t.A.T.u. in the famous "Khuy Voyne!" shirts. This style was worn on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, while short-sleeve T-shirts with typed serif text were worn on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and TRL, and short-sleeve T-shirts with the original text style were worn on Last Call with Carson Daly.

"Khuy Voyne!" (also transliterated Hui Voine, etc.; Russian: Хуй войне!, pronounced [ˈxuj vɐjˈnʲe], English translation: "Fuck war") is a phrase developed by former t.A.T.u. producer Ivan Shapovalov during the duo's promotional tour in the USA in early 2003.

Origins and the Iraq War

On February 25, 2003, the women performed on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and mocked NBC's insistence that they neither kiss nor comment on the Iraq War by performing "All the Things She Said" from their first English album 200 km/h in the Wrong Lane in white T-shirts that bore the slogan across the front, and by blocking their faces with their hands as they kissed during a break in their performance. The stunt prompted NBC to ban t.A.T.u. from any future performance, but it also helped their international record sales.[1][2]

On February 26, when the shirts were banned from Jimmy Kimmel Live! and replaced with ones that said "Censored", they wrote the slogan on Jimmy Kimmel's hand.[3] The two also wore the shirts to TRL on March 3 and Last Call with Carson Daly on March 5.

The documentary Anatomy of t.A.T.u. states that when the slogan was being created, Shapovalov said that it is a Russian slang way to say "No to War" (Нет войне!), however the slang translations may vary to "Dick to War" (word-by-word) or a creative way of saying "Fuck War".

Fans in Russia wore their own versions of the shirts at performances, but when shown on Russian TV, the shirts were edited with an extra stroke through the letter Х to say Жуй войне! literally "Chew to the War!".

Russo-Ukrainian war

A rally in support of Ukraine, organized at Stanford
Graffiti "Хуй войне", Novosibirsk Akademgorodok. August 2022
Kokoshnik "Хуй войне", 2023

Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the phrase became an anti-war slogan (along with “No to War” — «Нет войне»), often used at protest rallies both within and outside Russia. The online media outlet Mediazona later launched a podcast of the same name.[4]

See also

References

  1. A Song for Europe: Popular Music and Politics in the Eurovision Song Contest
  2. t.A.T.u. - All The Things She Said Live Jay Leno 2003, Youtube
  3. Jimmy Kimmel Live!. Episode dated 26 February 2003
  4. "Хуй войне". Mediazona (in Russian). Retrieved 2023-05-21.
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