Editing T.A.T.u. (section)

===1999: Formation===
[[File:Tatu wordmark.svg|thumb|The wordmark logo of t.A.T.u.]]
Before production of t.A.T.u. began, the pair were in a group named [[Neposedi]]. Both [[Lena Katina]] and [[Julia Volkova]] were part of the band, along with members [[Sergey Lazarev]] and [[Vlad Topalov]]. Katina was also in a band named "Avenue" between 1994 and 1997.<ref name="askmen"/> It was reported that Volkova was banned from being in Neposedi, amid claims she was misbehaving and disrupting other members in the group, along with being accused of smoking, swearing and drinking.<ref name="askmen"/> However, Neposedi denied the claims and said that Volkova aged out of the group.

t.A.T.u. were formed in 1999 by [[Ivan Shapovalov]] and his friend/business partner Alexander Voitinskiy, who developed plans to create a musical project in Russia. With this idea in mind, Shapovalov and Voitinskiy organized auditions in Moscow in early 1999 for teenage female vocalists. By the end of auditioning, the partners narrowed their search down to ten girls, including the members that finally became t.A.T.u., Lena Katina and Julia Volkova. Katina and Volkova knew each other before the auditions.<ref name="askmen">{{cite web |url=http://au.askmen.com/celebs/women/singer_150/170_tatu.html |title=T.A.T.U. - Askmen |publisher=Au.askmen.com |access-date=19 January 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130617074837/http://au.askmen.com/celebs/women/singer_150/170_tatu.html |archive-date=17 June 2013 }}</ref>  Both girls stood out among the others because of their appearance and vocal experience, but the producers decided to start with 14-year-old Katina, who sang "[[It Must Have Been Love]]" by [[Roxette]]. Katina began recording demos, including "Yugoslavia", a protest song about [[NATO bombing of Yugoslavia]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sostav.ru/video/files/09yugoslavia.mp3 |title=Voitinsky about Yugoslavia |access-date=19 January 2013}}</ref><ref>[http://www.ok-magazine.ru/exclusive/item16832.php t. A. T. u.: «Мы и сейчас иногда целуемся!»] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141021152116/http://www.ok-magazine.ru/exclusive/item16832.php |date=21 October 2014}} // OK, № 20 (133), 2009</ref> After the demos were cut, Shapovalov insisted that another girl be added to the project. Thus, in late 1999, 14-year-old Julia Volkova was added to the group to complete the duo. She also started recording not long after Katina's "Yugoslavia" demo was finished.

According to Katina, Shapovalov was inspired to create the duo after the release of the Swedish film ''[[Show Me Love (film)|Show Me Love]]'' which focused on the romance between two school girls.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://tatumedia.com/post/13311041014/lena-katinas-interview-in-story-caravan |title=T.A.T.u. Media |access-date=10 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180211071905/http://tatumedia.com/post/13311041014/lena-katinas-interview-in-story-caravan |archive-date=11 February 2018 |url-status=dead  }}</ref> After completing the duo, the producers decided on the name "Тату" (Tatu). Sounding like the English word "[[tattoo]]", it is also a shortened version of the Russian phrase "'''Та'''  любит '''ту'''" (''ta lyubit tu''), meaning "This [girl] loves that [girl]".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/276939 |title=Japan Today: Japan News and Discussion |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080121234841/http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/276939 |archive-date=21 January 2008 }}</ref> For the release of their first English-language album, they decided to go by t.A.T.u., using uppercase letters and periods to distinguish themselves from an already existing Australian band, Tatu.