Kristina Orbakaite was born in Moscow and spent much of her childhood between
Šventoji, Lithuania, the home of her paternal grandparents, and Moscow, the home of her maternal grandparents. At the age of 7, she debuted in the Soviet children's television program "Veseliye Notki"
(Happy Musical Notes) with the song "Solnyshko Smeyotsya" (
The Sun Laughs). In 1982, she was cast in the leading role of "Lena Bessoltseva" in
Scarecrow, a film by
Rolan Bykov based on the
Vladimir Zheleznikov play of the same name. Production began in 1982 and the film premiered in 1984. It became a critical success, not only in Russia but also overseas, and turned Orbakaite into a child star. Having met with success in film and music, Orbakaite tried her hand at theater, appearing in 1995 as
Helen Keller in an adaptation of
William Gibson's
The Miracle Worker on the stage of the
Moscow Art Theatre. She subsequently received an award from the Russian Ministry of Culture for best female theatrical performance. In 1996, Orbakaite and her partner, singer
Vladimir Presnyakov, joined her mother,
Alla Pugacheva, and her mother's then husband, singer
Philipp Kirkorov, on a family performance tour through the United States titled "Zvezdnoye Leto" (Starry Summer). During this tour, she performed for the first time at
Carnegie Hall in New York City. In 2000, Orbakaite won
World Music Awards in
Monte Carlo as the best-selling Russian singer. Later that year, she released her fourth album
May. In 2002, she released her fifth album,
Ver v chudesa (Believe in miracles) and appeared in the television series
Moscow Saga. In 2003, she released her sixth album,
Pereletnaya ptitsa (Wandering bird) and in 2005, she released her seventh album,
My life. On 17 January 2004, Kristina met her husband, American businessman Mikhail Zemtsov in Miami. They married in a private ceremony on 9 March 2005 in Miami Beach city hall. In 2006, Orbakaite appeared in the comedy
Lyubov-morkov (Love-carrot) together with
Gosha Kutsenko. In 2013, received the title
Merited Artist of the Russian Federation from Russian president
Vladimir Putin. In December 2016, her "Insomnia" world tour was presented with two shows in
State Kremlin Palace. In 2017, the tour was presented in Russia, Israel, France, Kazakhstan, the United Kingdom, Germany and all Baltic states. In 2022, she opposed the Russian invasion of Ukraine. ==Personal life==