The crazy ratings that accompanied each issue earned him far more fame than all the medals won - including the silver of the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics. The recognition of the president of the country that he also watched the "Stars", and did elevate Averbukh to the rank of media magnate. In a conversation with Izvestia columnist Vladimir Rausch, the skater spoke about the filming that was completed, opened the curtain of secrecy over the continuation of the project and asked him not to demonize his persona.
"Sobchak and Stotskaya did not suit us"
Filming of the show is over. What feelings now dominate in your soul: emptiness or relief that everything is finally left in the past?
Dominated by satisfaction from a job well done. But there is no particular sadness. Firstly, I prepared myself for this: it was clear that the project could not last forever. And then, the sport taught me that for every tournament that ends, a new one begins. Although, when the last gala concert in the palace on the Khodynsky field ended, my heart ached a bit.
How are you going to remove the stress accumulated over all this time?
Now I have only one thought: turn off the mobile phone, go somewhere in the countryside and sleep, sleep. It would be best to go to the sea or mountains, to go skiing. True, winter is such that you don’t really go for a drive ... Computer games also help me a lot to relax: I used to be able to play football for hours. Alcohol? No, as a way of relaxation, it does not suit me. I do not enjoy the process itself or its consequences.
At what point in filming did you have the hardest time?
There were probably three such points. The first is when we were just picking the composition of the participants. It was necessary to collect all the skaters and guess so that the filming schedules that we selected for the actors matched. When we started the first training, no one fully understood what would come of it all. Then the process began, people caught fire, and I suddenly felt a burden of responsibility. Suddenly fear fell: what if it does not work out? This is a creative story: it can happen, or maybe not. At that moment, a serious strain began ... Well, it was still very difficult at the end - it was just physically able to withstand all this.
You never told how "Stars on Ice" appeared. Was this your idea or a project was born on Channel One?
Neither one nor the other. This show was invented in England, its authors are two television companies at once - BBC and Granada. Their formats were slightly different, but the essence of both projects is the same: the skaters ride with the stars. Similar projects then passed around the world, in particular - on the channel "Russia". But our colleagues simply made tracing paper from a Western product, without changing anything or inventing anything. The license acquired by Channel One provided for freedom of creativity. And so a lot - from the scenery to the costumes was invented by us personally.
Who decided which star to invite to the program?
Participants were offered by my company Ice Symphony. They came to training, after which we analyzed: whether these people are suitable for us, whether we can teach them to ride. If the decision turned out to be positive, the candidacy was submitted for discussion to the Director General of Channel One Konstantin Ernst and his first deputy Alexander Fayfman. I can say that they never said: they say that this person should not be in the show!
But they proposed their candidacy, right?
Offered only the leading channel - Alexei Pimanov, Andrei Malakhov. Only because of the injury, neither one nor the other could really participate in the project.
But how often did one have to say: I won’t be able to teach this person how to ride - and refuse him?
There were several such cases. I’m not God, and I can’t teach everyone. Just don’t ask for the names of those who didn’t pass the selection - I still won’t say ...
Who did you personally miss on the set?
It seems to me that by the composition of the participants we were close to getting into the top ten. Although there were people whom I called on the show, but they refused for various reasons. I think that Julia Savicheva could prove herself very brightly. I am sure that the show would benefit from the presence on the set of Maxim Galkin, Philip Kirkorov or Ivan Urgant. We didn’t have enough boys at all ... I really regret the absence of Dima Pevtsov: he had almost given his consent, but his leg injury prevented him.
Were there any errors in the selection? It is believed that replacing Glucose with the Olympic champion in rhythmic gymnastics Yulia Barsukova did not quite work out ...
Maybe. But here we were in a difficult position. Glucose left the project for a good reason, and her partner Anton Sikharulidze was left alone. It was necessary to delete him from the project or urgently look for a new partner. I can say that Ksenia Sobchak came to us for training, and this one ... what is her name? .. Kirkorov’s protege ... yes, Nastya Stotskaya. But in terms of figure skating, they were all absolutely “zero”. In order not to put Anton at a disadvantage in advance - after all, his rivals had been skating for more than two months - it was decided to stop on Barsukova’s candidacy. She still knew how to stand on skates.
"For Petrov and Tikhonov I can break anyone"
Which of the participants was the most difficult to work with?
With those who did not know how to ride. It was necessary all the time to invent something extraordinary in order to hide all these shortcomings. It is clear, after all, that in a week figure skating cannot be mastered ...
