About Anna Semenovich
Anna Semenovich (Russian: Анна Семенович, pronounced [ˈannə sʲɪmʲɪˈnovʲɪt͡ɕ], born March 1, 1980, in Moscow, Russia) is a Russian glamour model and actress who became first known as a successful international figure skater. After her skating career she became a television moderator and also performed as a singer of the Russian girl group Blestyashchie (Блестящие - "The Brilliants").
Anna Semenovich was born on March 1, 1980, in Moscow and is half Ukrainian. Her name appears in different versions throughout the media. As it is common for Russian native speakers to use diminutive forms for nearly all first names, her first name Anna (Анна) may also be rendered Anya (Аня), Anechka (Анечка), Annushka (Аннушка) or Anyuta (Анюта), depending on how personal the writer wants to get.
Semenovich's middle name Grigor'evna (Григорьевна) is her father's name. Every Russian full name consists of given name (имя), father's name (отчество) and surname (фамилия), so Semenovich's full name reads: Anna Semenovich, daughter of Gregory.
As for the surname, the only correct transliteration into English without using diacritics is Semenovich.[8][9] Other variants of her name are due to incorrect transliteration. Although her surname leads some English native speakers to make inappropriate comments on bulletin boards, the root of Semenovich has nothing to do with any kind of human secretion — it is a derivation of the Russian form of Simon (Семён). The unusual suffix -vich has its origins in the 16th and 17th centuries: In these times, the right to add -vich to a family name was an honour restricted to only the highest dignitaries and granted by the Tsar himself.
Semenovich began ice skating at the age of three. After finishing secondary school, she studied at the Moscow State University of Physical Education (Московская Государственная Академия Физической Культуры) from which she graduated with an International Master in figure skating and ice dancing.
She had a very successful career as a figure skater and was a medalist at several national and international championships. She performed with Maxim Kachanov (Максим Качанов), Vladimir Fedorov (Владимир Федоров, 1995-1999), Roman Kostomarov (Роман Костомаров, 1999-2000) and Denis Samokhin (Денис Самохин, 2001). In 1998, she moved to the United States.
In 2001, Semenovich had to undergo an operation after a meniscus injury. This was the official end of her sports career. In a later interview she mentioned that her meniscus trauma was not the only reason for her to quit:
"For example, the judging is prejudiced in figure skating. It is not a secret for anyone, we saw it even in last Winter Olympic Games. Somehow to get up in the ranks one needs connections. I did not have those. Therefore, although our pair was second in the Russian rankings after Il'ya Averbukh and Irina Lobacheva, we were seldom in first place. For example, it was very insulting, when I skated in international competitions with Denis Samokhin, and the other contenders skated with serious mistakes. They even fell down. But in the end, we were only in second place, and they in the first. I was tired of such unfair refereeing."
At the age of 21, Semenovich moved back to Russia. She became a sports moderator and worked for different channels, later also including the music program on ТВС (TVS) and the shows Утро (Morning) and Ночь (Night) on СТС (STS).
In 2006, Semenovich started playing the role of Liza in Папа на все руки (Daddy of all trades), a Russian adaption of the successful American sitcom Home improvement by Buena Vista.
In 2007, Semenovich started starring in Вся такая внезапная (All of a sudden), another Russian adaption of an American sitcom (Suddenly Susan by Warner Bros.). She plays the character of Alexandra Strelkina, an attractive journalist who writes a column about the life of an unmarried lonely girl for the fictional glossy magazine Шик и блеск (Chic and Glitter).
In 2001, parallel to her career as a sports channel moderator, Anna's boyfriend at that time, Daniel Mishin (Даниил Мишин), convinced her to take up singing. They created a group called Ангелы Чарли (Charlie's Angels) which was produced by Daniel. Although the group had a few successful performances at places in Moscow, recorded an album and released a video, the project had to be cancelled due to lack of financial resources.
Anna then became anchorwoman at СТС (STS). In 2003, STS was producing a pilot and invited the girls of Blestyashchie. As a member of the group, Irina Luk'yanova (Ирина Лукьянова) had just left because she got pregnant, the producer suggested Anna to come to a casting, which she did. Two weeks later, she received a call and was told to immediately come to the studio in order to join the recording sessions, because two days later the group was to go on tour.
Anna's career as a film actress started in 2004 with an uncredited cameo appearance in the Russian blockbuster Ночной дозор (Night Watch): She was a singer of the girl group of Alisa Donnikova (Алиса Донникова), played by Zhanna Friske (Жанна Фриске). The girl group was actually Blestyashchie, but was not credited either. While Zhanna Friske also performed in the sequel Дневной дозор (Day Watch, 2006), Anna Semenovich did not appear in this motion picture anymore.
Гитлер капут! (Hitler's kaput!) from 2008 is a spy comedy and the first film to feature Anna Semenovich in a lead role. In an interview, Anna admitted that she was very nervous before the first kiss with her co-starring partner Pavel Derevyanko (Павел Деревянко).
Anna does not have a typical "model career". The photo series in different men's magazines are more a result of her public presence as a figure skater, singer and actress.
