In Rotterdam, he was part of the creative team behind Natalia Gordienko’s “Sugar”. But now Russian pop icon and Eurovision 1995 star Philipp Kirkorov has attracted the attention of Russia’s state telecommunications watchdog. It follows his attention-grabbing appearance on the red carpet at the recent Muz-TV awards.
At last week’s Muz-TV music awards, Philipp Kirkorov turned heads on the red carpet. He rocked up to the event with the popular rapper Dava. The pair were dressed in tailcoats, with Philipp in white and Dava in black. The two pop stars evoked a same-sex couple about to walk down the aisle together.
Adding to the nuptial theme, the couple were accompanied by eight shirtless muscular men, looking like the sort of entertainers one might find at a bachelorette — or indeed, bachelor — party.
Russia currently does not allow or recognise same-sex marriage nor civil unions.
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Other Russian stars were also turning heads on the Muz-TV red carpet. TikTok star Danya Milokhin represented the best of both worlds, with an outfit that was a fun pink dress on one side and a sharply cut black tuxedo on the other side. Popular beauty blogger Igor Sinyak brought eleganza to the red carpet by wearing a black gown featuring a long ruffled train.
On his Instagram, Igor wrote, “Yes, I came to the main music award of the country in a dress and I’m fine. I am the first guy in Russia to do this. Clothes have no gender and I will wear what I want.”
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Russia’s telecommunications watchdog will investigate
The televised event has caught the attention of Roskomnadzor — Russia’s state telecommunications watchdog. In a statement to RIA Novosti news service, the government agency said:
“Roskomnadzor will analyze the recordings of the Muz-TV channel broadcasting the award for violations of the current legislation of the Russian Federation, including in the field of protecting children from information harmful to their health and development. In case of violations, Roskomnadzor will take appropriate response measures.”
The applicable Russian law for “the Purpose of Protecting Children from Information Advocating for a Denial of Traditional Family Values” is also known as the “gay propaganda law”.
The law was signed into effect in 2013 by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Its aim is to protect children from being exposed to content that presents homosexuality as normal, with the argument that this contradicts traditional Russian family values.
The law has been widely condemned by international groups such as the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child and Amnesty International.
While “non-traditional” sexual relations can be shown on Russian television, the law restricts screening to no earlier than 11pm and requires that broadcasts be marked as 18+.
Russian Eurovision stars pick up Muz-TV awards
But despite the controversy, the event was one of celebration, with many Russian Eurovision stars taking home honours.
Dima Bilan, Russia’s only Eurovision winner, was awarded Artist of the 25th Anniversary, honouring his impact over the 25 years of Muz-TV.
Russia’s Eurovision 2020 act Little Big were awarded Best Group. As well, Ukraine pop icon LOBODA was given the award for Best Women’s Video.
As well, Philipp Kirkorov was given a special Muz-TV award “For Contribution of the Development of a New Generation of Artists”. It’s one of many awards he has received over his long career. In 2017, President Vladimir Putin presented Kirkorov with Russia’s prestigious Order of Honour medal, recognising his contributions to the arts.
LOBODA is not a pop icon in Ukraine.
You missed the drama. Loboda producer said that people like them would be killed in some countries. Kirkorov defended himself in a video response. And she quit her job after responding back
It’s kinda sad to see people trying to convince themselves that they are not gay (I’m saying that as a heterosexual), whether that’s because they don’t want their country and government to know or they just think homosexuality is something you would be ashamed of. I wonder how insecure those people are…
Everybody in Russia knows Kirkorov is gay – the only reason he doesn’t live in fear is because he’s a powerful man who personally knows Putin. In comparison, ordinary working-class Russian LGBT+ people are beaten, murdered and jailed thanks to Putin’s regime. People like Kirkorov have the power to make a change, but he continues to support Putin’s anti-gay laws because they don’t affect him personally.
How anybody can support a gay man who advocates for anti-gay laws is beyond me. Stop giving Kirkorov a platform!
