History of creation and composition
The group "Assorted" was born on the television show "People's Artist", broadcast in 2003 by the Rossiya TV channel. Six girls were united by the organizers into a vocal ensemble. The first cast included project participants: Oksana Kazakova, Arina Rits, Natalya Povolotskaya, Olga Vatlina, Anna Alina and Maria Zaitseva. At the end of the show, the girls signed a contract with Evgeny Fridland, who became their producer.
The first cast of “Assorted”: Anna Alina, Natalya Povolotskaya, Maria Zaitseva, Oksana Kazakova, Arina Rits, Olga Vatlina
The group's first performance took place at the final show of the People's Artist project in December 2003. The vocalists were lucky enough to perform the song “Two Snowflakes” from the stage of the Kremlin Palace, and soon the composition became a hit. It was broadcast on many Russian radio stations. Together with other project participants, the girls performed in one of the orphanages near Moscow on New Year's holidays.
Oksana Kazakova
The following performances took place as part of a joint tour across the country. The Assorti group also took part in major concerts held on Red Square in honor of Victory Day and Independence Day of Russia. Soon the band began recording songs for their debut album.
Arina Rits
As part of the promotion of the musical ensemble, its members starred in television programs: “One Hundred to One”, “Summer Evening on `First’”, “Private Life”. In 2004, “Assorted” became an invited guest of the second project “People’s Artist”. The singers performed on the stage of the Kremlin Palace together with the finalist of the competition Ruslan Alekhno and other participants in the show.
Maria Zaitseva
Music was the favorite path for all the girls who were part of “Assorted”. They showed their talents and originality, winning over the audience. Very soon the vocalists managed to gather an audience at a concert in the Ice Palace in St. Petersburg, and in 2005 they tried their luck at the qualifying stage of participants for the Eurovision Song Contest. The soloists performed the song “Keep on shining”. In the Russian version, the name of the composition sounded like “Sharik”. According to the results of the selections, the group took fifth place among the competitors.
Anna Alina
The band's contract with the producer ended in 2011. With the exception of Oksana Kazakova, the vocalists refused to continue collaborating with Evgeny Fridland. He did not keep his former colleagues, but he was not going to part with the Assorted project. A casting call was announced for work in the group. Soon the places of the former participants were taken by Marina Abdullaeva, Marina Drozhdina, Maria Troshanova and Yulia Tatchina.
Group “Assorted” in 2012: Yulia Tatchina, Marina Abdullaeva, Oksana Kazakova, Marina Drozhdina, Maria Troshanova
The producer made the choice based on videos in which the girls gave a short interview about their plans and goals for the future. Important criteria were appearance and vocal abilities. The casting jury focused on artistic abilities, confident behavior on stage and dancing skills.
Assorted
Assorted
The Assorti group appeared on the Russian stage, and we can absolutely say that there was no analogue to it. Assorted is a completely new word in the history of Russian girl bands. The fact is that Assorti is a group that is distinguished from all female groups, first of all, by the quality of music and live performance. Light soul, pop and R'n'B for them are created by the names of Russian show business: Karen Kavaleryan, Kim Breitburg and many others.
Before becoming what the Assorti group is now, its members had to overcome a lot. All of them are finalists of the “People’s Artist” project, included in the top ten. Assorted is OUR choice. The whole country watched as the stars of each girl rose.
And before becoming Assorted sweets, they went through difficult tests: from the judicial decisions of the tough and straightforward Tigran Keosayan, to the appraising glances of the handsome and beloved Anton Komolov. Although there were some pleasant moments. After all, the maternal warmth and care of Larisa Dolina and the fairly frequent praise of Evgeniy Fridlyand, whom the members of the Assorted group now proudly call their producer, cannot be called trials.
And this is how it was: ...One day E.F. sat down. into his producer’s chair and thought: “Well, we’ll promote Panayotov, Goman and Chumakov anyway (yes, he knows a lot about promoting cute boys) But we need girls!” - and began to quickly go through them in his head. But then I realized that the people would want to see all “their” artists, and threw out a battle cry: “One voice is good, but six is better!”
And what do we end up with?! Arina Rits, Oksana Kazakova, Anna Alina, Olga Vatlina, Maria Zaitseva and Natalya Povolotskaya - the Assorted group, 6 charming finalists of the People's Artist competition, with great talent, unique timbre, charisma and beauty. Everyone is young and ready for great achievements.
Of course, Assorti has not yet surprised the music industry with innovation in anything, but it is not possible to dispute the high quality of their work. And this is like a balm for the soul of everyone who seeks solace in Western music.
In fact, it’s much more difficult for girls than for those performers and groups who appear in Moscow and for whom Moscow is their hometown. Almost all the “sweets” arrived in the capital during “NA”. And in order to do “their favorite thing”—as it seems to be customary to say—they left their homes and families. It's difficult. Therefore, they spent their first well-deserved rest at home. But they returned back to Moscow to continue singing.
