Svetlana Khorkina has participated in several Russian TV shows since her retirement from the sport (and in some while she was still competing). She was on the Russian version of Dancing with the Stars and Circus with the Stars and last week she was revealed to be a contestant on the Russian version of The Masked Singer.
This is not the first time she tried singing. Khorkina briefly tried launching a singing career shortly after her retirement. That didn’t work out so well but she released an album. Khorkina wore the costume of Black Panther and participated alongside such characters as Penguin, Banana, Llama, and Nevalyashka Doll.
It is important to note that Khorkina is likely not aware of the English-language connotations of Black Panther and its connection to the Black Lives Matter movement in the U.S. In Russia, traditionally, the most common cultural association with the words “black panther” was Bagheera from The Jungle Book and it has connotations of power, beauty, and feminine grace (Bagheera is female in the Russian translations on The Jungle Book). This is likely where Khorkina’s character was drawn from.
Khorkina lasted two episodes and was the first contestant to be eliminated.
But, of course, in her book, this was equivalent to winning the whole show. In the post-episode interview to Teleprogramma, she claimed as much.
Q: Svetlana, what do you think about your participation?
A: Of course, my emotions are enormous. I felt great joy from working with amazing experts and I’m in awe of everyone who’s creating the costumes. And, using this occasion, I want to thank the girls who made this amazing costume for me. In my opinion, it’s the best one. It looked so good on me, it matched my personality. So, thanks to all the seamstresses. Thanks to the people I worked with in the [recording] studio, they are amazing talented and professional people. And thanks to everyone who helped us on stage, who met us there. To the choreographer who choreographed the dances. Everyone did a good job and they’re great professionals. I’m very happy that I had this opportunity to meet everyone, I’m sure it was not for nothing. Perhaps, we’ll meet again and will do something useful for our fans. Or, perhaps, for ourselves, in accomplishing some of our own plans.
Q: Were you upset that you left the show so early?
A: No, I was not upset one bit about leaving. First, I have to say that I’ve already won this show. Why? Because they didn’t guess [my identity] correctly. So, it’s my victory and the victory of all the people who created my character and who chose the songs that I sang. So, all in all, honestly, I think I won. And, of course, I participated in this project in the time I had free from work. I have a job and a young child and, of course, it was very hard to do it all. So, I have more time now, I’m freer. Now I’ll focus on my family, work, and the community projects I’m organizing. Including the national competition that will take place in Belgorod the 22nd time already and the whole country will come. There’s a lot of work and no time to get upset because I have many plans.
Q: What would you like to tell the judges [of the show]?
A: I want to wish the judges discuss the participants and joke about them in the most interesting and fun way, when guessing their identities. From the contestant’s point of view, I want no identities to be guessed correctly, Because the costumes are so interesting and everyone working on the project tries so hard to ensure that the judges don’t guess anyone’s identity right. Anyone. Of course, I want to wish everyone success!
Q: How was it to be in the costume and to sing?
A: The costumes are not easy. It’s, let’s say, warm inside and, sometimes, even hot and stuffy. But I had an amazing costume, pretty and comfortable. Of course, I couldn’t see much, the field of view was small from inside the costume and the main goal was to “survive”. If not for those factors, it would have been possible to make the performances more interesting and risky. Overall, it was interesting to sing and to spy on the reactions of the judges and spectators through a small hole.
Q: Do you know who are the people hiding behind other costumes?
A: I can only guess who’s hiding behind other masks based on what I’ve seen in the first episode. Because I haven’t met them on the project and definitely don’t know who’s there. If I’ll be able to keep watching the show, I hope that my guesses will turn out right.
Q: Do your family members watch the show and did they guess that you were on it?
A: My mom watches the show from the first episode of the first season. I only tuned in closer to the final and, honestly, this show drew me in and intrigued me right away. Somewhere deep inside, I thought that it would be great if I was invited to be on the second season. And, as you see, dreams come true. My family members, of course, are watching the show, especially my mom. And she will be shocked when she sees that her daughter was behind the Black Panther mask. The one who told her she came late because she got held up at work or at a meeting with girlfriends. My reveal will be a big surprise for my loved ones.
Q: Which of the remaining contestants will you cheer for?
A: Honestly, I don’t know yet which contestant I’ll cheer for, I haven’t decided yet. But I will definitely choose one. I’ll watch the show closely and choose the favorite I’ll cheer for.
In an interview to Starhit, Khorkina said that taking part in TV contests reminds her of gymnastics competitions but no judges can be as strict as gymnastics judges.
Q: Did you agree to participate in The Masked Singer right away?
A: I enjoyed participating in the NTV’s show The Masked Singer a lot. Because, first of all, I love singing, second, it was really interesting to see if they’d guess my identity or not, and third, any transformation is interesting. I’m a creative person and I can honestly say that I like the stage. When I was a competitive athlete, I always felt enormously happy when I entered the competition floor. Because I stepped towards my fans, the spectators, and there were many of them, thousands. You could say that the participation in The Masked Singer, the on-stage performance, reminded me those feelings of happiness and excitement that I felt when I entered the Olympic competition floors.
Q: Which of the judges on this season seemed the strictest to you?
A: If I compare the judges on The Masked Singer with my sports career and the artistic gymnastics judges, they are incomparable. You know, after my sports career, during which I always had questions to our judges which judges the competitions and me and, sometimes, gave unfair scores. But the thing about The Masked Singer is that it’s a show, first of all, and not a competition. How interesting can be a discussion about a masked character depends on the skills of the judging panel. So, I didn’t pay attention to them being strict or not. Believe me, after the sport, no judging panel seems strict to me; on the contrary, it seemed fun and interesting and I liked listening to their discussions.
Q: How long did you rehearse for your performance on the second episode? What was harder – to sing that song, to be on stage in the costume or to listing to the judges’ criticism?
A: I think it was easier for me than for the rest of the contestants, considering that I have a huge among of international gymnastics experience. I don’t know who’s hiding behind the masks and I can only guess but I think I was the most prepared in terms of fitness. It’s not hard for me at all to learn the choreography. So, it was just interesting and exciting for me, nothing difficult.
Q: Did your loved ones secretly know what character you would be on the show or it was a surprise for them as well?
A: All contestants signed a certain document about preserving the secret of their transformation. That is, we were not allowed to tell anyone about our participation in The Masked Singer. It wasn’t my first time signing such documents, so I understand how serious it is. So, even for the loved ones, it will be interesting that the person living with them was able to create the intrigue so masterfully. It’s a great opportunity to make such a big surprise for them when the mask will be taken off and they will see their loved one on TV. That’s the whole point of the show – the secret. The maximum secrecy is created in order for it to be a surprise for the spectators. So, because of that, of course, I didn’t tell anything to anyone. It was always hard when I needed to go to rehearsals or filming. They lasted till late and I had to tell something interesting to my family. I would tell that I stayed late with my girlfriends or that I had to stay late at work. So, it’s funny but the main thing is that I didn’t break the secrecy. And now that my secret’s been revealed, I can’t wait for the reaction of my loves ones.
Khorkina is not the first gymnast to participate in one of the versions of this show. For example, last year, Sandra Isbasa was on the Romanian version of The Masked Singer as an Alien.
Gabby Douglas participated in a spin-off of the show – The Masked Dancer – as Cotton Candy and won the show last week.
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