March 20, 2006
Kiev, Ukraine, KNUKiM
Translated by beilie

Report about press conference
in Kiev National University of the Culture and Fine Arts

On March, 20, 2006 in the Kiev National University of Culture and Fine Arts the unprecedented action took place; it generated considerable public excitement among students and an interest of mass-media. According to the decision of a Main Academic Council of University Thomas Anders was conferred the rank of an honorable professor of the pop-vocal chair.

The press-conference, devoted to this event, was held in the University building. A half of an hour before the event the conference-hall began to be filled with students, who’s wish was to see “in life” a mega-star, honored their alma-mater with his presence. The audience was much more abundant than the capacity of the hall. In a short time all rows and stairs were crowded.

The enterprising organizers distributed among the people the bills of the concert “To Kievers with love!” and told everyone to swing them during the press-conference. However, most of girls immediately concealed them in their bags – probably, for the future generations; but the rejoicing after the appearance of the main participants, Thomas and the University’s rector Mikhail Poplavsky, was truly loud and sincere.

After the long ovation Thomas and the “singing rector” took their seats on a specially prepared stage, and the conference has started.

Mikhail Poplavsky: Let me greet the soloist of the legendary band “Modern Talking” Thomas Anders!

Dear friends, you know that we had few concerts with the participation of our special guest Thomas Anders. Yesterday on the Maidan of Nezalezhnost, on the Revolutionary Square, Thomas Anders was a special guest of a concert “To Kievers with love!” We will start a few projects, one of them in Ukraine, and others are international. Today Thomas Anders conducted a master class for us and now we’re preparing a contract. According to it he will visit Ukraine and work with the students of pop-vocal chair. I’m very pleased that Thomas Anders comes to Ukraine as soon as being called; he comes to Kiev and Kiev University as his native university. We’re ready to answer your questions, so please ask!

As far as we know, today a special event will happen. It didn’t happen yet? Would it be a compensation for the disappointment, which Mr. Anders felt because of Eurovision? We know about it! (voices from the audience: “We don’t know anything! What kind of disappointment?”)

TA: So, thank you very much for the question. I’d say I’m not that disappointed because of my second place in the contest. So I was very-very happy about that and I did a great job there. You know, as for me, I always look forward. You can take your impressions from the past but always look forehead; you just have to do it because life is a one way street and you always look, what’s going on behind you, and you have to practice what you’ve learned from the past. This is my personal point of view - to look ahead of my life. But at first I’d like to say to you that I’m very-very happy about that and it is always really great to see how you like the music and react on the music. It was very interesting for me just to stay here; and you did this show for me. Thank you for that!

I have a question to Mr. Anders. In Germany a soundtrack to the biographical cartoon of Dieter Bohlen, your colleague, was put on sale. As far as I know, the third song of this soundtrack is the unreleased song of “Modern Talking”. But you didn’t sing it; it was cut from your previous songs. What do you think of it?

TA: Well, we have several songs from Modern Talking, which were not released yet, so what he did is just put this song on sale for marketing reasons. He could do it, right?

No, that’s not true, it’s not made of particular songs; it was a song where the chorus was completely different, and the chorus of that song was sung by the back-vocalists. I didn’t do that. So, originally that was another song, and he put different verses and different chorus in it. It is not made of different pieces; that’s not true.

You have experienced singing duets with American singers, such as Glenn Medeiros, Pointer Sisters, The Three Degrees. Why don’t you sing duets with German singers? If, for example, Nina Hagen would propose you singing a duet, would you reject it or agree?

TA: You know, it’s really hard to say, because I know Nina Hagen personally and she is a very-very nice person. And well, a bit crazy at all. So we had several TV shows together and I remember the last show we had together few years ago, and we just saw each other behind the scenes, and she came to me and gave me a heart and said "Babe, Thomas, I would like to have a baby with you!"

So maybe this could be really a very interesting combination! But anyway just to answer seriously. What projects I did at the moment, - it’s not the fact that I was looking especially for American singers; it just happened because of the connection of the producers or just because we met each other at the party, whatever. So it was not the way that I was looking for a special duet partner. But anyway everything is open and maybe one day I will sing with Nina!

A question to Mikhail Mikhailovich: what does it mean – to appoint Thomas Anders as an honorable professor of the University? Does it mean that he’ll become a member of the official lecturers’ staff, and he’ll get the salary? (laughter in the audience) Or is it based on friendly relationship?

