RESULTS: Pop Princesses (2004) • The Rate

5 hours ago5 hr

On 09/03/2026 at 14:40, Viper* said:
Feel this is likely to be Sophie vs Tatu.

Called it.

kink

1

3 hours ago3 hr

Author

02 t.A.T.u. - All The Things She Said

avg: 9.21

👑 Pop Royalty: 11 (Scene, Julian_, Roba., Dobbo, Chapman, blacksquare, Chez Wombat), 10 (gooddelta, Mango, leww, Billy., Tafty, Jade, lewistgreen, Nina West)

❌ Pop Flop: 5 (Brer), 6 (vibe)

An 'All The Things She Said' victory may have been the perfect surprise for some but instead it settles for the runner-up spot, with a strong 9.21 average.

Russian duo Lena Katina and Julia Volkova originally started out as part of a children's group called Neposedy, which also featured Sergey Lazarev, of two bronze medals at Eurovision fame. The t.A.T.u. project was later formed in 1999 by producer Ivan Shapovalov and his business partner Aleksandr Voytinskiy, who held auditions in Moscow for teenage girls. The two eventually successful applicants Lena and Julia had their previous band connection but did not know that the other would be auditioning. They initially released Russian-language music including the original version of 'All The Things She Said', titled 'Ya Soshla s Uma'. This iteration was written by Sergio Galoyan, Martin Kierszenbaum, Valery Polienko and Elena Kiper. Kierszenbaum may not look familiar on the surface, but his alias is Cherry Cherry Boom Boom, which Lady Gaga sings as a producer tag in several tracks on The Fame - including 'Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)'. Elena Kiper found the inspiration for this song when she dreamt of kissing another woman while at the dentist. The original production for the song was handled by the girl's aforementioned manager, Ivan Shapovalov.

The original dates back to 2000 and an English-language launch was eventually planned a couple of years later, with the album 200 km/h in the Wrong Lane. 'Ya Soshla s Uma' was rewritten as 'All The Things She Said' by Trevor Horn, the man behind several innovative, impactful production contributions during the '80s, such as for the controversial 'Relax' by Frankie Goes to Hollywood. On top of writing, he also provided updated production for this English-language version of t.A.T.u.'s song.

'All The Things She Said' was released as the lead single from 200 km/h in the Wrong Lane and caused a lot of controversy, due to its music video. This promo shows the two then-teenage girls behind bars in school uniforms, also sharing multiple kisses. Several corners of the media were outraged, including British television presenting duo Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan, who dubbed it sick and paedophilic. Much like the aforementioned 'Relax', this song rose above its controversial status and went on to be an enormous hit. 'All The Things She Said' came close to charting in the top 40 based on imports alone, in the weeks leading up to its official release in February 2003. It then spent four weeks at #1. In the process, it blocked Kelly Rowland's 'Stole', Sinead Quinn's 'I Can't Break Down' and Justin Timberlake's 'Cry Me A River' from the top. The girls achieved a landmark feat as the first Russian act ever to achieve a U.K. #1 hit. It later placed at #6 in that year's EOY chart.

The track remains popular, even recently appearing in the U.K. Spotify top 200 chart due to its use on hit TV show Heated Rivalry. It currently has 856 million+ streams on Spotify and 518 million+ YouTube views.

'All The Things She Said' was the closing track on Pop Princesses and certainly ended the compilation on a high for many. t.A.T.u. received an impressive 7 top scores of 11, more than any other act in the rate. These were awarded by: Scene, Julian_, Roba, Dobbo, Chapman, blacksquare and Chez Wombat. However, the possibility of this winning may have driven Brer mad, as he gave the song its lowest score - a bang average 5.