You're reading: Pop Notes – on Serdyuchka, OE and Via Gra.

A new album for Ukraine's drag queen, that's 10 years and counting for OE, and fresh meat arrives to top up the buxom Via Gra.

Serdyuchka, beloved across the CIS, is showing off another side to his (her?) personality with the release of an album of self-penned instrumental music, due to hit stores this month. The working title of the album is “Instrumental Music by Andriy Danylko,” and from what we’ve heard of it – a track called “After You” – it’s romantic light jazz, based on the piano. It’s pleasant, even if Chopin has nothing to worry about competition-wise. Let’s see if Danylko can sell his fans a new look.

OE Project Launches

Has it been 10 years? Yes, that’s how long Ukrainian pop darlings Okean Elzy have been around. To commemorate the anniversary, they’ve launched a project called “Dyakuyu,” which means “thank you” in Ukrainian – the thank you being directed at their friends. As a part of the project OE has recorded a song called (surprise) “Dyakuyu,” shot a video for it, and launched the site www.dyakyu.com, where you can get information on the band, download the song and see the video. Frontman Slava Vakarchuk says he wrote the song after the press conference announcing the departure of his old band members, as a gesture of gratitude.

New Meat in Via Gra

Girl-group Via Gra has had another line-up change, as latest redhead Svitlana Loboda, who hadn’t even had time to unpack, was canned and replaced by Albina Dzhanabayeva, a backup singer for Russian pop icon Valery Meladze.

Loboda, who replaced Anna Sedakova after the latter decided to give up her singing career for the married life, was in the band for just five months. She said she needed more self-expression than was allowed by the girl-band, which is tightly controlled by its management.

Before coming to work with Via Gra and their Svengali manager Constantine Meladze (Valery’s brother), Dzhanabayeva worked in South Korea. So the newcomer has good pipes and Asian-language skills, apart from lots of sex appeal.

Look for Via Gra’s new video “The World I Didn’t Know About Before You.” For better or worse, there’s less smut, and the girls are portrayed as angels.