Vitas Mini Biography

Vitas (born February 19, 1981, Daugavpils, Latvian SSR), is a Russian pop singer, composer, actor and fashion designer. He is most commonly known by his shortened first name, Vitas, or Витас in Russian. Much of his music is straightforward pop influenced by techno, and occasionally classical opera.

He has received much of his fame through Russian television and is planning to sign to entertainment labels in countries such as China, Korea, and Japan in order to expand to those markets. Vitas' 2005 video "Opera#2" has been forwarded frequently via the Internet, which accounts for much of his worldwide recognition.

Vitas was born Vitaliy Vladasovich Grachov on February 19, 1981 in Latvia. He first appeared in Russia in December 2000 with his hit Opera #2, which was notable for use of Vitas' surprisingly high-pitched and energetic countertenor voice.

He has a brother Vladislav Mironich (Bладислав Mиронич) from the same father living in Tbilisi, Georgia born July 5, 1980.

On March 29, 2002 he gave a solo concert to a packed house at the State Kremlin Palace, becoming the youngest artist to ever perform there. Vitas got an invitation from Lucio Dalla, the composer, who created "In Memory of Caruso", to perform this famous song together with the author at the concert "San Remo in Moscow" held in the State Kremlin Palace. Vitas’ voice enchanted not only the audience but Mr. Dalla himself. So the composer invited Vitas to come to Rome to take part in the rehearsals of "Toska", the modern version of the legendary opera.

Vitas presented his second solo program "The Songs of My Mother" in the Concert Hall "RUSSIA", Moscow in November 2003. Two albums: "The Songs of My Mother" and "Mama" of the artist were released for the premiere. The album "The Songs of My Mother" included the songs which are considered to be the gold reserves of Russian pop-music. Another album "Mama" included only the new songs composed by Vitas. In March 2003 he gave 264 solo concerts in places including Russia, Australia, U.S., Canada, Israel, Germany, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Georgia, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Belarus.

The sounds from Vitas' recordings exhibit an unusually high vocal register, therefore it is sometimes suggested that his recordings are altered and that his live performances are lip synched. These speculations briefly gained media attention in Russia. Vitas and his producer have both denied the rumors. Fans who attend his concerts assert that Vitas sings live. He often swings his microphone away from his voice to prove it. Fans sitting in the front rows,and beyond, state that they clearly hear his unamplified voice.

Appropriately, Vitas starred in a murder mystery television series called "Crazy Day" in English, and "Сволочь ненаглядная" in Russian in which he played a pop singer with an unusually high voice.

Although some accuse Vitas of being a castrato, this vocal range is easily within reach of the classically-trained countertenor or male sopranist. Similar to the whistle register, the countertenor sings in what many describe as a highly developed falsetto register while the sopranist sings in his head register using a different technique.