Meet Dubai's 14-year old celebrity student

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Meet Dubais 14-year old celebrity student
Polina Butorina

Published: Sun 23 Oct 2016, 3:10 PM

Last updated: Sun 15 Jan 2017, 10:44 AM

WHAT DID YOU wish for when you were 14? To be a famous singer, to star in a Hollywood film, a date to the middle school prom? No, the last one's just us? Okay then. Well imagine if the desire for fame and adventures in the creative arts such as music, movies and television actually came true. That is the life Raffles International School Dubai student Polina Butorina leads. In her native Russia, Polina is a television personality having hosted programmes including Tryndyat Fashion on RU.TV, a model with some of the country's top labels, has produced ten hit singles such as No One Is Crying and My Heart which won her Kinder Municipal Awards and will soon appear as a lead in her first Hollywood movie, Maximum Impact, with Danny Trejo. Acting, modeling, presenting and singing, a quadruple entertainment threat all before she can even think about learning to drive. And if that weren't enough, for the last year the teenager has been able to call Dubai home too.
"I am a rebel but I don't do stunts yet. I'm a teenager!" Polina said when we met to talk about the film. Maximum Impact is an action comedy in which tensions flare up between Russia and The US and it is only through the cooperation of their intelligence services that a full-scale crisis is avoided. Polina plays the American Secretary of State's granddaughter who is kidnapped by a shady organisation determined to wreak havoc.
 Shooting her first music video aged 10, the fact Hollywood has called so early doesn't appear to phase Polina.
"I used to have to do my homework in the car because I had a TV show and my songs were played on that show, so I had to perform then and then I had live performances to.
"It's the lifestyle I wanted. I like being busy."
Here we find out more.

After a year here, how are you finding Dubai?
We moved here a year ago because there are more opportunities here. First of all education, I go to a British school. I like the atmosphere here, it is very inspirational. I actually started song writing when I moved here.  
 Here there are fewer things for teenagers to do than in Russia. But there are parks, movies, malls and now the Dubai Opera has opened there are some good productions headed this way.

Are the songs you are writing different from your previous works in Russia?
All of the ones recorded here are in English. I am into rock, hip hop and pop - anything really. As long as music expresses thoughts and feelings that is the most important thing. I'm putting them all together now and releasing an album early next year.

How do your new friends in Dubai react when they find out about your starry life back home?
They ask a lot of questions and I share everything with them. They are very excited and it is so nice they support me. They are proud of me and that's why I love my friends very much. Back in Russia too. I go back twice a year and my friends are always there.

Will you be shooting your album's videos here in Dubai?
I was in the USA this summer and we shot one there. The song is called I'm Addicted To My Phone. I hope that comes out this month. It's almost ready to go. It's funny and bright and the video is quite sarcastic and ironic.

For today's teenagers is the USA still the showbiz capital of the world?
It is! Everything successful is still made there. If you want to be in the music or movie industries, and make it successful you need to be there at some point.

If you had to decide on choosing either acting or singing in the future, which one would you go for?
That's too difficult. I can't choose. They are both my passions. I don't really need to because today there opportunities for people to do both.

Which performers inspire you?
I love Twenty One Pilots. I'm more of an alternative band listener but from pop I like Lana Del Rey and Adele. On screen I think Keira Knightley is a lovely actress and from the actors I like Eddie Redmayne.

Have you seen a film lately you wished you were in?
Suicide Squad. It has become so viral and it is actually cool. In this era people are totally crazy about comic book movies so that is one of my goals now.

By David Light

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The importance of social media
I check Instagram, MyDubai, and see there are lots of interesting places to go. I spend a lot of time of time on social media. It's good to pay attention to that and you have the opportunity to meet people. People can stay in touch with you, which is great for friends and followers back in Russia.
david@khaleejtimes.com


In the desert
In the desert
Polina in Dubai
Polina in Dubai
Filming a music video in LA
Filming a music video in LA

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