Mr. Trololo… Eduard Kihl

Last week, I posted on my travel blog about a video someone put on YouTube depicting a Soviet school day.  That video was interesting to me for many reasons.  I experienced life in post Soviet Armenia and got a taste of what things were like, since I was there just a few years after the Soviet Union fell.  Anyway, in that video I posted, there was a man singing with the children.  He had a big smile on his face and a big baritone voice.  I noticed in the comments that people referred to him as "Mr. Trololo".  Being a dumbass, I missed out on the meme this guy was used in back in 2012 or so.

Bizarre Soviet era video from 1976.  Eduard Kihl, aka "Mr. Trololo" is singing a song called "I'm So Happy Because I Can Finally Go Home Again"…

Mr. Kihl looks bright eyed and bushy tailed in this video, basically singing a vocalize because this song's original lyrics were about an American cowboy and the song's composer feared that Soviet authorities would object to positive American spin.  Somehow I miss all of this.  Kihl died in June 2012 and his passing was noted on CNN, because he had enjoyed a resurgence of fame in his twilight years.   

There's no question that Soviet media was pretty weird back in the day…

Check out these ads from the 80s.  Things hadn't changed much in the 90s.

Yikes!

And Mr. Trololo's video certainly highlights the weirdness.  The Soviet Union had many very talented people who were technically very proficient.  But they were limited in how they could express themselves, hence the bizarre vocalized song made famous by Kihl and the odd commercials above.  While some might argue that being limited in expression might have fostered creativity, in my experience, it made a lot of the media seem very stilted and weird.  Muzak was kind of popular, it seems, with orchestras playing music with little real emotion… except for when you see the overblown emotion on Mr. Trololo's face as he sings.  It seems like the emotion is either over or underdone and not very authentic.  

I remember watching a woman in Armenia acting out a monologue.  She was obviously very invested in pouring emotion into it, to the point at which it was over the top and unbelievable.  And yet, obviously, she was a very proud actress who had worked hard at her craft.  It wasn't that she wasn't talented.  It was just that the expression seemed false to the point of silliness.

I get a kick out of watching old videos from the Soviet Union and Iron Curtain countries since the populace was pretty much forced to present the right image.  If you didn't, there would be consequences.  They had to look happy, even if they weren't.  And I see the same thing in so many other areas.  It's part of being indoctrinated.  I have a problem with fakeness, though, so even if it's fascinating to see it, it's not very appealing.