Let me begin with a huge thank-you to the paralympians for once again giving us all the opportunity to be proud of our country. During the first few days of the Paralympics in Vancouver, Russia’s handicapped athletes managed to take first place in the medals count, with a total of 10 victories! This is an amazing result, and not just for sport.
When we travel abroad we see quite a lot of handicapped people. We see many more than in our country, not because there aren’t so many in Russia, but because here they often don’t have the opportunity to feel normal amongst ordinary people. They are embarrassed about their disabilities and embarrassed that they don’t have the opportunity to live an ordinary life – to work, go to the shops, visit museums and theatres.
The paralympians have demonstrated and reminded us all once again that handicapped people are just like everyone else. They may have problems, but so what? They live with them, they have their own world and their own concerns, and are entitled to live just like everyone else. But for this we need to create the right conditions; we need to make provisions in the home, in shopping centres, public places, transport – facilities that are trivial to us, but are a huge help to people with disabilities.
I had the paralympian gold medalists on the show – Irek Zaripov, Kirill Mikhaylov, Anna Burmistrova and Sergey Shilov. We’re so proud of our paralympian team! They’re so enthusiastic, with such fire in their eyes! They believe they have the strength for new victories, because they value life and the opportunities it gives them!
Watch “Steps towards Success” at 1100 on Sunday 18th April. The programme will be repeated on Monday 19th April at 0015 in the evening.
Irek Zaripov
Kirill Mikhaylov
Sergey Shilov
http://kabaeva-alina.ru/upload/blog/79f/olimp_4.jpg Sergey Shilov
I felt simply wonderful after interviewing Alla Dukhova, head of the Todes ballet company. She’s someone who’s really close to my heart, like everyone who appears on my programme. They’re all different, or course, and their success stories are different, but they’ve all had to cope with hardship as if fate were testing their strength…
As a child, Alla literally forced her parents to take her to a dance studio. Since then, she says, she’s been unable to think about anything other than dance. “Dance is my life, it’s what makes me happy”. But finding her vocation was only the beginning. Alla Dukhova’s recipe for success is to love what you do, to work honestly with fanatical devotion. And this will surely lead to success. Perhaps not immediately, but it will definitely come.
Does this recipe suit you? You can reflect on this by watching “Steps towards Success” at 1100 on Sunday 11th April, on Channel 5. As always, the programme will be repeated at 0015 on Monday 12th April.
For ages now I’ve wanted to do a programme about Russia’s most famous hockey player, the world-famous sportsman Vladislav Tretyak. So I was really pleased when we managed to arrange an interview. Tretyak is not only a living legend, but the pride of our country and international sport. He was the first European to be featured in Toronto’s Hockey Hall of Fame, in 1977. And in 2000, the International Hockey Federation named him best hockey player of the 20th century. So Vladislav Tretyak is someone who took not so much “steps” as great strides towards success.
It all began with a little boy who really loved the hockey strip. But strips were in short supply, even in the sports schools. And there was also a shortage of goalkeepers. So then Vladik, who was playing as a striker, said to his trainer that he was willing to become a goalkeeper in exchange for a strip. And that was probably one of the most successful “contracts” in the history of sport – no price and just one clause headed “devotion to the cause”.
Being devoted to hockey, by the way, requires enormous physical labour. And of course I was interested to find out how such a tough profession demanding iron discipline and involving so many restrictions and colossal strains was unable to subdue the spirit of this gentle, calm and very sensitive man. Absolute devotion to one’s profession, to one’s cause, to one’s principles, and to one’s understanding of life – perhaps in this rare combination lies the most vital secret of success.
You can find out all about it in “Steps towards Success” at 1100 on Sunday 4th April, on Channel 5. As always, the programme will be repeated on Monday 5th April at 0015.
I couldn’t immediately explain what it was that struck me during the meeting with Pavel Lungin…some things are difficult to put into words. But it’s probably his attitude towards the world, a world in which some issues are global, while others concern just one person alone. What struck me was that he takes the same profound, attentive and sensitive approach to every kind of issue. And that’s quite amazing.
