Ours in the USA: Oksana Dudko - about working with Enrique Iglesias and Scorpions and the plight of world stars

Oksana Dudko, co-founder of FTI Agency, has been involved in the concert business for 17 years. During this time, she managed to organize performances and tours of leading world stars in different countries, to become the creator of the Ukrainian festival, which fell into the Guinness Book of Records, and to ensure that rare Ukrainian paintings were included in the UNESCO heritage. Oksana said in an interview with Forum Daily about how difficult it is to work with celebrities, what surprises can lie in wait when organizing concerts, and what caused the vagaries of stars.

Photo from Oksana Dudko’s personal archive

Oksana Dudko has been organizing concerts and festivals in the literal sense of the word since childhood - when she helped her father in the family business as a child in the 90s.

«I remember how in the third grade of the school I painted tickets by hand, indicating the row and place. We were the first company to issue color tickets.", Recalls Oksana.

The KonstantinD Concert Agency is 25 years old and specializes in organizing concerts in Europe. In the USA, 5 years ago, Oksana opened the FTI Agency in partnership with Emilia Kravtsova.

«We bring Ukrainian, Russian and European stars to the United States, and also organize concerts of foreign performers in Ukraine“, - explained Oksana.

Oksana has repeatedly worked with Deep Purple, Scorpions, Robert Plant, Enrique Iglesias, Gary Moore, John Lord, Evanescence, Hurts, Guano Apes, Lacuna Coil, One Republic and other sizes of the world music market. Oksana Dudko admits: for many years of work she had to deal with contingency situations, and the agency sometimes had to find a way out in the most extreme circumstances.

Fire and flood

According to Oksana, certain problems may arise more likely due to the unprofessionalism of the artist’s staff than his personal egocentric inclinations.

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«This may seem paradoxical, but the more worldwide popularity a performer has, the simpler he is as a person and the easier it is to work with him in practice. And vice versa, lesser-known artists can sometimes be capricious and do not understand what financial losses a promoter may incur because of their whims,” Oksana shares her business secrets. — For example, it’s much easier for me to work with world stars such as Enrique Iglesias, eg. The fact is that the main work is to approve all issues “ashore” with the artist's team: agents, tour managers, production managers, technical staff, musicians, etc. The "big stars" is a big staff, but, as a rule, it consists of a high level of professionals. The most important thing is to stipulate all conditions in advance. As a rule, if you subsequently clearly comply with all agreements, there will be no complaints against you».

Photo from Oksana Dudko’s personal archive

Of course, the work is not complete without unforeseen circumstances. For example, in 2010, in the middle of a concert of one of the Russian performers organized by Oksana Dudko and her company, a fire broke out in the hall.

«The building lacked a high-quality fire safety system, and when after 15 minutes it still turned on, rusty water poured on everyone. Given that there were about 40 people on the stage at that moment, evacuating people was also quite difficult. But, fortunately, there were no casualties“- says Oksana.

By the way, it was this incident that caused the installation of a modern fire safety system in the aforementioned hall.

«The same rusty water poured on the Steinwya piano and the whole hall, which influenced the overall acoustics, and the next day there was a concert Gary moore. As a result, it took almost 10 years to repair this piano. After some time, we did a concert Denis Matsuevwho prefers to play only on Steinway. It turned out that the last two keys are still down, which, of course, upset the artist. Fortunately, the piano has now been repaired. In general, I am pleased to observe that in recent years the level of the music market in post-Soviet countries begins to grow and approach the western one, although at the same time Ukraine still lacks modern concert venues", - remarks Oksana Dudko.

Photo from Oksana Dudko’s personal archive

Enrique Iglesias concert in 2007 was not without stress

«Trucks with sound and lighting equipment that were being transported from Moscow were stuck at the border. This was due to the fault of the border guards and the carrier company, but this did not make it any easier for us. They should have arrived in Kiev already at 8 am on the day of the concert, but instead arrived at 5 or 6 pm. The concert was delayed for 2 hours, and we were saved only by the fact that Enrique himself was exactly the same late. Then the tour manager told us that if the artist arrived on time and the site was not ready, he would just turn around and leave. Fortunately we are lucky", Recalls Oksana.

Scorpions in the rain and the vagaries of artists

Over all these years, the agency has worked with a huge number of talented people, such as “Bi-2”, “Time Machine”, DDT, “Leningrad”, “Mumiy Troll”, “Splin”, “Okean Elzy”, Valery Meladze, Zemfira, Lenkom Theater and others. However, Oksana calls her most important creation the music festival created and held by her agency in Ukraine in 2012-2013.