Gays are not living in fear in Russia. That is nonsense. And the law is not antigay. Russian TV is full of gay-friendly programs, yet they are broadcast late in the evening. And that is not ralated only to same-sex relations. The children protection law has other restrictions too.
nice joke, mr Putin is that you? lol
How much do you get paid by Russia to troll?
How ironically that Kirkorov who passionately
supports Putin and his bloody homophobic regime for many many years, cheered for Crimea annexation and hating on Ukraine now is being investigating of homosexuality proganda, what a surprise! no, that’s how totalitarian regime works dear even you kissing Putin a$s constantly he will destroy you anyway cos you’re too queer for Putin’ Russia, ugh!
and yes, he never gave even a word to support lgbt rights and against horrific homophobia in Russia, I don’t feel sorry for him
Kirkorov should come out already. So obvious…
Remember the Netflix movie: ‘There are no gay men in Russia.’
he’s so tacky lol
Work guys!!
I’ve done Diva at Karaoke before. I suppose I ought to start checking my gender identity?
Kirkorov is one of the best composers at Eurovision. Nobody is as much succesful as Kirkorov is. He knows how to promote a song and how to write a song.
Hope he and dream team will continue his great work for eurovision.
Kirkorov represents those things I despise about Eurovision: hollowness, fake music, cheap pop music, duplicity, artificiality. Ah and Kirkorov doesn’t give a fig about LGBT rights.
his songwriting is extremely cliché and outdated, he’s stuck in the 00s
I won’t downvote you but I won’t upvote you either, because the thing about Kirkirov’s ESC songs, when they’re bad they are terrible (That’s How You Write A Song), but when they’r’e good, they usually end up in the top 3/5/10 (Hey Mama, Lucky Day)
Kirkorov wrote this.
Kirkorov will do anything to stay relevant. Retire already!
Look, you may not like Kirkorov but the gay had some balls of steel for showing up to a red carpet showcasing his “gay agenda”.
What’s happening in Russia is truly atrocious and no one bats an eye, mostly because, well, you know, its mother Russia whom we are talking about, even though their quasi dictator is clearly going against fundamental human rights.
I agree with everything except he’s an actual full-on dictator 🙂
Kirkorov supports bloody Putin regime for many years, he never gave a damn about gay rights and now he is screaming because bloody regime touched his hypocrisy a$$
Kirkorov is one of the most powerful men in the Russian entertainment industry, he can do anything he wants. Russian people love his ”camp” and ”theatrical” personality, so this stunt will be overlooked and won’t make a difference for the lives of LGBT+ Russians.
He also openly supports Putin’s anti-LGBT regime, so this man deserves no praise. Kirkorov doesn’t live in fear because of his status, but regular Russian gays do. Kirkorov doesn’t have ”balls of steel”, he’s a coward.
some people are flamboyant sebastian, doesn’t mean they are transgender. ? also singing a song by dana international doesn’t make you automatically trans? very confusing logic indeed!!
Well we all know Kirkorov won’t be touched by the regulation and the government because he is too powerful and can do whatever he wants. He’s more or less OUT, everyone knows he is gay and so is his protege Sergey, both had children from surrogates. Putin is a friend of Kirkorov, he gave him awards and there are many photos of them together. Kirkorov did it for the hype and the publicity just like everything. It’s the same with Eurovision entries, he’s sponsoring them and makes the decisions, he finds new acts from Moldova (or Russia sometimes) to overshadow… Read more »
Oh and some of you should stop saying that EBU should ban Russia. First of all it’s not a rule to be a gay friendly country in order to be an EBU member. Also, Russia is a big market for EBU and Eurovision and they need them.
I mean the one broadcaster/country that should have been banned for at least 2 years is Azerbaijan because they broke several rules but yeah we saw what happened in the end, a slap in the wrist.
You mean this whole anti Armenia Efendi stuff or something else?
Who is his protegé Sergey?
Sergey Lazarev (Russia 2016, 2019)
Sirgay Lazarev
LGBT awareness or not, I would still have many questions for someone who shows up to a live televised event with 8 shirtless guys XD. It doesn’t sound professional in any context apart from a bachelor party and maybe something filmed at the beach.
