Kristina Orbakaitė

Kristina Edmundovna Orbakaitе (Russian: Кристина Эдмундовна Орбакайте, Lithuanian: Kristina Orbakaitė, born 25 May 1971), better known as Kristina Orbakaite, is a Russian-Lithuanian singer and actress. Her parents are Russian pop star Alla Pugacheva and Lithuanian circus performer Mykolas Orbakas.

Kristina Orbakaite was born in Moscow and spent much of her childhood between Šventoji, Lithuania, the home of her paternal grandparents, and Moscow, the home of her maternal grandparents. After her parents divorced in 1973, she was brought to Moscow by her mother, Alla Pugacheva, and lived with her maternal grandparents.

At the age of 7, she debuted in the Soviet children's television program "Veseliye Notki" (Happy Musical Notes) with the song "Solnyshko Smeyotsya" (The Sun Laughs). In 1982, she was cast in the leading role of "Lena Bessoltseva" in Scarecrow, a film by Rolan Bykov based on the Vladimir Zheleznikov play of the same name. Production began in 1982 and the film premiered in 1984. It became a critical success, not only in Russia but also overseas, and turned Orbakaite into a child star.

Alongside her acting, Orbakaite continued with her budding singing career. In 1983, she sang "A znayesh, vse yesche budet" (You know, it will all happen yet) in a duet with her mother. In 1985, she sang the song "Pust' Govoryat" in the popular TV program"Utrenyaya Pochta" (Morning Mail).

Now a young woman, Kristina appeared in the films Viva Gardes-Marines! (1991), Gardes-Marines-III (1992), Blagotvoritelny Bal (1993), and Limita (1994). In 1992, she sang "Pogovorim" (We'll talk) at a holiday show sponsored by her mother. The song became a hit and launched Orbakaite as a pop star. In 1994, she released her debut album titled Vernost (Fidelity).

Having met with success in film and music, Orbakaite tried her hand at theater, appearing in 1995 as Helen Keller in an adaptation of William Gibson's The Miracle Worker on the stage of the Moscow Art Theatre. She subsequently received an award from the Russian Ministry of Culture for best female theatrical performance.

In 1996, Orbakaite joined her mother, Alla Pugacheva, her mother's husband, singer Philipp Kirkorov, and her partner, singer Vladimir Presnyakov on a family performance tour through the United States titled "Zvezdnoye Leto" (Starry Summer). During this tour, she performed for the first time at Carnegie Hall in New York City. Later the same year, Orbakaite released her second album, titled Nol' Chasov, Nol' Minut (Zero Hours, Zero Minutes).

In 1998, Orbakaite released her third solo album, Ty (You). It included 12 new songs, including "Muzikant" (Musician), "Navsegda" (Forever), "Pegiy P'yos" (Spotted Dog), "Smorodina" (Currant), and "Ptitsy" (Birds). She also appeared in the films "Doroga, dorogoy, dorogaya" (1997, Road, dear [addressing a male], dear [addressing a female]) and "Fara" (1998).

In 2000, Orbakaite won World Music Awards in Monte Carlo as the best-selling Russian singer. Later that year, she released her fourth album May. In 2001, she appeared in the film Zhenskoye schastye (A Woman's Happiness).

In 2002, she released her fifth album, Ver v chudesa (Believe in miracles) and appeared in the television series Moscow Saga. She again became Russia's best-selling singer and won the World Music Awards for the second time. In 2003, she released her sixth album, Pereletnaya ptitsa (Wandering bird) and in 2005, she released her seventh album, My life. The same year, she won the Muz-TV award in the category "Best female singer".

On 17 January 2004 Kristina met her husband, American businessman Mikhail Zemtsov in Miami. They married in a private ceremony on 9 March 2005 in Miami Beach city hall.

In 2006, Orbakaite appeared in the comedy Lyubov-morkov (Love-carrot) together with Gosha Kutsenko. The film was a hit in Russia, bringing in a domestic box office of $11.5 million, and spawning two sequels, with the second film coming out in 2008 and the third in 2011. Amid filming the series, Orbakaite released her eight album, titled Slyshish – eto ya (Listen – it's me).

In 2011, Orbakaite celebrated her 40th birthday and, as part of celebrating the year, unveiled a new performance program and a new album, both titled Potseluy na bis (Encore kiss). Two years later, in April 2013, she released a new music video for her song "Maski" (Masks) and began a tour of the Baltic countries. She also received the title Honoured Artist of the Russian Federation from Russian president Vladimir Putin.

In December 2016, her "Insomnia" world tour was presented with two sold out shows in State Kremlin Palace. The tour received excellent reviews in the press and with critics. In 2017, the tour was presented in Russia, Israel, France, Kazakhstan, the United Kingdom, Germany and all Baltic states with over 100 sold out shows.

In July 2018 Kristina Orbakaite debuted on stage of Sovremennik Theater in a William Gibson play Two for the Seesaw.

In September 2018, she released her scandalous music video to her hit "Pyanaya Vishnya" which was watched over 40 million times on YouTube in less than one year.

She is currently married to a Russian-American businessman named Mikhail Zemtsov. They have a daughter, born on 30 March 2012. Orbakaite also has two sons from previous marriages, born in 1991 and 1998.

• 1994 – Верность "Fidelity"
• 1996 – Ноль Часов, Ноль Минут "Zero Hours, Zero Minutes"
• 1998 – Ты "You"
• 1999 – Той Женщине, Которая... "To That Woman, Who.."
• 2000 – Май "May"
• 2001 – The Best
• 2001 – Remixes
• 2002 – Верь В Чудеса "Believe in Miracles"
• 2002 – Океан Любви "Ocean of Love"
• 2003 – Перелетная Птица "Wandering Bird"
• 2005 – My Life
• 2008 – Слышишь.. это я "Listen...it's me"
• 2009 – The Best Part 1 and Part 2
• 2011 – Поцелуй на бис "Encore Kiss"
• 2013 – Маски "Masks"
• 2016 – Бессонница "Insomnia"

• 1995 – Ponedelnik posle chuda ("Igroki" theater) in the role Helen Keller
• 1997—2000 – Barishnia-krestianka (Yermolova Theatre) in the role Elizaveta Berestova
• 2001 – Dannaya (Théâtre de l'Estrade) in the role Frina
• 2018 – Dvoe na kocheliah ("Sovremennik Theater") in the role Gitel Moska