Participants of the first "Star Factory" then and now: What the project graduates look like and what they do

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

When the first season of the Star Factory show was launched on television in 2002, it became a real event in the history of Russian show business. Before the eyes of the audience, new musical groups were born and new stars were lit up. The project graduates became members of the Fabrika and Roots groups, which toured for a long time. But at the moment, these groups no longer exist in the previous compositions. Some of the former manufacturers are engaged in successful solo activities, while others have long been forgotten …

The first line-up of the Fabrika group included Sati Kazanova, Irina Toneva, Alexandra Savelyeva and Maria Alalykina. But soon there were only 3 girls left in the group - in 2003 Maria left her, who preferred the realization of her family life to a musical career. She married a businessman, converted to Islam, which her husband professed, and changed her name to Maryam. The couple had a daughter, but their union soon fell apart - her husband left her for her close friend. After the divorce, Maryam disappeared from the field of view of fans for a long time. They say that today the 35-year-old Star Factory graduate is engaged in translations for Muslim websites.

One of the most mysterious participants in the project was called Yulia Buzhilova - an aspiring singer, whose success even Igor Matvienko did not doubt, planning to cooperate with her in the future. The girl was called the new Linda and compared to Renata Litvinova. They said that after the project, Channel One gave the aspiring singer a million rubles, but she herself denied this: “. After the end of the show, Yulia Buzhilova disappeared from the screens. Later it became known that she married a sound engineer and gave birth to a child. She did not manage to build a career as a pop star, but she did not leave her music lessons - in 2017, the singer took part in a concert dedicated to the 85th anniversary of composer Mikael Tariverdiev. In addition, she became a vocal teacher at the Igor Matvienko Music Academy.

Zhanna Cherukhina was called one of the most beautiful participants of the "Factory". Today her name is unlikely to be remembered even by the biggest fans of this project - the fact is that the girl left the show less than a month after the start. She was one of the few who initially did not dream of a musical career and was not eager to get to the finals at any cost - Zhanna came to the project, rather, out of curiosity and did not seriously plan to connect her life with show business. Therefore, in the future, her musical career did not work out. Jeanne got married and is raising a son.

But Anna Kulikova, although she did not become a star of the pop scene, did not leave her singing career - she continues to perform at national team concerts, in clubs and at city holidays. In 2015, the girl got married and gave birth to a daughter. In addition, she is trained as a linguist and teaches Spanish and English.

One of the most colorful participants in the "Factory" was Mikhail Grebenshchikov. Many were sure that the victory on the show would go to him, but in the end he took 3rd place, after the groups "Roots" and "Factory". What he has not done since then - performed on stage, worked as a radio host and DJ, participated in other television projects ("The Last Hero", "Ten Years Younger"). Now Grebenshchikov holds the position of creative producer of Alla Pugacheva's children's school for professional creative development. He is also an employee of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation.

The most successful was the creative fate of the members of the groups "Roots" and "Fabrika". The name of the winner of the first season, Pavel Artemyev, is still on everyone's lips, although he himself does not like to remember his participation in the show and in the group “Roots”, from which he left in 2010: “”. Today Pavel continues to study music, he has his own group "Artemiev". In addition, he starred in serials and appears on the theatrical stage - plays in performances of the Moscow Praktika Theater.

Alexander Astashenok left the group "Roots" after Pavel Artemiev. After that, he graduated from the acting department of GITIS, began performing on the theater stage and starring in films and TV shows. He did not leave music lessons and writes songs for films. The 36-year-old actor received recognition after his roles in the projects "Gift" and "Closed School". Back in 2002, he met Elena Vengrzhinovskaya, who was the concert director of the Korni group, and married her 2 years later. The couple are raising a daughter.

But Alexander Berdnikov and Alexey Kabanov are still touring, making up a trio with Dmitry Pakulichev. Alexander, following the traditions of his people, married a gypsy woman and is raising 4 children. In 2013, Alexey Kabanov also married, and the couple had a daughter.

Alexandra Savelyeva and Irina Toneva still perform in the Fabrika group. Savelyeva takes part in various TV shows - for example, "Ice Age", and also became a host at the "New Wave" festival. In 2010, Savelyeva married the famous actor Kirill Safonov. And Irina Toneva, in addition to participating in the group, starred in episodes of several films.

Sati Casanova became one of the most successful "manufacturers". After leaving the group in 2010, she took up a solo career, and since then has released new videos every year. In addition, she often appears in various television projects as a guest and presenter. In 2017, Casanova married Italian photographer Stefano Tiozzo.

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