Actually, I was a bit nervous before the interview: Pavel Lungin seemed to me to be a very private person (not deliberately, out of arrogance, but just because of his depth and complexity). But my fears were unfounded – he answered my questions with sincerity and understanding. Of course, Pavel Lungin owes much of his success as a great director to his family, his parents, and the atmosphere he grew up in. The story of the Lungin family shows that if parents don’t try to shape their child into what they want, but instead let him develop his natural abilities…they may not see the divine spark, but if at least they don’t extinguish it, then that small human being will definitely grow up to become a personality. Can there be any higher reward for parents than that?
You can reflect on this and find out which saying the cartoon character Carlson borrowed from the Lungins on “Steps towards Success” at 1100 on Sunday 27th March, on Channel 5. As always, the programme will be repeated on Monday 28th March at 0015 in the evening.
The image that forms and sticks in your memory for a long time after seeing a concert by Tamara Gverdtsiteli still holds true even when you meet her in real life. Both in life and on the stage she’s a very open and sincere person. She sings not just with her voice (a fine and superb voice), but with all her soul, with all that enormous energy that entrances audiences in any country.
When we were filming the interview I couldn’t help remarking how many viewers were watching at Tamara Gverdtsiteli and probably thinking that her whole life was presented to her on a silver platter and a how incredibly lucky she’s been. In fact, this wonderful singer who has received standing ovations in the world’s most famous concert halls – Olympia and Carnegie Hall - has experienced not only hardship, but a civil war (!) and lived out of a suitcase in a tiny hotel room. Her life just goes to prove that genuine acclaim and fame don’t just grow on trees: it always takes a lot of hard work. Whatever obstacles may have arisen along the way, Gverdtsiteli couldn’t allow herself just to give up, because she has a son, a family and music – her main source of energy and inspiration.
As previously announced, the programme starring Tamara Gverdtsiteli was broadcast on 21st March.
The idea of moving my show to Channel 5 came up late last year, when National Media Group’s management and Public Council were discussing the future of NMG’s TV assets (REN-TV and St.Petersburg – Channel 5). The Public Council tried to persuade the holding company’s management to maintain Channel 5’s status as an intellectual and cultural channel. Wishes of the Public Council were taken into account despite today’s difficult economic situation.
As a result, new development concepts have been proposed for REN-TV and Channel 5. REN-TV is to become an entertainment channel - tougher and even somewhat aggressive (its current motto is “Life’s a Gamble”). Channel 5 will focus more on intellectual programming, which means the format and content of my show will fit better with Channel 5 content than REN-TV.
As a result, after discussing the matter with NMG’s management, I decided to move “Steps toward Success” from REN-TV to Channel 5. Now we are taking a small break due to the conceptual refinement on Channel 5 that will be finalized by mid-March. The first show is scheduled for March 21st and will be devoted to the wonderful singer Tamara Gverdtsiteli.
I’m grateful to REN-TV management for their support and assistance with the show, and also to the viewers, whose interest in the programme, positive feedback and letters gave me the strength to overcome difficulties. I really hope that the audience the programme has attracted over the last year and a half on REN-TV will not only remain with us but also gain new friends on the new channel.
Late Saturday night I decided to ask REN TV to cancel this week’s “Steps towards Success”. We are in mourning for those who have died – in absurd, terrible and cruel circumstances. For those who will never again talk about their joys or about their losses. My sincere condolences to all their nearest and dearest!
When we were shooting the TV programme on the teachers I said that our very first teachers are our parents. But the very very first teacher (before anybody else at all) is Mum, of course. She’s there even when the future “me” is no more than a tiny dot. Then we all become grown-up and independent, but our mother’s love, care and affection protect us all our lives. Every child knows that if your mother believes in you it makes you stronger, more beautiful and kinder than anyone else. There’s nothing you cannot achieve!
Sunday 29th November is Mother’s Day in Russia and I’ve put together a programme dedicated to mothers. It consists of three features. The first is about the incredibly difficult and surprisingly inspiring lives of mothers whose fate has been to bring up a handicapped child. What strength and generosity of spirit these women have! What amazing inner optimism!
The second feature is about the happiness of mothers who bring up not only their own children, but foster-children as well. How do you make them all one happy family - real brothers and sisters? How do you share out your time and spiritual warmth so that there is enough for everyone? How do you remain loving and patient when you’re simply dropping from exhaustion?
