Marina Khlebnikova: escapee from a seraglio

Pop star Marina Khlebnikova suffered a real shock during her recent vacation in Turkey, the weekly Zhizn wrote.

Khlebnikova arrived in Turkey together with her band and, after traveling around the country's historic places, stopped to stay in an expensive hotel near Antalia. A rich sheik from the Arab Emirates, who happened to be staying in the hotel at that time, was indulging himself in watching beautiful girls swimming in the hotel's pool and, predictably, noticed Khlebnikova.

One day the sheik was approached by two men who, pointing at Khlebnikova, suggested that he "buy the brunette beauty for his harem," no more and no less. The sheik asked them to introduce him to her. Using their time-tested scheme, the con artists led the sheik to Khlebnikova, introduced him to her. The sheik said in bad English that he only wanted to express his admiration for her beauty. Khlebnikova was flattered and smiled at the sheik. Then, in Arabic, they told the sheik that the woman had agreed to go with him. The sheik paid them a "commission" of $2,000 and sent his assistants to pick up the "purchase."

Fortunately for Khlebnikova, her musicians turned out to be nearby and promptly appeared on the scene as she screamed, trying to push the Arabs away.

The incident was soon resolved when the police arrived and explained to the sheik that he had fallen prey to swindlers.

Twin sister of Britney Spears lives in Russia?

St. Petersburg is abuzz with rumors alleging that American pop star Britney Spears has a twin sister who lives nowhere other than Russia's second capital.

It was a music video shoot for the group A'Studio's hit "S.O.S." by one of Russia's best filming crews and directer Oleg Gusev, that created the gossip mill to spring into action. A girl selected to act in the video turned out to be too strongly reminiscent of Spears to be believed.

As the filming involved some 100 actors, background dancers and extras, the rumor spread around the city and beyond at the speed of light.

Thanks to the gossip, a number of record labels in Europe have developed an interest in A'Studio and its hit. The hit will probably be released in Europe in the near future.

This appears to be a veritable gift from God for the band, which has been rapidly sinking into obscurity as of late. All indications are that A'Studio is about to see a new heyday, while the public will remain in the dark about Spears' real or imagined twin sister.

(by Dmitry Mozheitov)

Alibasov and Shukshina bury the hatchet

Producer of the pop band Na-Na Barry Alibasov and the legendary actress Lidiya Fedoseyeva-Shukshina have made peace after a three-year quarrel, the weekly Express-Gazeta reports.

The reconciliation took place on board a riverboat hosting the 50th birthday party of famous writer, journalist and editor-in-chief of the daily newspaper Izvestia Alexander Kupriyanov. The party drew in a crowd of well-known politicians, musicians, actors and journalists.

In the mid-1990s, tabloids allocated their front pages to publishing gossip about relations between Alibasov and Shukshina and, then, about their break-up.

The protracted "Cold War" suddenly ended at the birthday party of their mutual friend, where Shukshina and Alibasov rushed into each other's arms.

Late at night, when the boat finally moored at the Krasnopresnenskaya pier, Alibasov and Shukshina stepped onshore together, climbed into a fancy limo and sped off in an unknown direction.