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Here we have yet another (new to me) Russian pop star of note to obsess over. Polina Gagarina used to be in a band called Play Girls in the early 2000's. She went solo after that, signing a five-year contract in 2005 with the studio APC, owned by producer and composer, И. Крутому. Soon after she made a video for the song "Lullaby," and later that year Polina became the third place winner at the International Competition of Young Performers at the New Wave Festival (in Ukraine) with the songs "In the Front Room of My Light," "Je t`aime" and "Lullaby." Her latest, "Спектакль окончен," translates to "The Play Is Over" and someone has given her a sizable budget for videos, because it looks quite nice. Check the brand new Sergey Solodkii (who has worked with Russia and Ukraine's top stars of the moment) directed clip below.

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You know who is good? Russia's 5sta Family. I wrote about this chart-topping trio in 2010 but somehow missed this sweet song and clip from a few months ago called "Тук-Тук." The tune is beyond catchy and it has proved to be yet another hit for the act that appeals to young and old pop fans within Russia (and beyond) alike. The chorus of the song translates (roughly) to "And her heart is tap-tap-tap tapping, fast!/Yes, she looks into her eyes/No longer able to stop stop stop say to yourself/It is irrevocably in love/The heart is unlikely to deceive/And, as if she did not try to/Play hide and seek with fate/Lost and could not resist." Love the Bollywood India-meets-Russia look and feel of this video.

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OK it's the last 'Best Of 2011' post. Sure, I missed a few countries in the series (ran out of time) but I cannot leave out Russia, so here goes. So many big stars from Moscow dropped big budget clips last year, but let's focus on 3 slightly under the radar clips that are just fantastic this time. First up is a wild and joyous video full of Soviet-era iconography (and U.S.S.R techno cheerleaders!) from Disco Crash (Дискотека Авария). Their clip for "Нано Техно" (translates to "nano techno") is a must watch and a lot of fun. Next up is a promo from budding house/pop crossover singer Julia Lasker. Her promo for "Очень заводит меня" dropped in July and I still watch it weekly (it's like the Fast & Furious, Moscow edition, or something). Great song. Finally we have a video that is just gorgeous-looking from DJ Smash, "Rendez-Vous." Better than any Hollywood action film from 2011.

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Guess what Santa put under the tree for thousands of teenage American (yes, American) girls? A new Dima Bilan video! To be fair, they might be the most excited that Vampire Diaries star Ian Somerhalder (he was also in Lost) is in this video, which was filmed in Los Angeles a few months ago. But I'm excited by the great song and video. Say what you will about the former Eurovision winner from Russia, but the man knows how to make one hell of an entertaining promo (as we've seen before on this blog). Sex, violence and general James Bond-esque awesomeness below in this released-today clip for "Слепая любовь" (translates to "blind love").

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Trying to keep all the Christmas videos to December 24th and 25th, but here's just a teaser of the festive goodness coming soon. Russia's DJ Feel today released a nice-looking clip for his "Christmas Surround" and it may get you in the holiday spirit. So what's under the Christmas tree for DJ Feel and singer Anatoly Kontsevich? Oh, just four of the most beautiful Russian women ever seen in a snow globe come to life. It's all rather ridiculous yet awesome somehow at the same time. Check it out below.

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