The third feature will be about my own mother. Through her, I want to say thank you to all mothers…mothers who love, sometimes with a difficult love, because teaching someone to cope with problems is very difficult. It requires not only patience, but also an ability often to sacrifice your own interests and pleasures for the sake of your child.
Mother’s Day is a quiet holiday. There are no gun salutes or fireworks on this day, because after all, mothers don’t need extravagant ceremonies. Mothers love us not for anything in particular, but simply because we exist. Is this not the basis of all our successes in life?
This week’s “Steps towards Success” is dedicated to our nearest and dearest, at 1130 on REN TV on Sunday 29 November. As always, the programme will be repeated the following Monday – on 30th November at 0015.
This week, for the first time, my programme is not about an individual, but about an entire dance group – the famous “Beryozka” ensemble.
This unique choreographic ensemble has been performing with extraordinary success both in Russia and abroad for the last 60 years! A newspaper in Paris once wrote “It’s enough to see just one concert by Beryozka to know Russia. The actors’ dances convey the Russian temperament, the strength and beauty of the people”. These words are very accurate. It’s hard to say just what makes the biggest impression: the intricate patterns woven by the beautiful Russian dancers on the stage; the amazing arrangements of Russian folk melodies; or the gorgeous costumes. You feel as if your soul is entering a fairy tale. Beryozka always brings so much joy to every person in the audience!
It was fascinating for me, of course, to meet the members of the group. They’re like one big and very happy family, in which everyone knows and loves their job, and they understand each other almost without the need for words or gestures. To be honest, I really wanted to invite Beryozka to my festival to show the young gymnasts what folk dance in classical style is all about. After all, the ballet bar is just as essential for the Beryozka dancers as for the gymnasts.
Beryozka’s leader, Mira Mikhaylovna Koltsova, puts the group’s enduring success down to the fact that they love what they do and love their country. Behind their simple and modest words lies a genuine commitment to their art – an art that has even helped Russia solve a few diplomatic problems! So it turns out that Russia’s image abroad is not so much formed through carefully devised techniques and methods, but with the help of the country’s cultural heritage – the Bolshoy Theatre, the Hermitage and the Beryozka ensemble.
Find out about the history of this unique group in “Steps towards Success” on REN TV at 1130 on Sunday 15 November. The programme will be repeated at 0015 on 16 November.
Nikolay Tsiskaridze is a ballet dancer with a capital B - classical, flawless and inimitable. For this astonishing artiste no level of art is inaccessible, and there’s no role he couldn’t perform on stage.
Culture was the medium in which his parents lived, in which he was born, grew up and developed as an individual. He’s a fascinating person to talk to – self-deprecating and with a great sense of humour. He knows he is unique, of course, but he is relaxed about it. To him, it’s no big deal. Behind his art lies an awful lot of hard work. I know this from my own experience, because each sporting day in rhythmic gymnastics begins with ballet. Gymnastics can’t exist without ballet in the same way that human beings can’t exist without oxygen.
Nikolay Tsiskaridze has a strong character and, at the same time, an astonishingly keen sense of proportion in what he says and what he does, and in his attitudes towards friends and foes, towards himself and the world around him. And he also believes in fate…Who knows – perhaps all these things together are the secret behind this great artiste’s success?
You can try to answer this question yourself by watching “Steps towards Success” on REN TV at 1130 on Sunday 8 November. The programme will be repeated on 9 November at 0015 in the evening.
Tennis is an amazing sport - exciting, fast-moving, precise…Five minutes after you start playing you’ve forgotten about all your problems and can only think about the game.
Russia’s current success in the most famous international tennis tournaments is largely the work of Shamil Tarpischev. For many years now he’s been president of the Russian Tennis Federation and Russian team coach. He’s a very subtle and observant psychologist who adores his sportsmen. He knows and senses exactly how to prepare them for victory, how to support them and – on occasion - consol them. Tarpischev has devoted all his energy to developing tennis in our country and his brainchild – the Kremlin Cup – has become one of world’s most prestigious tennis tournaments.