TheBestCity.UA Festival. Photo from Oksana Dudko’s personal archive

«This was the first festival of this level in Ukraine. Three days, 4 scenes, 77 groups from Europe, America, Russia and Ukraine, a huge tent city. We deliberately set a goal to make a large-scale event at the level of Europe and the USA. Our goal was to attract a stream of tourists from Europe, as the Sziget festival in Budapest has been attracting for many years. In the first year, about 40 thousand people arrived, in the second - about 70. The last day of the second festival in 2013 was closed by the performance of the group Scorpions. And just before they left, a terrible downpour with gale-force winds began. We were afraid that the artists would simply refuse to perform in such conditions, especially since the group’s manager has always been highly demanding. However, the Scorpions said: “What makes you think we might not come out? Are we really going to be afraid of some rain?” - Oksana said.

“As a result, the performance in the rain went just fine. The spectators were happy, the wind died down, and people ran straight through the puddles, enjoying the long-awaited coolness. The festival was a great success"- Oksana shares.

According to her, this story is quite revealing. Often, what is mistaken for the "whims of the artist", in practice, turns out to be only the demands of managers.

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«Of course, there are vagaries when, for example, artists are asked to change an already approved hotel or restaurant. But it is important to distinguish whims and requirements. There are riders of artists, where each item is registered, down to the brand of tea and the number of towels. It is important not to forget that artists spend most of their time on the road, and therefore they perceive hotels, planes, trains and cars not as transport, but as a house. It is important for them to feel comfortable. For example, one of the artists asked for the presence of black curtains in the hotel, because he needed to sleep off in the daytime. We could not find such a hotel in the city, and we had to seal the windows in the room ourselves. However, his demand was understandable: after a long journey, the artist needed to sleep at least a few hours“, Explains Oksana Dudko.

Photo from Oksana Dudko’s personal archive

Sometimes the organizers of the concerts had to equip and build dressing rooms themselves next to the existing locker rooms, most often in stadiums. So, for example, it was in the Dnieper before the concert Julio Iglesias.

«The locker room in the local Sports Palace clearly did not correspond to its level, and we had to build a dressing room ourselves. The training of hockey players on the eve ended at 11 pm, after which I and the designers settled there for the night. Construction lasted until 6 in the morning. Fortunately, in the morning I was replaced by colleagues for a couple of hours, but then I still returned to the site. But we set a record for working without sleep at the second festival in 2013: we did not sleep for two and a half days - not a minute in 60 hours", Oksana admits.

Ukrainian history and culture

The second festival was a truly grand event, and not only a musical one.

«I am glad that my ideas were realized at the festival. So, at the festival, the reconstruction of the Battle of Khotyn in 1621 took place with the participation of more than 200 Zaporizhzhya Cossacks, 16 horses, 25 guns and 2 real Cossack boats - “The Seagull”. Also, a biker rally was held at the festival, and we even got into the Guinness Book of Records thanks to the longest motorcycle convoy in Ukraine that arrived at this rally. In Dnepropetrovsk that day drove 1 bikers. Also, Ukraine became famous thanks to the nomination for the European Festival Awards - a special award for festivals in Europe. Not without sports - the Ukrainian championship on wakeboarding was also held on the territory of the festival", - says Oksana.

Photo from Oksana Dudko’s personal archive

Near the Dnieper - by the way, Oksana’s hometown - the village of Petrikovka is located. It was there that the famous Petrikovskaya painting was born, which became famous largely thanks to the initiative of Oksana Dudko.

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«Thanks to the help of caring people, including those from the local city council, we were able to ensure that Petrikovka was included in UNESCO's “intangible heritage of mankind” list. Now followers of Petrikov painting have already appeared“- says Oksana.

In the United States, Oksana Dudko organizes not only concerts, but also other significant events. For example, the FTI Agency organized the visit to the United States of representatives of the Russian organization Business Youth, which created a large business development community with trainings and lectures.

Photo from Oksana Dudko’s personal archive

«Unfortunately, viewers do not always understand why the cost of tickets for concerts of Russian-speaking artists is sometimes so high. The price includes airfare, transportation of decorations, equipment, visa costs, etc. This fall we did an American tour for the second time. Lara Fabian. In Los Angeles, the concert was held at the very Dolby Theater, where the Oscars were awarded. And how surprising it was for me, when the general manager of the theater, Mr. Thomas, said that he loved Russian-speaking artists and was waiting for me to bring him to him. Philip Kirkorov. It was really funny. By the way, Thomas received as many as 19 Oscars at his theater, not missing a single ceremony from the moment the award moved to the Dolby Theater. This is cool", - summarizes Oksana.

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