Chai Vdvoyem gets reinforcements

Pop duet Chai Vdvoyem (Tea for Two), Denis Klyaver, 26, and Stas Kostyushkin, 30, has been popular for several years now. But it was not until recently – when Klyaver became the proud father of a bouncing baby boy – that tabloids suddenly divulged a big secret. Klayver's father is none other than Ilya Oleinikov, who, with Yury Stoyanov, is co-founder and host of the enormously popular TV comedy program "Gorodok," the weekly 7 Dnei wrote.

By mutual agreement of Klyaver and his wife, Yulia, the baby was named Timofei. Though Klyaver canceled a number of performance tours to stay with the infant, he couldn't outdo the baby's grandfather, Oleinikov.

"It is a truly amazing feeling that cannot be described in words," the weekly Mir Novostei quoted Klyaver as saying. "My son and the woman I love are beside me. Nothing on Earth could be better for a real man."

Klyaver's musical partner warmly congratulated his pal, but noted that he is not in any position to have children at the moment. Several months ago Kostyushkin and his wife, Marianna, got divorced.

Anastasia Volochkova: theater begins in the garden

Classic actor Konstantin Stanislavsky (1863-1938) said that theater begins in the cloakroom. Apparently holding a different opinion, ballerina Anastasia Volochkova made arrangements for her show – scheduled to be held in the Novaya Opera theater on Nov. 10-11 – to begin in the Hermitage Garden, where the theater is located, the weekly 7 Dnei reported.

Photographs of Volochkova, complete with strobe lights, will be installed along the paths to the theater and among the trees of the Hermitage Garden, and an "optical theater" show will be arranged in one of the garden's pavilions.

The outdoor part, which is intended to warm up the audience, will be followed by the main performance. Volochkova will dance the part of Carmen in Bizet-Shedrin's "Carmen Suite" and perform a short selection of classical and modern ballets.

Rapper Detsl fails to wow the crowd

Infamous rapper Kirill Tolmatsky, 18 – known as Detsl – appeared in an unusual outfit during a recent concert in the city of Cheboksary, Republic of Chuvashia. He arrived two hours late and went on stage wearing a camouflage suit with a yellow star on the back, the daily Zhizn wrote.

The place was far from packed: Local teenagers apparently found 200 rubles too high a price to pay to see Detsl perform live. The most expensive seats in the stalls were conspicuously vacant.

Finding apologies unnecessary, Detsl shouted: "Cheboksarians, move your asses!" Though Tolmatsky's voice was not at its finest, he managed to drive the audience wild, which cost the concert organizers a number of broken chairs.

After the concert, the most devoted fans rallied by the exit door, waiting for their idol to come out. Apparently displeased with shouts like "Detsl, we don't need you at all, but we want autographs," Tolmatsky, his hat pulled low over his eyes, elbowed his way through the crowd and climbed into a waiting bus.

The Cheboksarians also gave a warm welcome to Pants, a black musician who accompanied Detsl as his opening act. Rumor has it that Pants is soon going to release an album of his own.

Baskov has a very happy 25th birthday

The "Golden Voice of Russia," pop and opera singer Nikolai Baskov, is now the lucky owner of a black Lincoln car, which he received for his 25th birthday from his father-in-law and producer, Boris Spiegel, the daily Zhizn reported.

The new car is much more stylish and comfortable than his old one, which is now fated to gather dust in the garage. The Lincoln has nine seats, a bar and a host of other luxury features.

In addition to the car, Baskov received tons of other valuable gifts from his friends and admirers. Pop stars Alla Pugacheva and Philip Kirkorov gave him with a platinum watch decorated with diamonds and engraved with the words "I'm 25." TV host Maxim Galkin arrived at the party with a bottle of elite cognac complete with a set of shot glasses; stand-up comic Yevgeny Petrosian gave Baskov a portrait he had painted of him; and fashion designer Valentin Yudashkin presented him with a one-of-a-kind white suit decorated with jewels.

However, the most original – though not the most expensive – present came from pop singer Irina Allegrova. She gave Baskov 100 blank CD-ROMs and hoped he would record exactly that many albums over the next year.

Oreiro and Gubin not fated to sing together

A Russo-Argentinian project, a duo performance by Russian pop singer and composer Andrei Gubin and Argentine singer and actress Natalia Oreiro, has fallen through. According to the daily Zhizn, the project was effectively killed by Oreiro's managers, who demanded an astronomical $100,000 from their Russian counterparts.

"I have not heard about the financial side of the matter. I've fulfilled all my obligations honestly," Gubin told Zhizn. "I composed a melody. As for lyrics, it was planned that we would write them together, she in Spanish and I in Russian.

"Man proposes, but God disposes. It can't be ruled out that the project fell through due to financial reasons. Or maybe Oreiro is not feeling well. Or maybe the project was just not fated to succeed," Gubin added philosophically.

Oreiro and Gubin got to know each other in June 2001 at the Stopudovy Hit awarding ceremony. Back then, tabloids wrote that Oreiro was strongly impressed by Gubin, particularly by his voice, appearance and charm. Shortly afterwards, the idea was hatched to record a song, to be performed by Oreiro and Gubin in a duet. Oreiro's sole condition was that she would choose the partner herself.

A hundred demo records were sent to Argentina in due course, including recordings by the enormously popular band Ivanushki-International and pop star Philip Kirkorov, but Oreiro chose Gubin.