'Mr. Trololo' Reflects On His Internet Success: 'Pleased...But Not Surprised'

[Jefferson23]

** If you haven't had the pleasure of seeing this video, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. He is now 75
years old, and has acquired, finally, recognition, LOL

I think he seems like a dear man, I'm happy for him. Video at the link.(end)


By Claire Bigg

Until recently, Eduard Khil hardly ever ventured onto the Internet. Now the 75-year-old spends much of his time sifting through the avalanche of fan mail flooding his e-mail inbox.

Khil, a Brezhnev-era Russian crooner whose name had long since entered the pantheon of Soviet pop-star oblivion, is enjoying newfound fame, sparked when one of his old music clips went viral after being posted by an anonymous admirer on the video-sharing site YouTube. The 1976 clip features Khil, resplendent in a brown double-breasted jacket and heavily pomaded hair, grinning wildly as he lip-synchs -- often badly -- and strolls along a mustard-yellow background lined with metal gates.

But what makes the clip more of an oddity than the typical '70s video is the fact that, despite bearing the complicated title "I Am Very Happy Because I Am Finally Coming Home," the song has no lyrics. Instead, Khil hums, laughs, and belts out the melody in a long stream of la la la's -- a performance that has earned him the nickname "Mr. Trololo."

Asked to perform a few lines by telephone from his St. Petersburg flat nearly four decades later, it's safe to say he hasn't forgotten the words:

http://www.rferl.org/content/Mr_Trololo_Forgotten_Soviet_Crooner_Internet_Sensation_Eduard_Khil_Hill/1994535.html