Shamil Tarpischev is an exceptionally calm, dignified and profound person. Speaking to him you get a very clear sense of how important it is to have a something you’re prepared to devote your life to. It convinced me, for the hundredth time, that if somebody finds his vocation and puts all his knowledge, energy and love into it, his whole personality takes on a completely different dimension. Is this perhaps the secret of real success?
You can agree with me or argue with me when you watch “Steps towards Success” on REN TV at 1130 on Sunday 1 November. The programme will be repeated on 2 November at 0015 in the evening.
Dmitriy Dyuzhev is one of the most popular young film actors in Russia today. He first made an impression on cinemagoers with his performance as Kosmos in the film “Brigade”, and then later when he played Father Job in “Island”. There are few actors at the very start of their careers with such a wide range of roles – from a criminal to a monk. And there’s nothing coincidental about it, though Dmitriy himself is actually convinced that luck is enormously important in the life of an actor.
In fact, Dima has a very unusual relationship with his profession: it’s as if he’s turning away from it, but it won’t leave him alone and won’t let him go. As a child he dreamt of another vocation, and even as a student in the theatrical academy he was ready to drop it on several occasions. Once, Dima simply disappeared. The director Pavel Lungin eventually found him, but rather than coaxing him back, simply left the film script with him.
Dmitriy is now busy in many theatre productions and gets lots of offers from directors, but he still has doubts about whether he’s made the right choice. I think it’s these very doubts and the continual self-improvement that explain his potential and are the real secret behind the success of Dmitriy Dyuzhev - a talented actor and wonderful person.
You can find about him in “Steps towards Success” on REN TV at 1130 on 18th October. The programme will be repeated on 19th October at 0015 in the evening.
Looking at Natalya Ragozina – the women’s world boxing champion – you would never think that this nice lady with her leisurely movements and calm voice has anything to do with such a tough kind of sport. In everyday life Natasha is a delicate and open-hearted person, with no pushiness about her at all. But in sport she’s very different: private, impenetrable, her every movement carefully calculated.
Natalya is convinced you have to know how to think to win in the ring. In fact, she regards boxing as an intellectual form of sport, in which it’s important to be able to analyze and build your strategy. Each of her fights is like a small show, in which alongside the main action there’s also room for artistry – the different hairstyles and costumes that Natalya’s wears make sport even more of a feast for the eyes. Incidentally, this attitude is something that I share: I always found it a bit boring performing all the time in swimsuits (even very pretty ones) – and that’s how the skirt was invented)).
Natasha is really popular in other countries, especially Germany. But however tempting the terms might be, she will never agree to perform under any flag other than Russia’s. She dreams of becoming an Olympic champion, and I think she has a real chance of achieving it!
Find out all about it in “Steps towards Success” on REN TV at 1130 on 11 October. The programme will be repeated on 12 October at 0015 in the evening.
It’s impossible to take steps towards success without teachers, without those who open up the world to us and help us find our way in it. First we have our parents, and then our teachers at school and college. There are so many wonderful, outstanding people who remember their schoolteachers with gratitude!
I really wanted to do a show with some teachers, but as soon as the opportunity arose there was the question of whom to invite. The teacher of the year? If so, which year? And why just one year? In the end, I decided to invite the teachers of the year from the last three years – 2008, 2007 and 2006. In 2007 the prize was won by two teachers, so I had four teachers on the show. The film crew and I also visited one of the teachers at home.
It turned out to be a really fascinating and eventful meeting. It was hugely important for me because I’m a member of the Council for Education Quality of the United Russia party. Discussing educational issues at the Council meetings is important, of course, but meeting people who have enormous practical experience and know the educational system from the inside gives us a completely different level of understanding of the issues.
What struck me most was how different all the teachers were, while sharing the same commitment to their life’s work. For some reason I found myself thinking that some stars shine brightly, while others shine with a light that’s never blinding but never goes out and helps people to find their way in life. I think it must be a great joy to have a light like that in your soul. It’s something nobody else can give you or take away from you, and it has nothing to do with awards and recognition. Is this not the joy that we are seeking as we strive for success all our lives?
To find out about people with an amazing vocation, watch “Steps towards Success” on REN TV at 1130 on Sunday, 4th October. The programme will be repeated at 0015 on 5th October.
Lena was always up to the mark. Even when things were not going quite as she would have liked.
