Chervona Ruta looks for original musicians
The festival is to start in Kyiv in a week and a half
XII National Modern Song and Popular Music Festival Chervona Ruta will be held in Kyiv November 17 through 20.
It is known that the first Chervona Ruta (Chernivtsi, 1989) became a precedent. The event divided music into Soviet and Ukrainian. And thanks to that Ukrainian music we felt our identity. (It still remains the same: the more professional, emotionally and energetically rich, meaningful, with urgent, actual lyrics the music is, the stronger impact it has.) By the way, the fest introduced 90 percent of modern stars to general public: Ruslana, Oleksandr Ponomariov, Ani Lorak, Maria Burmaka, Telniuk sisters; bands Braty Hadiukiny, Komu Vnyz, Vopli Vidopliasova, Tartak, Skriabin, TNMK, etc.
“If not for Ruta, there would be no TNMK. This is for sure,” says Fozzi from TNMK. “Naturally it is sad that for some reasons the festival stopped growing. It had such a potential! Once our bass player went to our friends’ performance. And the hall was almost empty! While hundreds of thousands of people came to the event in Kharkiv in 1997. This memory is very vivid! But it hurts when you compare it to relatively recent impressions from Chervona Ruta.”
“The victory in 1997 became a powerful impulse for the band,” Fahot resumes. “And just two years after that we were invited to work for Chervona Ruta: write and arrange songs for contestants, be bands producers. I always speak with respect of that festival. It possesses a great idea. It is a pity that it is not carried out properly in financial sence.” [The event is financed by the state. – Ed.]
This year’s event will include final contests in Kyiv Academic Young Spectator Theatre on Lypky and in President-Hotel congress hall. And the winners gala concert will take place in Kyiv National Academic Operetta Theater. The admission is free at all events.
A total of 850 contestants who passed the oblast auditions will take part in the festival.
“It is hard to talk about the special features of the event considering our financial situation,” says producer of the festival, Taras HRYMALIUK. “But the festival keeps on looking for talented youth. And introduction of a new category will be the special appeal this year. Besides pop, rock, contemporary dance and acoustic music, Ukrainian authentic folklore has been added. It is divided into band, solo, instrumental and ritual bands subcategories. By the way, there are a lot of famous contestants that are to compete in this category: Taras Kompanychenko, bands Muravsky Shliakh, Mykhailove Chudo, etc.
“It is obvious that it is not easy for Chervona Ruta to compete with various TV shows,” Hrymaliuk sums up. “Music industry has changed drastically in the past few years. Now festivals and contests don’t play that important role they used to (with the exceptions of those that are actively promoted). Nowadays the center of attention to new names has shifted to television. It is no secret that TV producers prefer Russian and English songs. And Chervona Ruta remains Ukrainian on principle. Still, if you analyze previous Chervona Ruta, its winners, like bands Shokolad, Mlada, Polikarp feel quite confident today. Thus, Chervona Ruta, back then as well as nowadays, is capable of finding original musicians who have the potential to become stars.”