Why is it not professional? It’s a concept, a theatrical appearance. The guys were not naked with their genitals exposed. The same concept has been done in various awards shows around the world so what’s your problem exactly? Whether it is tasteful or not, it’s another discussion. We have grown up seeing half naked women on TV and magazines being objectified by white men, what’s the problem when men are half naked?
I think if it’s universally accepted that objectifying women is wrong, it stands to reason that objectifying men is also not right. I also believe that since quite a few people watch award shows, they shouldn’t depict things that could be considered objectifiable or mature (WAP was a good example at the Grammys this year), though I could be too hopeful XD.
Oh yeah because white men are the only ones who objecty women. Lol Grow up you ignorant fool.
It was not a state opening of parliament or a papal conclave, it was a stupid entertainment awards show.
If shirtless guys offend you, are you sure ESC is for you?
Interesting question, since Maneskin won (which I disagreed with). Apart from them the only other “shirtless” act in 2021 was Moldova, so I’d say yes.
Great situation. Phillip who $@cks the government’s ?ick , ‘cuz nobody in Russia wants to visit his shows since 99 causes homophobic scandal , not because his pro-LGBTQ , but because it’s hypeful topic. Russian government shows their conservative audience how brave and rightful they are, they can deal with this LGBT mess! Russian government gets support, Phillip gets hype to satisfy his star-ucker nature and the rest get face-palm. Simply beautiful.
“The law has been widely condemned by international groups such as the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child and Amnesty International” by slightly raising an eyebrow but not actually doing anything because Russia is too rich and powerful to intervene. Had it been a smaller country you could only imagine the sanctions… As a result, this and and most of Trump’s legislatures started a domino effect (E.g. Poland) and I fear it’s not gonna stop soon.
I think that this scandal was provoked by Kirkorov. An accomplice of dictators wanted a hype and be in the role of a victim
and all this after manizha goes to eurovision with her amazing message of change and acceptance. i honestly thought russia was advancing a bit but i guess not :/
These things don’t happen in one day.
You have to be MUCH more patient and have iron nerves when dealing with dictatorships.
There are ups and downs along the way, so don’t think for a second that what Manizha did didn’t make any change. On the contrary: that red carpet extravaganza may have gotten some courage from Manizha. You can never know.
The dictatorship is reacting. Did you expect it not to??? However, that doesn’t mean all hope is gone, it’s just one more battle in a long war.
Manizha went to ESC because she was invited to take part in the national final and eventually won. She was not internally selected by the government so why did you think Russia was advancing? Russia has sent anti-war songs in the past, does it mean that they will stop being aggressive towards other countries (e.g. Ukraine)?
Agree with every single word. Russia sending an anti-war song was the most hypocritical thing ever.
While they have Putin there will be no improvement
I’m glad to see some Russian figures are standing up for change. I have seen so many russians being LGBT-friendly online, so clearly the homophobic propaganda hasn’t gotten to everybody and there is hope. From another highly homophobic country, I know how hard it is to keep standing up for what’s right when so many people are working against it.
I remember when Russian skater Anna Pogorilaya skated to Rise like a phoenix and had a costume change from male to female clothes, that was sooooo nice to see 🙂
None of the Russian famous figures are standing for change, especially Kirkorov who supports government in everything. He just doesn’t care about what he does as there’ll be no consequences for his actions. And that whole thing at the red carpet was just to satisfy his needs and not to stand for something. People, don’t be so naive.
Seeing how Russian government acts now it’s strange knowing that T.A.T.U at one point came from Russia..
Did TATU kiss in public on a Russia TV show? I doubt. They just implied they were lesbians but never admitted it on Russian TV i think. They just sold it. It’s always more appealing for the media to see a feminine lesbian couple rather than openly gay artists. Why? Because it’s a heterosexual fantasy to see pretty lesbian/bi girls together, which is sick ofc.
t.A.T.u. kissed on Russian TV, In the music video, for magazine interviews, at live performances. Everywhere! The whole lesbian thing was what made them massive and they were big in Russia before the west.
