Tonya Matvienko confesses what she asked Svyatoslav Vakarchuk after her mother's death

Singer Tonya Matvienko has recently presented a new video work to the audience - a cover of the song "Friend" by Okean Elzy. The artist told us about the circumstances under which she received permission for the work and what Svyatoslav Vakarchuk said when the video was released.

"It all happened relatively spontaneously," Tonya recalls the beginning of the collaboration in an interview with OBOZ.UA. "A few days after my mother passed away, I sat down to look through messages of support in messengers. One of them was from Sviatoslav. Of course, I thanked him and at the same time asked if Sviatoslav could give me a song. The answer was yes, he just asked: "Which one?" You already know which one I chose. I am very grateful for the opportunity to present my interpretation of the legendary hit."

When asked if the work was dedicated to her husband, singer Arsen Mirzoyan, Tonya replied: "To be honest, I didn't dedicate it to anyone, I just re-sang it. And Arsen is not my friend, he is my beloved husband. And this song is about the fact that you can't be in a relationship with a friend to whom you didn't confess your feelings at the time. This work can be dedicated to our defenders - they are our true friends! That's why I invited a military man, Andriy Maksymchuk with the call sign Batman, not an actor or model, to be the main character of the video. He is truly a hero of our time."

"We did not consult with Svyatoslav while working on the track. He heard my version on the day of the premiere and sent me a message with the text "well done" and blue and yellow hearts. By the way, the team worked on the sound with Ivan Klymenko. He is the author of the song "Stefania", with which Kalush Orchestra won the Eurovision Song Contest 2022, and also wrote "Teresa & Maria", with which Alyona Alyona and Jerry Heil performed triumphantly in Malmö this year," the singer added.

Since the beginning of the year, the singer has had another song premiere: "In March, I presented the song 'You Are Me', which I dedicated to my mother. The song is about the fact that we are all a continuation of our family. We may not even look like our parents, but our habits, voice, movements - all of this is very recognizable."

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