Serebro (; stylized as SEREBRO) was a Russian girl group formed by their manager and producer Maxim Fadeev. Serebro was formed in 2007, consisting of Marina Lizorkina, Olga Seryabkina, and Elena Temnikova as a submitted proposal for consideration by Channel One Russia for the Eurovision Song Contest 2007. Serebro was selected to represent Russia at the 2007 Contest with the song titled "Song #1". They subsequently placed third at the contest, scoring a total of 207 points. Serebro was then officially signed to Fadeev's record label Monolit Records, and in 2012, the group had additional releases produced by Sony Music Entertainment and Ego Music. In 2009, Lizorkina announced her departure from the group; she was subsequently replaced by Anastasia Karpova. Karpova left the group in 2013 and was replaced by Dasha Shashina, who left in 2016. Temnikova left the group in 2014 due to health reasons, and Polina Favorskaya, who replaced Temnikova, left the group in 2017. Favorskaya was later replaced by Morgunova. In 2019, the line-up Olga Seryabkina, Katya Kischuk, and Tatiana Morgunova, the last one to include the last original member, has been replaced by Elizaveta Kornilova, Marianna Kochurova and Irina Titova.
With Lizorkina at the time, the band recorded their debut studio album OpiumRoz. The album received critical acclaim and spawned other singles in addition to "Song #1", but it never became a commercial success. The band's second album, called Mama Lover, proved to be much more successful. It included the massive hit of the same name and went double platinum in Russia. The eponymous "Mama Lover" hit single received media attention worldwide, with reviewers commenting on both the raunchy music video and the song itself. The music video for the song received more than 20 million views on YouTube and became the subject of more than 250 parodies. After the success of "Mama Lover", the group began to garner commercial attention around the world. The group re-released Mama Lover in Japan (under the name Serebration) after signing a contract with EMI Music. Their first international single under Ego Music and Universal Music Group, "Mi Mi Mi", became a success on European music charts.
After their musical and image development, the group became known for a very sexually charged and over the top style. Some of their music videos have led to controversy in the media, including "Mama Lover" and "Mi Mi Mi".
History
Formation and Eurovision Song Contest 2007
In early 2007, producer Maxim Fadeev began preparing a concept for a new band titled Serebro. The concept began as a proposal for Channel One Russia for a new Russian entry into the Eurovision Song Contest 2007. Despite original indications that the concept was for a solo singer, it morphed into a group around the former Star Factory participant Elena Temnikova who was paired with two newcomers: Marina Lizorkina and Olga Seryabkina. On 8 March 2007, the expert panel at Channel One Russia selected Serebro and the song "Song #1" as Russia's entry to the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest.
2007—2008: Debut and OpiumRoz
Soon after the Eurovision contest, Serebro released "Song #1" as a single CD, which contained 13 different versions of "Song #1" marked by colours, as well as an extended version of the video. The girls then released a Russian version of "Song #1", called "Песня #1".
At the MTV RMA 2007 Awards, Serebro performed a new song titled "What's Your Problem?". In December 2007, Serebro won another award at the Russian Grammies. Serebro also won a World Music Award in 2007 as the best selling Russian artist. Unlike previous eastern European winners of a World Music Award (e.g. Ruslana from Ukraine in 2004 and Dima Bilan for Russia in 2006), Serebro did not perform at the event.
In late February, Serebro performed "Zhuravli" on Zvezda, a television programme in Russia, featuring artists singing patriotic songs.