News Snippets: Tarkan Rivals

Posted by Kaya Turan from Rochester, UK

In a series of recent celebrity stories in the press to play on Tarkan, news snippets see the popstar in a bidding war, greased up for Russian-Turkish relations, and pole vaulted between soft drink rivals.

On the back of Tarkan's controversial Coca-Cola sponsorship comes news that Pepsi has responded by signing up a comedian for its latest campaign drive. News wires write that comedian Beyazıt Öztürk, popularly known as Beyaz, has signed a sponsorship deal "to rival Tarkan's" in which he will be the face of the drinks giant in Turkey on TV and PR initiatives across the country.

Beyaz used to host one of Turkey's most popular current talk shows on TV, Beyaz Show, which had run a long failed campaign to get Tarkan on the talk show. (15 March)

Next up in Russia, a year-long festival celebration of Turkish culture and friendship kickstarts on 8 April, with Tarkan pulled into the festivities with two shows in May. Writing for the Hürriyet paper, columnist Jale Özgentürk has covered the shows and performances coming up to strengthen political and cultural ties between the two nations.

Özgentürk's article, titled "Year of Culture with Tarkan is Starting", highlights the importance of Russian tourists to Turkey, and how the popularity of Tarkan in Russia will see the popstar perform in Moscow and Kazan.

UPDATE: Moscow"s 10-year wait for Tarkan >>

In December last year there had been stories in the press that Tarkan would be performing in Russia in 2019. Sputnik's Turkish language edition wrote about the possibility of a Tarkan concert to help strengthen ties between Ankara and Moscow. (17 March)

Up for re-election to the mayoral office in Ereğli, Halil Posbıyık's name-dropping Tarkan in the upcoming local elections continues to be used against him by rivals in the race.

UPDATE: Posbıyık wins mayoral race >>

Contesting Posbıyık, Hüseyin Uysal has called for his rival to come to his senses and not to waste money on bringing Tarkan to the region.

Emphasising that he would not be wasting money on a festival: "Look around you before you think of bringing Tarkan to a festival. The money could be better spent on the people," Uysal said. (15 March)

Tributes and Tribulations

A one-time backing singer for Tarkan has popped up in a Hürriyet interview: Cenk Yüksel has been raising awareness for gender equality by promoting his vocal range as a countertenor. It is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range is equivalent to that of the female contralto or mezzo-soprano voice types.

Of his time working with Tarkan, Yüksel said, "Tarkan was the turning point of my career. I got noticed and had the opportunity to learn the ropes from a brand name. I made a lot of good memories. I don't regret it."

Yüksel was noticed by Tarkan after appearing on a TV talent contest in 2004. Tarkan was looking for a replacement for Murat Boz, who was looking to go solo with his debut album at the time, and it was the start of a three year relationship with the pop star.

Unlike Boz, Yüksel revealed in a 2009 interview that he had refused help from his former famous boss when trying to launch his own solo career. (14 March)

Music columnist for Turkish daily Milliyet, "Mayk" (Mike) Şişman has touched on a compilation sequel to Yıldız Tilbe's tribute album. After Tilbe's music buddy Tarkan dropped out of the first feature, Şişman says both ex-backing singer Boz and Tarkan should make an appearance in any planned part II.

Şişman suggests that Boz could cover the song Tarkan penned for Tilbe in exchange for Tarkan's track "Kış Güneşi" (Winter Sun) from Tarkan's second album A-acayipsin (1994). The song was written by Tilbe, inspired by Tarkan and Jülyet Dilge's tumultuous relationship.

Due to Boz's past with Tarkan, the columnist believes it would be advantageous for him to cover a song from his former boss, plus any song Tarkan covered would be a hit, and his cover would act as a perfect finale to a sophomore Tilbe tribute.

"You could argue that Tarkan has made a lot of similar features recently, but there's still room for more ... Although he has just refused an offer from [leading female lyricist] Şehrazat, I really believe he needs to feature in Tilbe's final tribute album. And I'm not the only one," he says. (13 March)

And after recently being accused of a slight to late photographer Turkish-Armenian Ara Güler, Tarkan is once again named alongside the luminary of the lens. This time his name has been added to a list of celeb photography enthusiasts who are in a bidding war to purchase a one-off edition of a print of Güler's works.

Proceeds of the auction will be used to help young photographers in the industry. It's said that the popstar will be sending a third party to bid for the sought after item. (14 March)

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