Singer Nikolai Baskov is now 16 kilos lighter after a successful liposuction procedure performed in the prestigious Swiss clinic La Prairie, the daily Zhizn reported.
Baskov agreed to undergo the unpleasant procedure after yielding to pressure from the European producers who invited him to star in a music video for his hit "Power of Love," which would be used for promoting the "golden tenor" in the West.

The producers offered to invest a good deal in the project - on the condition that Baskov appear handsome and slim in the video. They firmly stated that his weight should not exceed 76 kilos. When he was discharged from the clinic, the doctors told Baskov that, in order to maintain his new weight, he must stick to a strict diet and say goodbye to his favorite cakes, buns and candies.

He now carries a list of allowed foodstuffs in his pocket and consults it every time he orders anything in a restaurant or cafe. "There is nothing I won't do for the sake of art," Baskov sighed, replying to the compliments of a Zhizn correspondent. "I'm sentenced to a vegetarian diet, but feeling great," he added.