Elena Vaenga Fulfils 15-Year Dream by Singing in Tbilisi

On September 16, talented Elena Vaenga sang for Tbilisi. The Russian singer, songwriter and actress, named one of the best singers in her homeland, presented to the Georgian audience a show that needed no marketing to draw a crowd.

With her verses, humor, drama, and richness of musical palette, Elena surpasses the pop-music genre. Indeed, her repertoire was quite varied at her Tbilisi concert, though the theme of love prevailed. One song in particular, about a mother’s love for her son, struck a chord with many a Georgian mother in the hall.

39-year-old Elena proved to be exceptionally communicative, full of humor and self-irony between songs, confiding with the audience that she’d been dreaming of coming to Tbilisi for 15 years: “I was born on the 27th of January, when St. Nino the enlightener of Georgia was born. You are a great nation!”

Elena says she appeared on the Russian stage by stealth, using her musical and artistic talent and quick wit. She also mentioned that she is often told not to express her position. “But I am a citizen and a mother. I will propagate love and friendship at the very least through my songs. I am happy to have performed with musicians from Belarus, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan.” She then introduced Achi Purtseladz as her new Georgian singing partner after which they sang a duo with motifs from ‘Mimino,’ a well-known Georgian-Russian film.

“I am happy that I am Russian when I look at Elena!” said overwhelmed audience member Irina Lanevskaia after the show, a Russian woman who was born in Tbilisi. Such Georgian-born Russians were in abundance in the hall that night.

Maka Lomadze