Even during the competition, each girl answered the questionnaire. All of them in this questionnaire described themselves as very purposeful, charming, talented and hardworking. The result is obvious. The girls work hard to record songs in the studio, tour and perform in the capital. Moreover, each of them is a personality, interesting, unique and original.
Assorti currently has a busy touring schedule. At concerts, the audience warmly welcomes already familiar songs from their debut album “Beautiful Love”. And recently the girls received the “Golden Gramophone” for the song “Beautiful Love” written, by the way, by Taras Demchuk, one of the lead singers of the “Prime Minister” group.
Music
The repertoire of the Assorted group was regulated by the producer. Each of the group members had impressive vocal abilities, so music critics predicted great prospects for the new group. The girls performed compositions in soul, R'n'B and pop styles. The authors of the songs “Assorted” were Vyacheslav Bodolika, Karen Kavaleryan and Kim Breitburg.
Song “Two Snowflakes” by the group “Assorted”
The real hits of the group turned out to be the songs “Two Snowflakes”, “Ivushka”, “Ding-Dong”, “Kill Me”, “Above the Sky”. The composition “Beautiful Love” received warm responses from fans of “Assorted” creativity and brought the participants the “Golden Gramophone” award. A video was shot for this song, which turned out to be the only video work of the first line-up of the group.
Song “Beautiful Love” by the group “Assorted”
An important event for the team was the recording of the track “Give Me Fire” and the release of a joint video clip with Boris Moiseev. This is a Russian-language interpretation of the song “Crucified” by Army Of Lovers, released in 2020. In 2016, the team recorded a joint composition “Two Souls, Two Fires” with Evgeny Anishko.
The song “Give me fire” by the group “Assorti” and Boris Moiseev
“Assorted” performed at large venues in Russia and private events. Photos of girls regularly appeared on the covers of fashion glossy magazines. Colleagues and the public called the main feature of the creative ensemble the refusal to use a soundtrack. Vocalists gave live concerts, performing original songs and covers of popular compositions. The girls regularly toured Russia and the CIS countries.
Song “You'll Still Be Mine” by the group “Assorted”
After completing the contract with the first members of the group, Evgeny Fridlyand prepared a laconic concert program for the new participants in the project. 10 fresh compositions were included in the repertoire of the performers, who happily went on tour, performing already known and new songs. On social networks, guests of the Assorted concerts wrote conflicting reviews about the performances, but everywhere the group was greeted with the same warmth and friendliness.
Group "Assorted": new line-up
In March 2011, the contract concluded between Fridland and the vocalists expired. Five of the six members of the group refused to continue working with this producer. And only Oksana Kazakova was ready to extend the contract.
Evgeniy Fridlyand did not try to persuade the girls to stay. But he also had no intention of stopping the group. The producer announced a casting call for talented and attractive girls. Soon Oksana Kazakova was joined by Abdullaeva Marina, Yulia Tatchina, Troshanova Masha and Drozhdina Marina.
The casting took place in two stages. First, the participants had to send videos to the producer in which they talk about themselves and their goals. Several girls managed to get into the second round. The casting included not only Muscovites, but also beauties from other cities. A professional jury assessed the vocal and external qualities of the girls. Qualities such as artistry, ability to move on stage and self-confidence were also taken into account. Two Marinas, Yulia and Masha, met all these parameters.
How did the renewed Assorted group captivate the audience? The lineup was just right: all smart and beautiful. In a short time, the producer prepared a concert program for the girls. The quintet recorded about 10 new compositions. Soon the team went on tour. The girl group gave concerts not only in Russia, but also in neighboring countries. Everywhere their performances were received excellently.
"Assorted" now
Today the Assorti group consists of six vocalists: Marina Brioli, Maria Tsesar, Polina Romanova, Anastasia Vladi, Polina Hertz, Ksyusha Shapiro. The new line-up released the singles “Nothing Like That” and its English version “Right Now” (in collaboration with the Persian performer Resa Martinez), “Muschina”, “Big Girls”, “Who Doesn’t Dance”, “Bitter!”, as well as remixes of the group’s popular hits: “Ivushka” and “Ding Dong”.
Group "Assorted" in 2020
Videos were shot for the songs “Nothing like that”, “Right now”, “Muschina” by director Georgy Volev. The ensemble still performs at city festivals, in clubs and at private events. A striking appearance on television was his participation in the TV show “Life is Beautiful.” His condition was a live performance of world hits. Participation in the television program “Songs with the Stars” was no less interesting.
Maria Caesar
The girls continue to perform in Russia and abroad. In 2018-2019 they gave a series of concerts in small towns in Germany. In August 2020, the vocalists performed in Spain. “Assorti” actively conducts charitable activities, participating in concerts, the proceeds from which go to benefit children with disabilities and serious illnesses.
Composition of the group "Assorted"
The musical ensemble has an account on Instagram and a group on VKontakte. They periodically contain information about performances, photographs from concerts, filming videos and tours. The girls continue to record new songs and release music albums.