MP: Maybe, we’re running ahead, but I’d like to say that we’re preparing a contract for Thomas to come and conduct master classes. He’ll not be in staff – ‘cause our salary is... you know... I suppose that one of his concerts costs more than a year’s salary of our professor! That’s why we agreed upon the point that Thomas will become an honorable professor and will conduct master classes; he’ll become a friend of our University of Culture. And we’re much honored by it!

At first, I’d like to thank you for a wonderful new album; it’s a real holiday for all your true fans! We were waiting for such an album for 12 years, and we really like it. We’d like to know, will you sing songs from your new album during the tours, and when can we expect to have your tour in Kiev with your solo-concerts? And one more question: are you planning to publish the concert recordings of this album on DVD?

TA: First of all we’re ready for the shows in Ukraine that will meet the end of April or May. I will be here touring. And you know what I’m always doing when I have a new album. I make a mixture in the show because for me it’s very important that the people who come to my shows would feel very comfortable, and they have a right to listen to the old hits, the big hits from “Modern Talking”. And I do a mixture of some new songs and some very big hits so the concert would be around one and half, more than one and half hour, so there is enough time to create a special show with new songs and some old songs that I’m singing for more than twenty two years. So I have a lot of songs which I can take and sing to the public.

First of all I’m planning a movie DVD, which is coming out in two or three months. It’s a DVD with all my music, Thomas Anders’ solo music, solo videos and a part of new album which was recorded live last weekend in the Cologne. But what I want to do in September, I’m going to make the complete album “Songs Forever” with the philharmonic orchestra in Germany. We’ll do it with a big orchestra, 60-65 people, and we’ll do the complete album live. And it would be a live DVD and hopefully it would be released in Christmas season.

How do you think, what factors are important as a foundation for the relations of an artist and a producer, and what is necessary for their successful collaboration? How do the subjective factors, such as relationship between relatives, influence the relations of an artist and a producer?

TA: I’m very lucky that I’m in the situation that I can choose my own producer. I’m in my own producing. So this work is very-very personal. On the way I take my producer when I think he is the right person and he can build my ideas in the right music; so this is very-very personal. For the last album I have three producers: this is Peter Ries from Frankfurt, Achim Brochhausen and me. I’m an executive producer and I take care about everything because I just want to have an album exactly like I had it in mind. But I need the people just to build it up, music-wise people. And it’s always very-very important to have good relations or to have a good feeling towards your producer, because if you’re in the studio and you have to give all your feelings and all emotions to the music, and if you hate your producer, you just can go on and leave. But than you have to choose another one! So this is a very-very personal working.

And what about family relations?

TA: Oh, you know, I never had this. It’s possible, and there’re lots of very successful teams where the husband is a producer and the wife is a singer, whatever. There’re very happy teams. For example, Gloria Estefan. Her husband was a producer, and they reminded me a song machine, so it works. You can just put a special mood there; it may work or not. You can get very close to your producer and that makes no difference if he’s a relative or just a person you booked for the short term job.

MP: You know, the most important matter of our today’s meeting with Thomas Anders is this: according to the decision of the Main Academic Council, we’re awarding a legendary soloist of “Modern Talking” Thomas Anders with an academic status “A Honorable Professor of Kiev’s National University of Culture and Fine Arts”. Applaud, please!

Thomas Anders was presented with a certificate, attesting his appointment, to the accompaniment of loud cheers and deafening rumble of “YMHYMS”. And then the girls helped him to put on a professor’s velvet mantle and erected a professor’s square hat on his head; its tassel continuously tried to hit a newly-made professor’s eye. Then a new portion of wild students’ rejoicing has followed, which amused much a “singing rector”. And finally Thomas has got an opportunity to say an answering word:

TA: I feel very-very honored and I would like to say “Thank you very much!” to Mr. Poplavsky, and “Thank you very much!” for all of you. So I’m very honored to be a professor, and my wife is a bit afraid what’s going on now for the next. But thank you very much, and I’m pretty sure that we’ll have a great time and we’ll see each other. Maybe, I’ll give you some lessons and teach you something that I learned from entertainment business, what is in my mind. And it’s very-very important for me to ask - do I get a secretary now here in university or not? Thank you!

MP: I think we have enough beautiful girls, and, probably, you’ll have a referent instead of secretary. We’ll open Thomas Anders’ office in the Kiev’s University of Culture!

So, that was the end of press-conference, and the excited girls, breaking up, told their friends with delight: “Can you imagine? He passed me by just like this, at arm’s length...!” We can only be glad for the sake of the students of the University of Culture, who will be lucky to be apprenticed to Thomas and to communicate with him during the master classes.

Photoalbum