Partying for Putin

The cult of personality around Putin isn’t as developed as, say, Kim Jong Il’s or Muammar Gaddafi’s, but once in a while we get a real gem.

This week it comes thanks to Rai, a popular stalwart of Moscow’s wild nightclub scene. Last night, banners went up around the city promoting a party at the club set for next Sunday, tabloid Life News reports. The theme? “Putin Party: We want the prime minister!”

The invites look like voting cards for “the object of your desire.” What follows is a random list of what organizers think Russians think of when they think of manly men: Bruce Willis, Russian rap/pop star Timati, David Beckham, Che Guevara and Vladimir Putin. “It’s true, guests of the party won’t get to vote,” Life News reports. “The choice has already been made from them by guests and employees of the club – organizers of the party asked girls who they thought was a real man.” And that’s how we got a Putin Party, to be held just two days before International Women's Day, one of Russia's favorite holidays.

At the March 6 party, DJ Smash – made famous here for his impossibly annoying hit “Moscow Never Sleeps” – will reveal a new song based on Putin’s singing of “Blueberry Hill” in December, the tabloid said.

This is going to be painful.