Universal's 'czech Cher' Targets Poland, Russia

The Czech Republic's answer to Cher is looking to conquer Poland and Russia this fall, with her highly successful dance album Vodopad (Waterfall).

Until last year, 53-year-old Helena Vondrackova was best known for her Czech versions of Western pop standards, as well as her renditions of Broadway hits and appearances in a string of films. But last October saw a complete turnaround, with a youthful image makeover and the release of Vodopad, a 15-track album of original Czech dance tracks. Vondrackova admits, "I was inspired by Cher to a certain extent."

The artist's rebirth as a hip dance queen was complemented by a high-profile marketing campaign from her label, the Czech affiliate of Universal Music. The change clearly worked: The album had hit gold (15,000 units) by Christmas and platinum (35,000 units) in early May, seven months after its release. Vondrackova and Universal executives also maintain that, while the Stano Simor-produced album has gained her a younger audience, she has kept her more mature following.

Now Universal is readying Vodopad for issue in Poland this fall, on the back of a successful May 2000 release there of her greatest-hits collection. Zlota Helena (Golden Helena) has sold more than 10,000 units in the territory.

Vondrackova, who first came to the attention of Polish audiences in the 1970s, says she hopes to "promote the Czech repertoire [of dance music] there with the original songs on Vodopad." The singer charmed the Polish public with her efforts to learn their language, and four of the songs on the album have been re-recorded in Polish.

Universal executives in Prague are also hoping to repeat the Polish formula in the Russian market. They aim to release the same greatest-hits compilation at the end of this year, followed in 2002 by Vodopad, complete with four songs rerecorded in Russian. Vondrackova says, "In Russia, I'm already well-known, but it's a huge market, so it'd be quite nice to break [bigger] there."

Discovered as a schoolgirl at a talent show in 1964, Vondrackova has recorded 27 albums in Czech and another six in either English or German. Last September, she appeared at New York's Carnegie Hall, and in March this year she sang at Chicago's Copernicus Center. While Universal continues to work the last album, Vondrackova has another dance album—recorded in Belgium—in the can. It is due for release in the Czech Republic within the next three months.

"There's barely an artist [in this country] who is marketable outside of the Czech Republic," Universal's international product manager Veronika Hnykova says. "But with Helena and Poland, it's something special. She speaks Polish, and they see her trying for them."