| Full video of Vladimir Putin playing the piano and singing "Blueberry Hill". The Russian prime minister is used to taking to the stage, but this time it was not for one of his speeches. Vladimir Putin made his audience sit up and take note, as he sang at a charity fundraiser. The reception at an ice stadium in St. Petersburg was dedicated to fighting children's cancer. International celebrities including Kevin Costner, Gerard Depardieu, Mickey Rourke, Sharon Stone, Kurt Russell, Vincent Cassel, Monica Belucci, Ornella Muti, Goldie Hawn and many others attended the benefit concert. Many of the stars are actively involved in charity work which draws needed attention to children's oncological and ophthalmological diseases. When the hostess approached Putin's table and asked him to sing for the audience, his immediate reaction was "are you kidding me?" But the hostess was determined to get the prime minister on the mic and reminded him about the songs he sang with the Russian sleeper agents extradited from the US last summer. Putin attempted to evade the proposal by saying that the singing she was referring to had come from the heart. However, after seeing the pictures of ill children shown to the audience on the big screen, he took to the stage. "Like the majority of people I cannot -- but do like to sing and to play -- so you'll have to rough it," he warned as he sat at the piano and played the beginning of Blueberry Hill. The tune was immediately caught by Maceo Parker's ... |
