Elena Vaenga (real name Elena Vladimirovna Khruleva) is a popular Russian singer, songwriter, actress, winner of the Golden Gramophone and Chanson of the Year awards. In 2013, the singer was awarded the honorary badge "For Services to St. Petersburg".
The name of Elena Vaenga became widely known in the early 2000s. Today she has a huge number of fans who are looking forward to new live performances and albums.
The singer's work is closely followed not only by fans, but also by critics. Articles and comments with a negative attitude towards her have repeatedly appeared in the press and on the Internet. But Elena tries not to pay attention to such attacks and continues to delight listeners with her concerts and new songs. She is constantly touring the country, her performances are scheduled for many months in advance.
Biography facts
The future pop star was born in the capital of the Northern Fleet - in the city of Severomorsk. She was born in 1977. Her parents had nothing to do with creativity and worked at a ship repair plant that serves nuclear submarines.
Lena spent her childhood in a small village located on the Kola Peninsula called Vyuzhny. Mainly families of sailors and service personnel lived there, so the number of inhabitants of the village did not exceed fifteen thousand.
Elena's maternal grandfather was a famous person - a rear admiral who served in the Northern Fleet. My paternal grandmother was in Leningrad during wartime and survived the siege years, worked as a nurse in one of the hospitals. During the war, grandfather was an anti-aircraft gunner, fought near Leningrad, defending it from German invaders.
Elena has a sister who is younger than her. Her name is Tatiana. She now lives in St. Petersburg and works as an international journalist.
When the girl was only one year old, she had already begun to dance, feeling the rhythm of the music well. At the age of three, she could repeat a simple melody played on the piano. She composed her first melody at the age of nine, and wrote the first song at eleven, it was called "Doves".
Realizing that her daughter has ear and talent, the parents sent the girl to a music school. In addition, she was actively involved in sports, maintaining excellent athletic shape.
After leaving school, the girl wanted to continue her education at the music school in St. Petersburg. She went to her grandmother, but when she arrived in the city and came to apply, she was told that for admission she needed to finish not ten grades, but eleven. In those years in the country, schoolchildren were just beginning to be transferred to eleven-year education. Elena had to sit down at her desk again to get a complete secondary education.
The girl managed to get into the school in 1994. At first, she studied for a fee, and then, based on the results of her studies for a year, she was transferred to the budget. It was not easy for her to study, the education she received in her village was not enough. But the girl was distinguished by perseverance and soon achieved excellent results in her studies.
Five years of study at the music school, which is known not only in our country, but also abroad, were not in vain. Once Elena decided to enter the vocal department at the conservatory in Warsaw. When she arrived to apply, the teachers saw her diploma, they immediately offered to start work with them at the conservatory, because the level of training of musicians at the St. Rimsky-Korsakov is considered to be very high, graduates become real professionals.
After a while, Elena decided that she wanted to perform on the theater stage. She was enrolled in LGITMIK. But studies there lasted only a few months. The girl was invited to the capital to record a music album.
But the dream of an acting career later led Vaenga to the Baltic University, where she entered after returning to St. Petersburg. She graduated from the theater faculty with honors, but her theatrical career did not take place. Her soul was drawn to music, she began performing on stage as a singer.
Creative career
The singer recorded her first disc in Moscow at A. Razin's studio. But it so happened that it was not published. The songs performed by the singer were never heard.
Returning to St. Petersburg, Elena began to appear on stage more often and recorded the album "Portrait". It happened in 2003. Then she, on the advice of her mother, took the creative pseudonym Vaenga, which in translation from the Sami means "deer".
Two years later, the singer writes down another album - "White Bird". Many songs have become real hits. Then they started talking about Elena in the press and soon began to be called the "Queen of Chanson".
In 2009, Vaenga was awarded the Golden Gramophone music award for the track "I smoke". A year later, she already participated in the "Song of the Year" program and again received an award for the song "Absinthe". Soon the singer began to tour the cities of Russia, near and far abroad. Since 2012, she has been awarded the Chanson of the Year award five times.
Vaenga constantly gives concerts, takes part in television projects and occasionally shoots video clips. The singer herself loves live performances more. It is important for her to communicate directly with the audience and give them her love through songs.
Income, concerts
The topic of Vaenga's earnings and income has been discussed more than once on the network. The singer herself said that much that is written about on the Internet and in the media is not true. Most of the money earned from concerts goes to pay for the musical group with which she performs on stage and the producer. The singer herself receives only a percentage that allows her to live in comfortable conditions, but in no way amounts to millions of dollars.
In 2011, Vaenga was included in the Forbes list of the highest paid representatives of Russian show business. It was claimed that the singer's income was $ 4.6 million. Elena stated that this figure is not true and it is very unpleasant for her to find out that she receives royalties that she has never actually seen.
According to Vaenga, part of the money is spent on paying for the work of musicians, of whom there are quite a lot in the state, for paying taxes and contracts. Half of the amount earned is taken by the producer, ten percent by the director. The rest is already going directly to the singer. What are the specific amounts of her earnings is unknown.
Elena takes part in corporate events, but, according to her, there are not so many of them. According to data from open sources, the singer's performance at a corporate event or a private party will cost the organizers about 4 million rubles.
Vaenga spends most of his time on tour and gives dozens of concerts a month. The price of tickets depends on the city where the performance is taking place and the concert venue.