As proof… Here’s them performing at the Kremlin of all places and happily kissing and more. No doubt the crowd was filled with the Russian elite of the time.
(1) t.A.T.u. – Ya Soshla S Uma & Nas Ne Dogonyat – Live in Kremlin on MTV Russia (2001) – YouTube
Russian society in the beginning of 2000s was very liberal. There was so much freedom on media and TV that Europe and US could not imagine. But then things went very wrong…
and now one of the members this band Yulia Volkova, says that she doesn’t want that her son to be a fag*t
There was an article I remember reading recently that discussed about this strange cultural acceptance in “Russian society of seeing men showing flamboyancy in media” but stopping short of allowing a near full acceptance of the community itself. This awards event is a sure indication of this norm.
russia, please change. your government is so backwards that it is painful
Where have u been? They locked up the opposition leader, Russia’s young generation is doomed.
It won’t change. It’s too far gone.
cringe
Underrated comment.
I still get the chi’s from Kirkorov
But..
It’s great to see artists and other prominent people in Russian media, challenge the current situation. I commend them all for that.
Artists like Manizha, those other Russian artists, and indeed, crazy Kirkorov have sparked a conversation in Russia that NEEDS to happen.
Kirkorov’s aim was not to challenge something at all. He was just satisfying his sex dreams. He did not do it on purpose to make people be aware of something.
Yebala zhaba gadyuku
As a person who speaks Russian fluently, I laughed for five minutes: the best description.
Not a fan of Philipp Kirkorov per se but I love how unapologetically OTT he is.
Hopefully authorities will brush the allegations aside like they did with Manizha’s “feminist propaganda” claim.
If Russia continues on this crazy path, sooner or later the EBU shall exclude Russia from EBU and from ESC. Just like they did with Bielorussia.
They SHOULD be excluded but I don’t think they will! Many countries need to be excluded for being extremely racist, homophobic and authoritarian, something that is in contrast with the loving and inclusive spirit of ESC. Just to name a few, Russia, Azerbaijan, Poland, Hungary and the Apartheid state of Israel.
Hungary self-autoexcluded. So maybe Hungarians who voted for that fascist puppet will start to question themselves where he is heading their country to.
I mean this is more “honest” for them in comparison to other authoritarian states which are constatly violating human rights and using ESC as a platform for political propaganda! See Russia’s 2015 entry “A Million Voices”, a song about peace, just a few months after the Crimea invasion and annexation which was portrayed as an act of “restoration of peace” by the Russian gvmt.
Hungary self-autoexcluded. That will probably lead (but I am not sure) the ones who voted for their current leader if he is leading the country towards a democracy or a dictatorship. It’s crazy.
This is going to sound super controversial but maybe we should keep in mind that some countries have different perspectives on things as long as they don’t infringe on basic human rights. I say that because Belarus abuses those rights so it makes sense why they would be withdrawn, and while I don’t support the LGBT movement I’d disagree with Russia’s position. However, I don’t see the same controversies in Poland, and apart from the recent controversies in Israel, I can’t find anything similar for the country. Both of those countries have high freedom according to Freedom House.
You are a homophobic hypocrite.
Only half the population in Israel has freedom. It is not high freedom when not the whole population has it.
If we’re talking about the Arab population in Israel, which is 1/5 of the population there, they are eligible for Israeli citizenship and have voting rights, but many have chosen not to. If virtually all of the media takes the same side on a political issue, it’s reasonable grounds to doubt it.
But think about this, if EBU kicked them out because of the government, people like Manizha would not be able to share her message to fellow russians or to countries across the world. If people in the countries that are oppressed sees how inclusive other countries are, they want change and freedom as much as the others. LGBTQ+ friendly countries will be able to share their ideals inside countries like Russia. I think that is very important.
Belarus was excluded not because of the lack of gay rights but because of their state broadcaster’s propaganda. Also, Belarus is a minor market for EBU…
I know the reasons why they were suspended.
They must be excluded but this will never happen. Because MONEY MAKES THE WORLD GO ROUND.
We can only hope so