''Not Born Beautiful'' (russian: Не родись красивой, Ne rodis krasivoi) is a

telenovela A telenovela is a type of a television serial drama or soap opera produced primarily in Latin America. The word combines ''tele'' (for "television") and ''novela'' (meaning "novel"). Similar drama genres around the world include '' teleserye'' ...

filmed in Russia, directed by

Alexander Nazarov Alexander Nazarov (25 May 1925 – 7 February 1945) was a Soviet army officer and Hero of the Soviet Union. He fought against Nazi Germany. He was a recipient of the Order of Lenin and the Order of the Red Star. he destroyed 15 tanks with AT gre ...

and shown from 5 September 2005 to 7 July 2006 by the Russian network

STS STS, or sts, may refer to: Medicine * Secondary traumatic stress, a condition which leads to a diminished ability to empathize * Sequence-tagged site, a gene-reference in genomics * Soft-tissue sarcoma * Staurosporine, an antibiotic * STS (gen ...

. It is a Russian spin of the Colombian ''

Yo soy Betty, la fea ''Yo soy Betty, la fea'' (English: I am Betty, the Ugly one), often referred to simply as ''Betty, la fea'', is a Colombian telenovela written by Fernando Gaitán which was broadcast from 25 October 1999 to 8 May 2001 by RCN. More than a dozen ...

'' (I'm Betty, the Ugly One) telenovela, which has fostered more than a dozen versions in other countries. The telenovela reached success in Russia and boosted the ratings of the TV network STS.

Nelli Uvarova Nelli Vladimirovna Uvarova (russian: Не́лли Влади́мировна Ува́рова; born 14 March 1980) is a Russian theater and film actress. Early life Nelli Uvarova was born in Mažeikiai, Lithuania to a Russian father and Armenia ...

plays the role of a charming ugly girl, Yekaterina (Katya) Pushkareva. This became a breakout role in Nelli's career and brought her national love and fame. During the broadcast of the series she became a real star of Russian television. Nelli's American counterpart

America Ferrara America Georgina Ferrera (; born April 18, 1984) is an American actress. Born in Los Angeles to Honduran parents, Ferrera developed an interest in acting at a young age, performing in several stage productions at her school. She made her featur ...

also became widely known for her portrayal of the namesake of ''

Ugly Betty ''Ugly Betty'' is an American comedy-drama television series developed by Silvio Horta, which was originally broadcast on ABC. It premiered on September 28, 2006, and ended on April 14, 2010. The series is based on Fernando Gaitán's Colombian t ...

''. The show attracted viewers who were not in the traditional viewing audience of telenovelas. In fall of 2005, fully one-third of Russian TV viewers, and 58% of Ukraine viewers, were tuning in to watch the show. According to ''TV's Betty Goes Global: From Telenovela to International Brand'', Not Born Beautiful is likely the closest and most faithful of "Yo soy Betty, la fea"'s international adaptations. And according to its authors, in 2004-6, Russia was "at an apex" of "consumerism and glamour culture", and:

''Ne rodis' krasivoy'' addresse the central cultural conflict of post-Soviet culture: the negotiation between the Russian (Soviet) values and the new corporate bourgeois ones.

In all 200 episodes were filmed, many on a one-per-day schedule. The "industrial pace of shooting" matched the industrial setting, Media City's studios in the former Soviet-era State Ball-Bearing Plant Number 1 in Moscow, which operated from the 1930s to 1990. This was 31 more episodes than in the

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

n original series. American TV executive James Kramer and other Americans were involved in bringing "Ugly Betty" to Russia.

Plot

Katya, a plain-looking girl, works as a secretary at the company Zimaletto, a manufacturer of uniforms and wedding dresses. No man has paid attention to her yet, but she doesn't allow her looks to keep her from dreaming about love and happiness. (with plot summary credited to RussArt.com)

Opening theme

The theme "If love lives in your heart" / "Esli v serdtse zhivet lyubov", with music and lyrics by , performed by

Yulia Savicheva Yulia Stanislavovna Savicheva (russian: link=no, Ю́лия Станисла́вовна Са́вичева; born 14 February 1987) is a Russian singer who represented Russia in the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest, which was held in Istanbul, Tur ...

became well known. The song, performed by

Alsou Alsou Ralifovna Abramova ( rus, Алсу́ Рали́фовна Абра́мова; tt-Cyrl, Алсу Рәлиф кызы Абрамова; ; born 27 June 1983), better known as just Alsou, is a Russian singer and actress. She represented Russi ...

, received a 2008 Russian MTV award as the first in a medley of nine songs required to be performed by singers or groups other than the original recording artist.

Characters

Main

Recurring

Interesting Facts

* The spin-off comedy "UmaNetto" (literally translated as No Brains), was broadcast by STS in 2007

References

External links

Ne rodis krasivoy
at

IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

"If love lives in your heart"
at YouTube, performed by Yulia Savicheva with a plain-looking second singer and

snorkel parka A parka or anorak is a type of coat with a hood, often lined with fur or faux fur. This kind of garment is a staple of Inuit clothing, traditionally made from caribou or seal skin, for hunting and kayaking in the frigid Arctic. Some Inuit ano ...

-sporting others {{Ugly Betty series Yo soy Betty, la fea Russian telenovelas STS (TV channel) original programming 2005 Russian television series debuts 2006 Russian television series endings 2000s Russian television series