Liza Vertinskaya in the music video for the song “Shkola Bay Bay” (School Bye Bye). Screenshot: Liza Vertinskaya, YouTube
Sudden popularity
Liza Vertinskaya began appearing on TV in 2023 – at that time she was five years old. Ivan Zdanyuk, a songwriter and regular participant in numerous concerts organized by the authorities, brought her to the TV studio. He introduced himself as the girl’s teacher and later became the author of several of her songs.
In spring 2024, Liza launched a YouTube channel and, it seems, began to be actively promoted. In one of her first videos, popular blogger Dmitry Sivchik (Dim Dimych) appeared and promised that his team “would do everything possible” to get the girl many subscribers. For the next few months, the faces of the Flagman Music label flashed in her videos.
At one point, Liza was even referred to as the daughter of Sivchik and Angelina Mikhailova (Anzhelina). A video titled “Subscribe, and a cartoon about Vlad A4 will pop up” (needless to say, this was not true) also became popular.
Within a few months of such promotion, Liza Vertinskaya’s YouTube account gained 1.1 million subscribers — and growth stopped at this mark, according to analytics service Social Blade. The LUP service estimated her subscribers’ engagement level as very low — 0.03%. That is, only a small fraction of the audience reacts to the videos themselves.
On “Yandex Music,” the artist has about six thousand listeners per month, on Spotify — 160, and her most popular song — “Pati u bati na khate” (Dad’s Home Party) — has been listened to 17 thousand times there.
“Unity Marathon” and a dream to meet Lukashenka
However, Liza began to be presented in state media publications as “a star who has loudly declared herself” and has “over two million subscribers on Instagram, YouTube, and other social networks.”
Before the 2025 presidential elections, the “star” was brought into circulation: she performed at “Unity Marathon” concerts in Minsk and Grodno, and also visited Belarusian enterprises with other bloggers.
Павялічыць
The Vertinsky family participates in early voting. Minsk, January 2025. Photo: minsknews.by
The state agency “Minsk-News” extensively covered the visit of the Vertinsky family to early voting. The authors published the following quote from the girl: “I plan to become a popular artist. And I also want everyone in our country to be happy. I have another big dream: I really want to personally meet our president. I think we will have something to talk about.”
At the end of the year, Liza was invited to perform at the “Slavic Bazaar” concert “TikTok Stars” together with other bloggers who had previously participated in election campaigning for Lukashenka.
Павялічыць
Liza Vertinskaya at the qualifying round of the “Slavic Bazaar”. Vitebsk, April 2025. Photo: liza_vertik / Instagram
“Every day I sing, I dance”
Liza is currently in second grade and performs very actively. In one interview, she admitted that sometimes she has to get up at five in the morning to get everything done.
— Every day I sing, dance, film a blog, and study at two schools: Minsk Gymnasium No. 30 named after Hero of the Soviet Union B. S. Akrestin and a music school. Sometimes my parents have to pick me up from lessons a little earlier to make it to filming or a concert.
Over the past six months, she could be heard at the “Blogger Party” event in the Minsk Sports Palace, a New Year’s concert on Nemiga, the BRSM competition for the best primary organization, the children’s show of the Fashion Fabrique project, a Moscow family holiday, and several charity concerts. And also — at various sports competitions of the Presidential Sports Club: “Golden Racket,” “Snow Sniper,” “First Bicycle.”
The girl also appears at private children’s parties. A publication about this notes that few dates remain available. “Zerkalo,” posing as a potential client, contacted the artist’s representative. They reported that her performance at a birthday party would cost 1800 rubles: the price includes a birthday greeting and a music program.
Павялічыць
Liza Vertinskaya on the STB TV channel. Photo: ctv.by
The schoolgirl also appears on TV: she starred in the New Year’s show of the Europa Plus TV channel, and became an ambassador for the Belarusian TV project “FACTOR BY deti.” She also gave interviews on the shows “Nashe utro” (Our Morning) on ONT, “Dobrai ranitsy, Belarus” (Good Morning, Belarus) on “Belarus 1,” and “Novoye utro” (New Morning) on RTR.
In addition, she releases songs and music videos. Currently, the official list of the NCIRU includes 12 compositions where she is listed as the performer. They were released on various labels, and since 2025, they have been released by “Ura! Muzika,” which is part of the “Gazprom-Media Holding” structure.
Liza mainly sings about her parents, her successes, and her love for Belarus. However, at the end of 2025, the song “Moy boy” (My Fight) was released, which contains the lines “Oh-oh-oh, you are so beautiful. Oh-oh-oh, very, very stylish. Oh-oh-oh, I’m strongly drawn to you.” TV presenters of one morning show asked eight-year-old Liza which boy the song was about. The girl replied that due to her age, she is not allowed to sing about boys, and the song is dedicated to a character from the Roblox game.
Who are the girl’s parents?
Liza’s mother is Natalia Vertinskaya. She is listed as her representative and is the copyright holder for part of her songs. In addition to her daughter’s musical career, Natalia manages a permanent makeup studio in Minsk. In 2025, she received an award from the Belarusian Union of Women at the “Woman of the Year” competition in the “Metropolitan Business Lady” nomination.
The schoolgirl’s father is Alexander Vertinsky — he often appears in the young blogger’s videos. He starred in the music video for the song “Papa mozhet” (Dad Can Do It), which is apparently dedicated to him.
Павялічыць
Screenshot: Liza Vertinskaya, YouTube
Alexander is also involved in business. He is the owner and head of the company “Myasnaya Guberniya” (Meat Province), which produces meat semi-finished products. In one interview, he was introduced as a “meat baron.”
The company’s products are supplied to both retail chains and state organizations. For example, in 2026, the enterprise became a supplier of pork for several budget institutions in Vitebsk — a maternity hospital, an oncology dispensary, a regional clinical center for psychiatry and narcology, an agro-technical college, and a light industry college.
What’s wrong with the idea of a schoolgirl on stage?
In recent years, stories of “young stars” who grew up and faced difficulties can be found. For example, Cam Barrett was a child influencer, and her mother showed her life in minute detail. The girl told The Washington Post that the publications led to bullying and ostracism at school. As an adult, Barrett became a public advocate for children’s online privacy.
— Child labor in the online influencer industry leads to problems, — Senator Richard Blumenthal told The Washington Post. — Involving children in influencing creates a serious risk of exploitation: potential lack of privacy, excessive working hours, and lack of fair compensation. They can create online content without adequate or any protection and oversight.
American Allison Stoner participated in modeling and beauty pageants from the age of six, then began appearing in TV shows and music videos. In an interview with The Guardian, she said that constant auditions led to problems with body image and eating disorders. In addition, she encountered adult topics on set that she was not ready for at the time.
— I think there were many well-intentioned adults who just wanted to support what seemed like a capable child. If I could go back in time, I would strongly recommend non-commercial, non-industrialized forms of creativity. At its core, artistry is a wonderful, deeply human self-expression. A corporation that owns your name and image is less natural.
Child psychoanalyst Wanda Harrell writes in an article for Psychology Today about actors who started their careers at a young age. In her opinion, such children may face difficulties in learning everyday tasks, and also feel uncomfortable communicating with “ordinary” peers.
She cites as an example a quote from famous former actress Mary-Kate Olsen from an interview with Marie Claire magazine, who, speaking about her childhood in front of cameras, compared herself and her sister to “little trained monkeys”: “I look at my old photos and don’t feel any connection to them at all… I would never wish my upbringing on anyone… But I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.”