Little Blue Light

TheLittle Blue Light(Russian:Голубой огонёк,romanized:Goluboy ogonyok) was a popular musicalvariety showaired onSoviet televisionsince 1962duringvarious holidays.The name alludes to the light bluish glare of ablack-and-whitecathode ray tubeTV screen as well as some traditional Russian expressions relating to friendly visits: заглянуть на огонек (zaglyanut na ogonyok) – "to drop in on a light", i. e. to visit someone after seeing a light in their window; посидеть у огонька (posidyet' u ogon'ka) – to have a sit by the fire.

The show featured popular artists and various prominent Soviet people:udarniks,Heroes of Socialist Labor,cosmonauts,actors,etc., as well as guests from the countries of the "socialist camp", who sat by the tables in a "TV cafeteria", singing songs, playing sketches, boasting, celebrating the holiday. The idea of the show was that they "dropped in on a light" to every Soviet family to share the festive table beyond the TV glass.

A separate item was the performance of comedians. The apogee of the comedy program has always beenArkady Raikin's numbers, comic duets were popular —Veronika Mavrikievna and Avdotya Nikitichna(Vadim Tonkov and Boris Vladimirov), Plug and Tarapunka (Yefim Berezin and Yuri Timoshenko), as well as Lev Mirov and Mark Novitsky.

The best-known was theNew Year's Little Blue Light(Russian:Новогодний Голубой огонёк,romanized:Novogodny Goluboy ogonyok), aired on everyNew Year's Eveas a part of the late Soviet tradition: theLittle Blue Lightfollowed theNew Year's speechby theGeneral Secretary of the Communist Partywith congratulations to theSoviet peoplefollowed by the Kremlin midnight chimes and theState Anthem of the Soviet Union,which was, in turn, preceded by the 1975 film comedyIrony of Fate.

Writer Andrey Khoroshevsky believed that the phenomenon of the "Blue Light" consisted in the fact that even the most famous guests in the program appeared to be ordinary people with problems and interests understandable to every viewer. In 2003,Mikhail Shvydkoy,Russian Minister of Culture, stated that "" The Blue Light "turned the Soviet Union into a large communal apartment — it united people at the screens."

TheLittle Blue Lightwas devised by film director Aleksey Gabrilovich, and the first show was aired on 6 April 1962 as a weekly Saturday broadcast. After some time it became a monthly show, and later it was only aired on major holidays.

During thedecline of the Soviet Union,the "trademark"Little Blue Lightbegan to gradually disappear from the screens and the New Year concert became a matter of experimenting. The last show ofLittle Blue Lightwas in fact a potpourri from older programs.After thedissolution of the Soviet Union,the program was revived inRussiaafter a ten-year hiatus in 1998 as a yearly special.Thorougly following the format of its Soviet predecessor, it has become an element ofSoviet nostalgia.The trademark "Little Blue Light" is now owned byRussia 1,the television network, where it is still seen immediately after President's address on the New Year midnight under the title "Голубой огонёк на Шаболовке" "Little Blue Light atShabolovka"(Here" Shabolovka "refers to theShabolovka TV Center.)

In the 1970s the typical New Year's LBL episode lasted an hour and a half, since the late 1980s up till today the telecast begins at 12:05 am MST and lasts for three hours.

External links

• Итоги года и традиции телевизионной новогодней ночи((in Russian)Annual Reckoning and Traditions of the New Year's Eve on Television),Radio Freedom,29 December 2002