Despite that her singing qualities have declined over the last years Soviet Pop-Diva Alla Pugacheva (born 1949) is one of the most popular Russian estrada singers today (she was both 2006 and 2007 ranked 2nd in a popular survey of Russia’s current elite). So it was a small surprise that she at a press conference today anounced that she is going to stop her concert activities: Alla Pugacheva zaiavliaet, chto proshchaetsia s kontsertnoi deiatel’nost’iu. She cited health reasons and a series of operations which have affected her voice.

But she plans to remain active in other roles and will finish her singing career with a final tour (including Belarus, Ukraine, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Germany and the United States) and four final concerts in Moscow in April 2009. In other words, a loooooooong end to a long career.