Thousands of fans have stripped and thrown their clothes at Sergey Lazarev in the last six months. The 21-year-old is one half of the latest Russian pop sensation SMASH!! - a new boy duo who have literally charmed the knickers off hordes of screaming fans at concerts in their home nation and in Eastern Europe. 'One of the funniest things that ever happened to me was when a fan wrote down all the lyrics to one of our songs on her underwear and gave them to me,' says Lazarev who spoke to SYP on the phone from Moscow recently. 'At the concerts they throw their clothes on the stage. It's just girls having fun and I believe everyone should be able to do what they want and express themselves.' Lazarev and his bandmate Vlad Topalov, 18, will be visiting Hong Kong for the first time in August, on a mission to win new admirers. Their first album Freeway, a best-seller in Russia, was released in February this year and their style has been compared to '80s band Wham! 'Freeway contains a lot of different styles and I think Hong Kong fans will be surprised by our sound,' says Lazarev. 'It is not heavily romantic like Westlife or Take That. It isn't ballads for crying girls. It is modern, fun and energetic. 'Our music is very professional and honest. It comes from the heart and soul, and this is the secret to winning new fans. I imagine our Hong Kong fans to be fun-loving, modern and young like us. It doesn't matter which country it is, all fans appreciate honesty and sincerity.' The pair have been friends since they were children and started in show business early when they teamed up with Julia Volkova and Lena Katina (now famous as female act t.A.T.u) in teeny band Neposedi. 'We were kids but it was still professional. It was kind of like the Mickey Mouse Club you see on television. We performed songs for kids,' says Lazarev who denies speculation that Volkova is his girlfriend. 'She is a very close friend. She is more like my sister. I like her a lot,' he says. His philosophy on girlfriends is to seek a likeminded person. 'Choosing your second part can be difficult. But the main thing is to find a person who shares common interests. I expect in the future I will find a girlfriend who is also an artist.' Most of Lazarev's time is spent with his friend and bandmate Topalov. 'He is like my cousin and we have been friends since childhood. We met when I was 11. We have a lot of common interests. We both like meeting different people and travelling around the world for our job.' Globetrotting is one of the perks of being a famous singer says Lazarev. 'Getting to visit other countries is one of the main reasons why I wanted to be a musician.' To find out more about SMASH!! send an e-mail to hkintl.info@umusic.com