Because she’s the queen of athletics, and queens have patience of steel. But this doesn’t in the least stop her being an open and, in some ways, even a trusting person, capable of very generous gestures, noble deeds…Lena can be joyful and straightforward like a child, but if she needs to, she can also keep a strict distance. Perhaps this is why her media image is different from the real Lena.
I found it really easy talking to her. Sportsmen for whom sport is not a hobby but life itself understand one another almost instinctively. And besides, Lena adores rhythmic gymnastics, and she actually began her career in artistic gymnastics.
Her love affair with sport continues, and her schedule is full all the way to 2013. There’s much delight in this, but lots of risk, as well, and an awful lot of work, Lena knows how to hold on to the title “queen of sport”: you have to meet each defeat with a new record. This is the secret of Yelena Isinbaeva’s success.
Find out all about it in “Steps towards Success” on REN TV at 1130 on Sunday 27th September The programme will be repeated at 0015 on 28th September.
In show business, by definition, you have to be seen and talked about by everyone. So there are very few people there who don’t think about being famous. And that’s quite normal – rules of the game. But when you see someone who creates such vivid and beautiful spectacles while preferring to remain in the shadows, you can’t help asking why. And that’s the question I had after meeting the producer Aleksandr Revzin – the man responsible for perhaps the most famous show programmes and music festivals in Russia: the Ostankino Hit Parade, Song of the Year, the Slavonic Bazaar and New Wave young talent contests. He also directed the children’s gymnastics festival that my charity ran in May 2009 to celebrate Child Protection Day.
My question was answered quite quickly: it turns out that Aleksandr Revzin is totally in love with his profession. And this places huge demands on his time. He’s always looking into new ideas, new talents, new projects and new opportunities (which he himself thinks up). He seeks to make the world we live in if only a little more beautiful and kind. I think this is a very big challenge, but is it not the secret of true success?
You can find out all about it on “Steps towards Success” on REN TV at 1130 on Sunday 20th September. The programme will be repeated on Monday 21st September at 0015 in the evening.
Timur Bekmambetov today is probably one of the most successful Russian film directors. He’s totally at ease with the new technologies used in contemporary cinema and makes his films exceptionally entertaining. They generate lots of controversy and sometimes criticism, but this doesn’t stop people of all kinds of ages in all sorts of countries watching them with interest (or curiosity). Timur told me about his work in Hollywood, where he was invited after the success of his film “Night Watch”. To be honest, I found it quite hard to image how this outwardly calm and unhurried person could be the author of such dynamic films!
I think Timur Bekmambetov’s success lies in the fact that he remains true to himself, wherever he lives of works. He’s really obsessed with his work, totally engrossed in it, but without being fanatical, and with a clear and concise vision of the goal he is working towards. It’s really nice that Timur sees himself as a film director promoting Russia in the west, especially in a field in which they were often sceptical about our talents. You can learn all about it in “Steps towards Success” on REN TV at 1130 on Sunday 13 September.
Interviewing Lev Leshchenko was easy and enjoyable. He’s a very positive person, who describes himself as follows: ”I’m a man of reality who knows the value of earthly joys and earthly sorrows”. Well-known singer and people’s favourite, he still fills the concert halls to this day. I ask him how it is that for so many years now his concerts are always sell-outs. Is it the same people every time? The answer I got was very simple: “When I started singing they were young. And now we’re simply getting older together.”
In fact, there are also quite a few young people at Lev Leschenko’s concerts. I think this is because of his amazing outlook on life: on the one hand, very cheerful and mild, and on the other, confident and patriotic. He simply infects everyone around him with his optimism. And incidentally, despite his popularity all over Russia, Lev realizes that not everyone in today’s younger generation is familiar with his songs, so he’s happy to answer questions that have been repeated over and over again down the years: “The kids growing up today don’t know me, they don’t know my work. So when I’m asked questions that I’ve answered many times in the past, I still enjoy answering them. And I think that’s right.”
At the end of the show Lev Valeryanovich revealed the secret of his success. But deep down I disagreed with him – I think the quality he named was something he inherited at birth. You can find about it all in “Steps towards Success” on REN TV at 11.30 on Sunday, 6 September.
