Lena Katina

Infobox Musical artist
Name = Lena Katina

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Background = solo_singer
Birth_name = Elena Sergeevna Katina
Alias = Lena
Born = birth date and age|1984|10|04
Died =
Origin = Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Instrument =
Genre =
Occupation = Vocalist
Years_active = 1992 - today
Label =
Associated_acts = t.A.T.u., Neposedi
URL =
Notable_instruments = Piano

Elena Sergeevna Katina ( _ru. Елена Сергеевна Катина, born 4 October, 1984), better known as Lena Katina is one half of the Russian music duo t.A.T.u.; the other being Yulia Volkova.

Childhood

Born in Moscow, Lena is the eldest of three children, and the only daughter of Sergey Katin, a renowned Russian pop music author, and Inessa Katina. Her younger, half sister Katya has a different father and her half brother Ivan has a different mother. She was raised religious and is a practicing Russian Orthodox Christian.

In 1992 she joined the famous Russian children's ensemble "Avenue". She was part of it for three years, and at age 11 was selected for "Neposedi", the most popular and prestigious children's chorus at the time.

Lena's hobbies include artistic gymnastics, ballroom dancing, figure skating, swimming and horseback-riding. She is also a skilled pianist.

She stated in a 2006 Telehit interview that she used to listen to artists such as Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, and Pink Floyd when she was younger.

Career

Katina was the first to be chosen by Ivan Shapovalov for the t.A.T.u. project. She recorded a few demos, including "Yugoslavia" and "Belochka", then Volkova was added to the project. Part of the stringent management of the group required her to lose nearly 10 kilograms. Katina stated in a 2006 interview on Telehit that her parents were unhappy when she decided to become a singer, and that her father had no influence on her decision.

Katina has also done various solo singing since t.A.T.u. was formed, both for the group and for herself.

Katina speaks English well and enjoys reading, especially romance novels. Lena also enjoys playing the piano during her free time. While Lena did at one point study Psychology at Moscow State University, it was reported that while doing promotion for t.A.T.u.'s album Dangerous and Moving, she was demitted from the academy; this, however, is untrue. Her mother had applied for academic leave, for what would be the third time, but was turned down. Katina then skipped a year of study, and in December 2006 she mentioned on t.A.T.u.'s official website that she was one thesis away from graduating. It was also rumored that she had changed her major to economics.

In late 2006 Katina and Volkova appeared in an East European tour through Russia, Ukraine, Lithuania, and Latvia and also performed in Mexico (Guadalajara and Mexico City).

External links

* [http://tatu.ru/ Official site of t.A.T.u.]
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