about. Our competition has nothing to do with political issues. On the same stage we have guys from Azerbaijan and Armenia, from South Ossetia and Georgia, from Estonia, from Ukraine, from Odessa, a wonderful girl. We are open to everyone, and we tried to explain to everyone as much as possible that this is a competition for these children, and if you help us, you will do good for these children. And we succeeded. Most countries supported, most countries sent their participants. Sputnik organized this casting for us, went to orphanages, filmed the participants. And it’s wonderful what Sputnik did - it organized send-offs and press conferences for these guys in every country, as if they were going into space. And on websites, for example, in Azerbaijani, there are articles about the participants, how they live, their fates. And everyone wants to support these guys, this is also very important. These guys already feel very needed that they represent their country. The guys from Russia are proud that they represent their city. And we always tell them: “The whole country is looking at you, everyone is proud of you.” Or Victor Drobysh gave one of the participants a chance to his boys in an orphanage to shout on air: “I tore them all apart here”! Or there are girls from Yakutia who took several days to get there, three planes, an all-terrain vehicle"

Who covered all the expenses?

Timur Weinstein:

"NTV. We also take them to Red Square, to the circus, to the theater, to the aquarium. They don’t just sit in the sanatorium, but travel and watch. And our goal with these guys is to get to the final qualifying round of Junior Eurovision. And with most of these guys we will stage the musical “Republic of SHKID”. We really hope that when they watch this show and see these guys, I think some of these kids deserve to go into some families.”

All song competitions are always in demand. But is this competition essentially unique?

Stas Piekha:

“The problem is that the song competitions were very similar. And there has never been such an ideological competition. And even in children's competitions, parents helped. But here everything is different. We will not do duels under any circumstances, because each will refuse in favor of the other. They support others more than themselves. They would rather give way to a loved one: a friend, brother, sister, than to themselves. Because they live in such a community and they have such an attitude. And there’s a different attitude towards wrestling. When they come out, they look like fighters, like they entered the ring. But we relax them, find some words so that they relax and don’t fight, but surrender to art.”

In the third round will they sing with the stars?

Timur Weinstein:

"Certainly. The final will be broadcast live, and the whole of Russia will vote. And we really hope that thanks to Sputnik, both the CIS countries, both those who participated and those who did not participate, will vote. We will choose a winner live, because this is already the choice of a multi-million audience. And we don't have any special prize for the winner. All finalists will participate in the qualifying round of Junior Eurovision. The majority of those who make it to the semi-finals go to the “New Wave”.

Are you planning a second season?

Timur Weinstein:

"I'm sure he will."