page_title: T.A.T.u.
section_title: 2007–2010: Vesyolye Ulybki and Waste Management
hierarchical_section_title: T.A.T.u. / History / 2007–2010: Vesyolye Ulybki and Waste Management
caption_attribution_description: English: t.A.T.u. at Viva Comet 2008
context_page_description: t.A.T.u. was a Russian music duo that consisted of Lena Katina and Julia Volkova. The singers were part of children's music group Neposedy before being managed by producer and director Ivan Shapovalov and signing with Russian record label Neformat. t.A.T.u.'s debut album 200 Po Vstrechnoy was a commercial success in Eastern Europe that made the duo sign with Interscope Records to release its English-language counterpart, 200 km/h in the Wrong Lane. The album was certified platinum by the IFPI for one million copies sold in Europe and became the first album by a foreign group to reach number one in Japan. It was also certified gold in the United States and included the international hits "All the Things She Said" and "Not Gonna Get Us". The duo represented Russia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 with the song "Ne Ver', Ne Boysia", finishing third.
  t.A.T.u. released the albums Dangerous and Moving and Lyudi Invalidy in 2005 to moderate success after parting ways with Shapovalov. The former was promoted with the international hit "All About Us". The duo ventured into other projects, such as creating their own production company T.A.
context_section_description: On 17 May 2007, t.A.T.u. issued a statement directed to their gay fans: "When t.A.T.u.'s second album came out, many of our fans of alternative sexual orientation thought that we lied and betrayed them. This is not true! We’ve never done that and we’ve always advocated love without boundaries." On 26 May, they flew out to Moscow to take part in the Moscow Gay Pride demonstration.
  On 12 September 2007 the group released the concert DVD "Truth". It was the group's first release since leaving Universal. In late 2007, "Белый Плащик", "Beliy Plaschik", the lead single from their upcoming Russian-language album, was released. The project was then known as "Управление Отбросами", "Upravleniye Otbrosami", which translates to "Waste Management". The second single, "220" ("Двести Двадцать", Dvesti Dvadtsat'), made its radio premiere in May 2008 and the music video was released on their official YouTube channel on 5 June 2008. "Beliy Plaschik" and "220" were the main attractions on a special release known as "Hyperion-Plate", the first-ever EP from the duo. The EP was released on 8 May 2008 and featured multimedia content including music, video, ringtones and wallpapers.
  At the time of the "Hyperion-Plate" release, "Upravleniye Otbrosami / Управление отбросами" was scheduled to hit the stores in June 2008. The EP featured a poster which advertised that date, as well as a coupon redeemable for a discount on the album that expired on 30 June 2008. However, the release schedule abruptly stalled on 5 June 2008, when t.A.T.u.'s manager Boris Renski announced that Yulia Volkova was seriously ill. Volkova's illness forced the cancellation of a concert in Santa Clara, CA, and the singer was not seen in public until the wedding of producer Sergey Konov on 5 July 2008. The duo returned to work in late August, when it was reported that t.A.T.u. would be the face of fashion designer Marc Jacobs's fall and winter campaigns in Russia.
  On 9 September 2008, a press release appeared on the duo's official website that declared that the forthcoming album would be titled "Веселые Улыбки", "Vesyolye Ulybki" ("Happy Smiles") instead of "Upravleniye Otbrosami" ("Waste Management"). The name change reflected sarcastic comments about the state of the Russian music business made by Volkova and Katina in an interview with Moscow's Time Out Magazine. The press release also provided the track list of the album and an early version of its cover art, but still no confirmed release date was given. On 12 September, the album's third single, "You and I" made its debut on Love Radio. The press release disappeared from the site shortly afterward, only to re-appear on 8 October with a change made to the cover art --- where there was once the face of a smiling astronaut on the original design, a black square now appeared.
  On 15 October, t. A. T. u.'s website announced that "Vesyolye Ulybki" would be released on 21 October 2008, beginning with a special event at two Soyuz record stores in Moscow where fans could meet the girls and get their autographs. The album also went on pre-sale at the official t. A. T. u. web shop on 18 October, with a small number of buyers receiving a limited-edition postcard set as a prize. The songs were also made available internationally through the iTunes digital music store. Upon its release, it became apparent that the album essentially had two covers --- the astronaut cover was a slipcase, while the original design used for "Upravleniye Otbrosami" appeared inside. The black square from the press release had been hiding a Mars scene.
  On 23 October, t.A.T.u. appeared on Vladimir Polupanov's "The 7 Premieres" to promote their new album. They were also the subjects of an ongoing mini-reality series on the website Russia.ru. On 21 October 2008 "Vesyolye Ulybki" was released internationally on online music stores. On 28 November t.A.T.u were awarded the Legend of MTV at the MTV Russia Music Awards 2008.
  In March 2009, a statement was released on the duo's site and MySpace stating that the duo will no longer be a "full-time" project and that Ka
caption: t.A.T.u. performing at the Viva Comet Awards in 2008.
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