Scandal Over Stepan Giga's Song: Fiїnka Announces Ban

Ukrainian singer Fiїnka, who performed the song “Altar” during a concert in memory of Stepan Giga, stated that the artist’s family had forbidden her from singing that song. The singer spoke about the situation after the memorial event dedicated to the singer.

Meanwhile, Nikita Kiselev has released his own version of “Altar” and continues to perform the song at his concerts. A public scandal is unfolding due to differing views on the song’s use.

In an interview with Slava Dyomin, Fiїnka noted that Stepan Giga’s family had informed her of a lawsuit filed against Nikita Kiselev for performing the song. Meanwhile, the artist responded to this statement on social media.

Fiїnka spoke about the conflict and the rights to the song “Vivtar”

Fiїnka chose the song “Vivtar,” which she loves, for the evening commemorating Stepan Giga. According to the singer, her family also loved Stepan Giga’s work very much, so she gladly agreed to perform at the memorial evening.

However, neither she nor the other artists knew that the songs would be repeated. Furthermore, after the concert, it was not permitted to release her own version of the song. 

“I didn’t know that all the songs would be repeated there. Nobody did… It was a surprise for all the artists that two or three of them would be singing the exact same song. Nikita Kiselev and Ivan NAVI sang it. And our verbal agreement was that we’d just sing and that would be it. We couldn’t release it or do anything with it. It was exclusively for the memorial evening,” the singer noted.

Fiїnka noted that her version of the song “Altar” quickly went viral on social media.  The singer also realized that after the memorial concert for Stepan Giga, the recording of her performance of “Altar” would still be shared online. To prevent others from profiting from the song, she decided to officially release her version and offered to split the royalties 50-50 with the artist’s family.

“I reached out to the family and said, ‘Look, let’s release it ourselves, because once it airs—and it’s going to air on Suspilne—people will still snatch that clip, and someone else will monetize it on those Telegram channels. Well, that’s just stupid. Let’s split the royalties 50-50 and live that life.” They agreed, they agreed. And I understood that they’d agreed with Nikita,” the singer noted.

Even though Fiїnka released the song, she wasn’t allowed to perform it at concerts. However, she acknowledged that this song would have been a hit at her concerts, where the audience always asks her to sing it.

Nikita Kiselev also went viral online with his version of the song “Altar”; however, the artist not only released the track but also created a music video for it and is now performing it at his concerts. “Let me say right off the bat that I have no idea what’s going on with Nikita. I have absolutely no complaints or questions for him. At the very least, Nikita Kiselev has built a career out of this. He’s really taken off. But I see he’s also made a music video. And I keep seeing a ton of ads showing that he’s selling out concerts with this song,” said Fiїnka.

At the same time, Stepan Giga’s family told the singer that they had filed a lawsuit against Nikita Kiselev. Fiїnka herself has not spoken with Nikita Kiselev regarding the rights to the song “Altar.” “And Giga’s family tells me that they’ve sued him for using the song. So I’m not allowed to use it, because they’ll sue me too. Well, I’m a respectable artist, after all. They say this is our—well, our request. Dad didn’t want anyone to sing it. They’re kind of suing Nikita on my behalf. That’s it—I’m not performing it. I respect their request. But Nikita sings it everywhere. So it turns out they’ve misled someone a little,” the artist noted.

Fiїnka said that she once performed the song “Altar” at a concert because the audience kept asking her to sing it. After the performance, representatives of Stepan Giga’s family claimed that the singer had violated their agreement. At the same time, according to Fiїnka, no lawsuit has been filed against her, and Nikita Kiselev continues to perform this song.

“I have a question: ‘What’s the point?’ Why not just tell me the truth, or at least tell me specifically what I’m not allowed to perform? At first, I really took their request seriously and thought, ‘Well, if people really are in the middle of a lawsuit, maybe it’ll take some time, but this is turning into something else entirely… To be honest, I’ve had enough. I don’t need this,” the star concluded.

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