Shark feather

The idea of ​​creating a talk show belongs to Ivan Demidov . The name of the program is borrowed from the ironic vocabulary of I. Ilf and E. Petrov . The host of the new music talk show was Ilya Legostaev , who at that time worked as a columnist for the Music Track of the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper and as a correspondent for the MuzOboz television program on Channel One . The idea of ​​the program was as follows: the figures of Russian show business, pop and rock performers were invited to the studio, who were to parry sharp and tricky questions from novice journalists from various little-known publications ^[6] . The distance between the guest and the journalists in the studio was almost equal to the distance of an outstretched hand, which nullified any attempts to evade the answer. The guests of the program were pop singers ( Philip Kirkorov , Alyona Apina , Boris Moiseev , Masha Rasputin , etc.), rock musicians ( Konstantin Kinchev , the Spleen group , Boris Grebenshchikov , etc.), representatives of new musical movements ( Igor Shulinsky, DJ Grove , Ivan Salmaksov), producers ( Boris Zosimov ) ^[7] , as well as non-musical show business figures ( Leonid Yakubovich , Ivan Demidov).

“Sharks of a feather” was also hosted by foreign artists ( Ace of Base , Vanessa May and Pet Shop Boys ). Sometimes in the program the heading “Opinion” appeared, in which ordinary passers-by on the street or famous music critics expressed their views on the artist’s work. There were cases when students of the journalism department of Moscow State University came to the regulars of the program and “rummaged in the dirty linen” of the artists.

The program was low budget, none of the journalists who participated in the program received a salary ^[8] . The shooting took place in a cramped studio, with almost no scenery. A distinctive feature of the talk show was that it was completely built due to the enthusiasm of journalists, each of which was assigned its own specific role. Some of them were interested in the artistic component of the guest’s work, assessed the quality of the works, while others preferred to discuss near-musical issues, secular and personal life.

The main task of the journalists was to bring out unsightly facts or conjectures, provoke the artist and create an unusual situation. The scandal was a necessary part of the program. So, for example, Natalia Medvedeva completely went off the air, and Boris Moiseev succumbed to the provocation and did not miss the chance to attack the journalists ^[9] . Thus, the TV show “Sharks of the Pen” forced viewers to reconsider their attitude to idols or vice versa - to make sure of their honesty and decency.

“The bet was made on young people who were quite frostbitten. Gained - I will say softly - people who are ready to be freaks . It was almost all the same to their journalistic professional suitability - in the literal sense of the word; the criterion was rather their willingness to tear, ask uncomfortable things. "

- Ivan Demidov ^[10]

Issue with Alexander Novikov

In March 1996, the guest of the program was Soviet and Russian author-performer Alexander Novikov . The issue became known for the outbreak of scandal between the singer and Otar Kushanashvili . The reason for the verbal skirmish was a letter from a journalist in which he tells the singer that he is ready to write a laudatory article about him for a certain amount. This letter was quoted by the singer on air in response to attacks from the journalist. The incident provoked a stormy reaction from the media , and also secured the status of one of the most scandalous telecasts on Russian television for Sharks of the Pen.

In addition, after some time, Novikov admitted that he had to pay $ 2,500 to participate in the transfer, as “they did not want to invite for free” ^[11] .

The last six issues of the program were made in a narrow composition, many journalists gradually left the project. Among them was Otar Kushanashvili , who left the program shortly after the incident with Natalia Medvedeva . The purchase of TV-6 by Boris Berezovsky , the financial crisis , and the change in the policy of the television channel — all this contributed to the closure of many programs, including Sharks Pera ^[12] .

In 2009, the program was first restarted on the TV channel Jam. 7 programs were shot from December 2009 to April 2010, their heroes were Decl , Noggano , Roma Zver and others. Judging by the budget, the format of the shoots and the lack of a promotional campaign, the project did not imply the previous scale and never gained wide popularity. After the closing of “Sharks of the pen” on TV Jam, the channel launched the “Holivar” program with the same “Sharks” talk show format. Its leaders were the editor-in-chief of the Zvuki.ru portal Sonya Sokolova and journalist Pavel Surkov. In 2012, “Feather Sharks” returned to TV Jam ^[13] , issues appeared with Artemy Troitsky , Zhenya Lyubich and rapper Smokey Mo ^[14] .

Replays of some broadcasts are still being released on the Nostalgia TV channel.

"Sharks of a pen" became one of the first talk show programs on Russian television. She went down in the history of Russian television as one of the top rated music television shows. The TV show made famous such novice journalists as Mikhail Margolis , Otar Kushanashvili , Alexey Ostudin , Sergey Sosedov ^[15] , Kapa (Kapitolina) Delovaya and others ^[16] . Many modern Russian television programs have inherited the scandal of the "Sharks of the Pen" and its provocative nature. "Sharks of a feather" is rightfully one of the symbols of the nineties in Russia, as well as one of the brightest and original phenomena of the heyday of Russian television .

Despite the high rating and the original idea of ​​the talk show , there is an opinion that television reporters often showed their incompetence, and when asking questions about their personal lives, questionable awareness based on rumors and gossip , and much less often on real facts .

Artemy Troitsky , music critic , rock journalist: “Of course, all this has a distant relationship with music journalism, but, excuse me, where does it come from, music? Command me to write about the polystylistic experiments by Apina and Allegrova ? Creative throwing by Lena Zosimova and the “Na-na” group ? Poetic revelations of Vlad Stashevsky ? .. ” ^[17]

Ilya Legostaev , host of the program: “Sharks of the Feather” is still, in my opinion, a show for people who loved music. Then music was a substance that interested everyone, everyone liked to cook in it. It was a general feeling of the country - although it was late, but we got into the last car of the train, which went in the right direction. Then the trailer was unfastened - but this is not our merit. ” ^[18]

Sergei Sosedov , a Russian music journalist and TV presenter: “Sharks of a Feather” gave us wings - it was they who opened me, Otar Kushanashvili , Ostudin , Kapu Delovaya , others ... ^[18]

• From October 20, 1997 to December 25, 1998, the political and political program Sharks of Politter was released on TV-6 with Alexei Govorukhin (in the first episodes) and Anastasia Popova (led later episodes). Guests of the program were such political figures as Vladimir Zhirinovsky , Galina Starovoitova, Lev Rokhlin , Gennady Zyuganov and others. The program was attended by Shark Pera journalists Sergey Sosedov and Maxim Reznik.
• In the programs " Once a week " and " OSP-studio " were shown parodies of "Sharks of a feather" (under the names "Tops of a feather" and "Piranha feathers, respectively).
• In one of the series of the television series “There was Love” ( Russia-1 , 2010 ), filmed based on the autobiography of the singer Valeria , an episode of the main character and husband-producer participating in the filming of the program “Piranha Show Business” is shown. The host of the program was played by Ilya Legostaev , and Sergey Sosedov , Alexey Ostudin , Mikhail Margolis and others were noted among the guests.

• Vartanov A.S. Actual problems of television creativity: On television scaffolds - Study Guide. - M .: KDU; Higher School, 2003. - S. 71-75
• The history of music media: "Sharks of the pen" // Poster. Wave
• The music program "Sharks of feather" will be aired again // lenta.ru, March 16, 2012
• "Program Guide" with Svetlana Sorokina. Shark feathers.
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