Биография Аллы Пугачевой из специального "Пресс-пакета" для конкурса "Евровидение 97".

Alla Pugacheva was born on April 15, 1949, in Moscow.

She started taking piano lessons when she was five and got her choirmaster`s degree from the Ippolitov School of Music at the age of twenty. Her first concerts as a singer began in her second year at school. Soon afterwards, she recorded her first songs for radio, then the most popular medium in the country. These songs quickly became hits.

As a student, Alla tours Western Siberia with a team of performers assembled by the radio station where her first recordings had been made. After graduating she teaches music and directs concerts in a circus school. She also sings professionally for the Lipetsk Philharmonic.
Her daughter, Kristina, is born on May 25, 1971.

In 1972 and 1973, she sings in Oleg Lundstrem`s band.

In October 1974 she wins the USSR Annual Singer`s Award, and soon afterwards becomes the lead singer in Merry Boys, then the number one band in the Soviet Union.

Next comes Golden Orpheus, Eastern Europe`s version of the Emmies. There, she performs the now legendary Arleccino, a song set to lyrics by an obscure Bulgarian poet, wins the Grand Prix and skyrockets to Soviet stardom.

In 1976, she goes back to school and studies stage directing at the Institute of Theatre Art. In 1978 she wins yet another Grand Prix, this time in Poland`s Sopot, and tries out as a movie actress in the musical Woman Who Sings. The role lands her the title of best actress. She writes all the music for the film herself.

In June, 1982 she takes Paris by storm with her Monologues de cantatrice in the famous Olympia.

In 1983 she wins the hearts of millions of Swedes and Finns, a feat unparalleled by a Soviet performer before or since, and release a hugely popular solo album in Scandinavia.

In 1985, she completes her second motion picture, the musical I`m Here Talking. Again she writer all the songs for the film herself.

In 1986, she produces the supershow Account 904, with all proceeds going to Chernobyl victims.

After a million bureaucratic slings and arrows, she finally open the first Soviet shoe business company in 1988; her Theatre of Song, as she called it, quickly attracts the country`s top stars.
That year, Pugacheva produces grandiose Christmas concert in Moscow. She will stage these productions for several years to come, and they will become the top musical event in the country.

At the and of 1991, days before the collapse of his empire, Mikhail Gorbachev awards her the title of People`s Artist of the USSR.

In 1992 Pugacheva releases Alla, the perfume, and Alla, the magazine.

In the summer of 1995 she stopped appearing live. Last spring. However, she promised to keep singing at least until the end of the century - and was immediately nominated to represent Russia in Dublin`s Eurovision 1997.

Discography
Mirror of the Soul (2LP`s) 1977
Arleccino and Other Hits 1977
Wait Till You See What Happens Next 1980
Rise Above The Everyday 1980
Full of Dangers is This Way (2LP`s) 1982
Wath Out! Alla Pugacheva in Stockgolm 1986
I`m Here Talking 1987
Alla 1990
Christmas Encounters (2LP`s) 1991
Christmas Encounters (2LP`s) 1992
Gentelmen, Don`t Couse Me Pain 1995
Alla Pugacheva Collection (13 CD`s) 1996

Her songs had also been released in Bulgaria, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Sweden, Finland, Italy, Germany, China, Japan and Australia. In all, more than 150 million records sold.