And which of the delivered programs did you like the most? I heard there were more than a hundred of them ...
I can’t single out the one and only dance. To name the Top 10 is another matter. Of course, this is “Tango” by Marat Basharov, “You Will Wake Me Up at Dawn” by Anna Bolshova. She also had another wonderful issue - Tenderness. Remember when she is with a taxi driver and suitcases? .. "Carmina Burana" or "Call me, call" Katya Guseva. No, I won’t give you one number.
Is it true that the contracts of the participants in the show are voluminous Talmuds, in which everything is written - from and to?
This is true. The contracts were complicated, but they were concluded only with the skaters. The stars did not have contracts - and fees, respectively, as well. They worked for their image and publicity.
They say that the skaters' fees far exceed the money that they receive in sports - in particular, at the stages of the Grand Prix?
We had a differentiated payment scale, which depended on whether the participant went to the next stage of the show or not. Skaters received money comparable to their Western counterparts, but significantly less than in sports.
In the West, I heard that one performance of stars of this level costs about 10-15 thousand dollars.
This is a commercial show. Filming on television costs less - and at times.
Maria Petrova with Alexei Tikhonov after performing in your project failed the Grand Prix finals in their native St. Petersburg. They were immediately accused of chasing a long ruble and spit on the honor of the country ...
... (interrupts). You know, I'm just ready to break those who say that. Masha and Lesha did a great service to Russian figure skating. Why don't they finally think about making money? After all, the guys' career is slowly declining. In "Stars on Ice" they opened themselves for the whole country in a completely new way. And no one will take away the medals from the World and European Championships. And then ... When Petrova and Tikhonov were preparing in Novogorsk for the Grand Prix finals, the shooting of the show was already completed.
The President of the Russian Figure Skating Federation Valentin Piseev was also not too pleased with this situation. He claims that you violated some agreements ...
There was only one agreement: we must obtain the consent of the federation for the performance of all skaters. This was done, and Valentin Nikolaevich himself took an active part in the filming. I think the president of the federation should be grateful that we made such an advertisement for his sport. Now from those who want to get into the figure skating section there is no end ...
Evgeni Plushenko, who led the show, mentioned some friction with you. What were they?
It’s hard for me to comment on this ... The yellow press wrote that Plushenko refused to take part in the gala concert because of Averbukh. I think the best answer to all this was the appearance of Zhenya in the sports palace on Khodynka. Moreover, both days he was not only leading, but he also performed on ice.
The quarrel that came out with Tatyana Tarasova, who was sitting on the jury, is also an invention of journalists?
At least it wasn’t quite what they wrote. We were shooting hard - the show was over, and we were recording a gala concert. The case dragged on a bit, Tatyana Anatolyevna was tired and at some point said that she would not be removed anymore. Then she went to the next room, rested, and returned to the set. It was a purely technical moment: she announced her departure solely because of fatigue ...
"Don't call me a gray cardinal."
Do you plan to continue the show?
Of course, "Stars on Ice-2" will be. But they will be held in a slightly different format. We are going to invite new actors, although all the skaters, apparently, will remain. Perhaps, foreign participants will appear in the project. In general, there are many ideas ...
Soon the show will go on tour in the cities of Russia. Who is producing it?
My company. Channel One has almost nothing to do with this - except that during the tour we will advertise Stars on Ice-2.
Is this your main project now?
We are still working on the rink on Red Square. Every morning we have Christmas trees there, animators work. Plus, we arrange accompanying programs, like the recent performance of world figure skating stars. This was also our project.
Recently, you are more and more often called the “gray cardinal” of figure skating, who crushed everything for himself - television, commercial shows ...
I do not think this is true. I don’t get into the issues of the Federation, I don’t decide the fate of athletes and coaches. A few years ago, I returned from America to produce a certain product and allow our stars to perform in front of their own domestic audience. I think that what is happening in Russian figure skating now is also a great merit.
You probably have a lot of envious people now.
There are enough of them. You know, a large number of people annoy someone else's success in principle. It doesn’t matter to them who succeeds and in what. In this situation, I always remember the proverb about the caravan and dogs. And I try to be the very caravan.
Does Russian business have national features that distinguish it, say, from business in America?
In Russia, a lot is still being done "at random". Here people do not like to sign contracts, preferring to conduct business on trust. But today there is trust, and tomorrow? I, too, did not avoid these mistakes: they threw me, and more than once. But now everyone who works with us does this exclusively on a contractual basis.
Vladimir RAUSH
Figuratively speaking
Arthur Werner Figure Skating Conference