An odd name for the title to a blog post concerning the Isaan region of Thailand, is it not?

The name belongs to a Russian (Latvian) singer who is not only popular not only there, but even in China. He was, I read, the only outsider to sing in the 10-day Olympic Countdown Show in
Beijing, China, on July 29, 2008.

He’s best known as Vitas — I take it that this is his stage name.

I “discovered” him in a video performance about 10 years ago when I was exploring Russian pop music on the Web due to a fascination I had with Alsou, and also with the duo VIA GRA (they are now a trio, only one of whom is one of the originals).

I’ve never found an explanation of what the video is depicting, nor even where it was supposed to be taking place. But if it is not located in Thailand, then I’ve been deluding myself all this time.

The guy’s voice is striking! And as you will see in the video I’ve embedded below, the whole scene gives his character what is truly an “other-worldly” feeling.

Soon after I first stumbled across the above video, I came upon another in which he performed a very similar-sounding song, but with an entirely different setting and character.

And his character was every bit as unnatural.

This time, he was some sort of amphibious being, living a solitary and lonely existence in — quite possibly — very cold Russia.

Incidentally, this is the song her performed in that pre-Olympics Countdown show in Beijing that I mentioned at outset. And I’m including the video just to have a comparison with the first.

Vitas–Opera 2 – Watch more Funny Videos

If you read this next article about the state of Thailand’s sex trade in the wake of the recent ‘Red Shirts’ upheaval in Bangkok, please be sure to read the comments to it! This was the whole purpose for me including the piece.

Related articles by Zemanta

• What happens to Thailand’s sex tourism during the riots? (slate.com)

Related Blogs

• Vitas World Tour China 2009 Opera #1 Shanghai | The Traveler
• In Russia They Have Vitas – The Star! « Russian Video From Russia
• Vitas – o noua pasiune « Deviant and Decadent

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 5th, 2010 at 12:39 pm and is filed under Music, Video. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.