Pop duo t.A.T.u. reportedly performing at Sochi Winter Olympics

Multiple sources have confirmed Yulia Volkova and Lena Katina's presence at rehearsals in Sochi, with fans sharing photographs of the singers on stage and Volkova tweeting images of herself with Olympic athletes. According to the Washington Post, t.A.T.u.'s performance will be part of a warm-up that is not broadcast internationally, but Russia's Olympic team will enter Fisht stadium to the soundtrack of the duo's 2003 smash, Not Gonna Get Us.Earlier this week, Russian media reported that Katina had used social media to criticise Sochi officials, writing, "The organisation is horrible ... They're treating the artists like shit!!!" These posts have apparently since been deleted.Certainly t.A.T.u. are a strange choice of performer at an Olympic Games whose host country has been so loudly criticised for its position on gay rights. Created by producer Ivan Shapovalov in 1999, t.A.T.u. spent most of their career trading in images of teen sex, lesbianism and bisexuality. It was predictably successful - t.A.T.u. sold more that 15m records worldwide - but also completely inauthentic. Neither Volkova nor Katina is gay. "I looked at it as my role ... [in] a movie," Katina told the Daily Beast last year. "I never was a lesbian. I never was attracted to a girl ... [But] if I [was] helping people with this role, then why not?"Other performers at tonight's Olympics opening ceremony reportedly include controversial conductor Valery Gergiev, violinist Yuri Bashment, and boxer turned politician Nikolai Valuyev.(theguardian.com)ANN.Az