Tina Karol

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Tina Karol is a Ukrainian singer, actress, and television presenter.

Interview conducted on October 5, 2020

by Dan Locke

She represented Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 with the song “Show Me Your Love”, placing seventh. Karol has since become a mentor on The Voice of Ukraine and jury for Ukrainian Eurovision National Selection.

What is your upbringing?

The warmest childhood memories are associated with grandmothers Maria and Rosa.
One was an Orthodox Ukrainian, the other a Jew. Grandma Maria taught me how to pray, and Grandma Rosa taught me how to play loto. By the way, it managed to be saved along with the collection of records, and I played in this loto with my son Venya when he was very little. That’s how he learned the numbers. This was our first mathematics.
It’s hard for me to talk about upbringing in childhood. Surely, I grew up in love and understanding. But you must understand that Soviet upbringing – this is the imprint of the whole system in the minds of people, a number of generations have raised their children in a distorted reality. Blaming the parents for anything is ignorance.
I am already a parent, I am raising a son, and I am able to make up for what I lacked in childhood. And convey to him the best that my parents taught me.

How did you discover music?

In 1999, I took part in a vocal competition at the “Black Sea games” in Ukraine. But I didn’t win – I took third place. When I cried backstage, my mother strictly said: “There is no need to cry, decide: either you seriously continue to study music, or you give up everything. ” I weighed everything and the next year I went to enter the Kiev music college. After I literally abandoned everything – my parents, my hometown, and left for Kiev, a foreign capital at that time, the capital of Ukraine. From a cozy nest to the dormitory of the music college, where everyone is for himself. Then I was born as a singer with desire, aspiration, dream. And I continue to be like that now.

What was your first performance at like?

It was a long time ago. I have been doing this all my life. Of course, I had this first nervousness, so I forgot all the words and movements. But I want to tell you if the artist loses jitters, then there’s no artist anymore. I still feel the excitement and this fragility moment. Every time I go on stage as if for the first time.

What was it like to win your first singing contest?

For me, the prize at the New Wave is a symbol of trust. It was a story of Cinderella when one day I woke up famous. This is a big responsibility, I immediately felt it, and understood that to take off, or how now we can say “show off” – it’s not difficult. But to keep this height over the years, only a few can.

What was the title of your first original song? Did you record it?

The song “Vyshe oblakov” was written by me on the plane on the way to Iraq. I flew there on a Peacekeeping mission, and the song came by itself. I Vise do not associate it with a trip to Iraq. It just happened a moment of inspiration, and the song came.

Can you tell me an interesting story about your time as a coach on The Voice and The Voice Kids? Would you suggest more singers try a show like The Voice?

Being a member of The Voice is not easy. This is not a single distance running but a constant challenge to yourself, a relay race. You need to pack in a week, learn a new song, get into character, come up with voice tricks, figure out how to diversify the performance. For very young “The Voice”, it’s a very cool experience.
After all, it is very interesting there, it turns you on like gambling. But for the adult “The Voice” – the participants are in constant stress and sometimes just fly out of range, unable to withstand pressure. Before going to “The Voice”, become a participant, pass the casting – you need to weigh the pros and cons, clearly defining why you need it.

How did you feel that you were awarded as one of the top 100 most influential women in Ukraine and The Most Beautiful Woman in Ukraine?

Fortitude, endurance, spiritual fulfillment, purity, sincerity, love of life – probably these qualities were evaluated in me by the jury and those who voted for these titles. But there are many “buts” here. Any rating is rather not a straightforward fact – the most beautiful or the most influential, it is rather a mark of a combination of many factors that the person brings into society and makes his/her opinion weighty for them.

You did a tour of the US. How do you stay healthy while touring?

In my previous “Intonation” tour, we played 78 concerts in two months! This is a lot, in such cases only the system preparation and endurance work. This is like a big sport. You are a sprinter and you are at a distance. You are the soldier inside. You are an Olympian for yourself.

Any new music in the works?

In October a new track “Teddy bear” will be released, which will be included in a collection of songs published by Bentley Records. And I keep working on an English-language album. Everything else is surprises and secrets! I am a woman of action, not of words!

What are you’re feeling about streaming music?

The world is changing, we are moving forward. We live in a unique turbulent time; we rush into the future at extremely high speed. Streaming quite logically supplanted any other kind of music distribution content. Evolution is happening in everything every minute. For the better or worse – it’s a matter of discussion.

Digital vs. vinyl?

I do not agree with this wording. It’s like asking:
Memories or Stories on Instagram? Both. As I said earlier, the time has changed, people want to have everything: good old vinyl, and convenient streaming. One does not interfere. Of course, records now are rather a fetish for fans, but I would not write off what you can hold in your hands. I read a lot of books on the iPad, but nothing can compare to the feel of a paper book. This is your evening – your book, your blanket, and a cup of tea. This is more than words on paper. The same I also have feelings for vinyl. This is magic and nothing else.

How do you feel the Covid-19 virus going to affect the music business in the future?

And not only for the music business. It will change a lot, I’m sure. I would even talk not about business, I would talk about the minds of humanity.
Covid-19 raised so many questions that it is unlikely they can list, they have been accumulating for years. Inequality of occupations, social insecurity, dependence on digital, dominance of fake news, inability or unwillingness to understand the situation on their own, global influence of media, political and financial conditions, acute loneliness, dependence on someone else’s opinion, I can continue infinitely. Answering your question specifically, I will say: of course, the music business will change and evolve into something new.

Have you discovered or rediscovered any new hobbies during the lockdown?

I did a lot of good things during this period. For example, I did self-study and discovered interesting corners of Ukraine, I traveled around the country with my son. We made a lockdown from all smartphones and put computers aside. We agreed that when back to social life, then Benjamin will be able to use again all gadgets. But lockdown in music for me was impossible! If I don’t sing, I cannot breathe. Deprived of a scene, I finished the Ukrainian album “Nayti Svoikh”, a clip-trilogy that can be viewed on my YouTube channel. And of course, featuring Snoop Dogg. Even in quarantine – we did it! And it’s cool!

With Social Distance being the norm. Do you feel that it may be the end of music fest for the next couple of years?

It’s hard for me to think about it, talk about it. You should understand – the stage is my life. Take it all – leave me the stage. And honestly, it is not so important for me whether there is a distance in the hall or not, there are my fans. They are there in the darkness of the hall, sitting far from each other, wearing masks, it doesn’t matter! They are there! AND then I will play not five concerts in one city, but ten, twenty, as long as it takes to be seen and heard by everyone who wanted. Distance in the venue – it may become the norm for a while, but the distance between souls – impossible. Music and the human heart have no distance. The real songs are intended to bring together, inspire, fill the hearts of people.

What about Holographic concerts in our living room?

I hope I never see my hologram. It sounds scary posthumously.

How do you see yourself in the next five years?

I’m educated enough not to see myself in five, ten, or how many more years. Let’s see ourselves here and now, today. Look at yourself and ask questions: is everything good, are everyone happy, do I follow the way I want. You don’t need to live in the future, an illusion that hasn’t happened yet. There’s no need to need to carry the burden of the past, which no longer exists. Look at yourself present – you may have never spoken to this person. Let these words be the exhortation to those who feel the need now to find themselves.

Anything you would like to say in closing?