Alexander Maslyakov, the permanent host of the “Club of Cheerful and Resourceful”, died on September 8 at the age of 83. According to media reports, the cause of death was lung cancer. Since last year, he has not hosted the KVN games, to which he devoted 60 years.
Who can replace Alexander Maslyakov?
Dmitry Khrustalev
Press service of the program “Cosmos”
The most likely candidate for the position of KVN presenter. Since 2022, Dmitry Khrustalev periodically replaces Alexander Maslyakov in the Major League and at the Voting KiViN music festival, and in 2024 he becomes the permanent presenter of the Club of Cheerful and Resourceful. Shortly before Maslyakov’s death, Anastasia Drapeko, PR director of the AMiK company (which owns the rights to the show), told Metro that there were several candidates for the post of presenter, and in the end the producers settled on the Comedy Club star:
“Last year there were many different presenters of KVN, everyone was considered. We decided on Dmitry. He is a graduate of the KVN movement, an excellent presenter, sensitive to the process and immersed in the details.”
In the late 90s, Khrustalev was the captain of the St. Petersburg Team and together with the team became the finalist and vice-champion of the Major League. Later, as a member of the USSR National Team, he won the KVN Summer Cup.
Khrustalev, who turned 45 this year, is known to a wide audience from the Comedy Club and Comedy Woman programs, as well as co-host of Evening Urgant.
In April 2024, Khrustalev told the Passions.Ru portal that Maslyakov once offered him the position of KVN presenter:
“On the 60th anniversary of KVN, after a successful match, I approached Alexander Vasilyevich to thank him for the celebration, for everything he did for me and many young teams in general. And at that moment, completely unexpectedly, he suggested: “Do you want to take my place? I will watch from the audience.” But, of course, after this conversation, the casting process lasted for two years.”
Alexander Maslyakov-Jr.
Alexander Maslyakov and his son Alexander Maslyakov – Jr., 2017
Vyacheslav Prokofiev/TASS
44-year-old Alexander Maslyakov Jr. made his debut as a host of the “Club of Cheerful and Resourceful” while still a student: in 1999 he hosted the “Planet KVN”. Later, Maslyakov Jr. became the host of the “premiere” and the First League. Currently, he is the general director of AMiK and, according to media reports, supported his father’s choice in favor of Khrustalev in 2021 – contrary to many rumors about his alleged plans to take the post “by inheritance”. So Maslyakov Jr. will probably continue to work in KVN behind the scenes.
Dmitry Nagiyev
Channel One
In the fall of 2022, Nagiyev organized one of the games of the KVN Major League, which was a big surprise for everyone – the actor’s participation in the show was not disclosed in any way. He also began to appear on the air rarely after the start of the military operation in Ukraine, and in August he publicly took a “creative break” on another Channel One project, “The Voice”. But as Konstantin Ernst explained then, Maslyakov personally instructed Nagiyev to lead the release of the Major League, as one of his friends asked him to do.
Nagiyev himself (he never played in KVN, but wrote jokes for some teams and was a member of the jury) admitted that after the death of the permanent host of the “Club of Cheerful and Resourceful” he and Maslyakov always had a warm relationship.
“There were various rumors about Maslyakov’s sophistication and cunning. I have never experienced either. We have always had a warm and trusting relationship. And we supported them until the last days. I am extremely grateful to him,” RIA Novosti quotes Nagiyev.
Currently, the actor is busy with various film projects, but still practically does not appear on television – and most likely will not become a permanent host of KVN.
Svetlana Druzhinina
Director Svetlana Druzhinina on the red carpet ahead of the opening ceremony of the 42nd Moscow International Film Festival (MIFF) in Moscow on October 1, 2020
Ekaterina Chesnokova/RIA Novosti
People’s Artist of Russia became the host of KVN even before Maslyakov – in 1962, at the dawn of his acting career and long before his directorial triumph with Midshipmen. Svetlana Druzhinina’s partner in the “Club of Cheerful and Resourceful” at that time was the late Mikhail Derzhavin.
Druzhinina will probably not return to KVN – not because of her age (last year the 88-year-old director released two new films at once), but because of the perception of the “Club” in its current form. So, in 2016, the director said in an interview that in the 60s KVN was a “real amateur performance”, which amazed ordinary students with its “absolute improvisation”, and now it has turned into a “staged” show where professional artists perform.
Alexander Oleshko
Actor Alexander Oleshko
Vladimir Fedorenko/RIA Novosti
Like Nagiyev, Alexander Oleshko temporarily replaced Maslyakov during his illness: the Honored Artist of Russia tried himself as a KVN presenter in 2023. As Oleshko admitted, going on stage in the “Club of Cheerful and Resourceful” was his long-standing dream.
“Alexander Vasilyevich asked me: “Do you still have dreams left?” I say: “Yes, of course. I would like to host KVN someday.” Maslyakov said: “We’ll wait and see. If you manage your life correctly, who knows, maybe someday you will live it.” Now I go on stage to say the legendary phrase: “We’re starting KVN!” – the actor shared on social networks.
In September, it became known that 48-year-old Oleshko will become the host of another program on Channel One, “All the Same.”
What are you thinking?
Source: Gazeta
Brandon Hall is an author at “Social Bites”. He is a cultural aficionado who writes about the latest news and developments in the world of art, literature, music, and more. With a passion for the arts and a deep understanding of cultural trends, Brandon provides engaging and thought-provoking articles that keep his readers informed and up-to-date on the latest happenings in the cultural world.