Kyiv Post Staff – American and Ukrainian media was buzzing last week with rumors that pop star Jennifer Lopez would be coming to Crimea to sing for a Ukrainian billionaire.
She did take to the stage in Crimea on July 19, but the man who paid her reported $1 million fee was Uzbek oil baron and millionaire Azam Aslanov.
The pop diva, 41 years old, performed at the wedding of Aslanov’s 33-year-old son Amon.
The name of his brunette Uzbek wife is still kept in secret, but Ukrainian tabloids report that the couple met through Russian social network “Odnoklassniki.ru.”
The wedding took place in Aivazovsky recreational complex on the Black Sea coast near Yalta.
Yalta is a historic party town in the Crimea, where stars, businessmen and all types of wannabes like to converge in summer.
A large marquee was built on the beach to host a 500-guest party. All the staff in the hotel complex were sent off on holiday, and an event agency was brought in to organize the Oriental-style party.
JLo reportedly landed in the Crimea on July 19 at 5 a.m. with a large group of dancers, backing vocalists, make-up artists and 20 tons of sound equipment.
She stayed in a penthouse at the Villa Elena hotel, located 100 meters from Yalta’s posh pier.
Jennifer Lopez (C) waves goodbye as she leaves Villa Elena hotel, where she briefly stayed on July 19. (Sergei Zhizhoma)
The popular singer stayed in a suite costing $4,100 per night, according to the hotel manager Yekaterina Komarova.
“It seems they were very tired after the flight, spent the whole day in the hotel and left it only once for a rehearsal,” Komarova said. “Lopez was very amicable, she said hello to everyone and was smiling a lot. Before departure, she left autographs and even allowed herself to be photographed, which is pretty rare.”
Her team lived in Oreanda hotel in Yalta. Lopez’s fans flocked to the hotel but couldn’t catch the sight of her.
She was guarded by Ukraine’s best-trained bodyguards from the same squads that guard visiting presidents.
The gig took place just four days after Lopez announced the end of her seven-year marriage to Mark Anthony, a Spanish singer.
Many popular Russian pop-stars performed at the wedding, the details of which leaked out through their Twitter micro blogs.
