Elton John "Nikita (Single & Video)"

"Nikita" is a love song by English singer Elton John set in the Cold War from his 1985 album Ice on Fire. Released late in the year, the song was successful in many countries and was a top ten hit in almost all of them.

In the song, Elton John describes his crush on a person called Nikita, an East German border guard whom he cannot meet because he is not allowed into the country. It features George Michael and Nik Kershaw on backing vocals, and is notable for a distinctive synthesizer solo. The song charted at number 3 on the UK Singles Chart, and at number 7 in the US.

The video for the song "Nikita" was directed by Ken Russell. Elton John accepted the proposed script written by Russell which was a male-female love interpretation of the song, depicting his attempted romance of a blonde woman East German border guard with short hair. Scenes showing the two together in various happy situations, including wearing the colours of Watford FC of whom John is a supporter and former Chairman, were based in fantasy. In interviews, John has said that he was aware that Nikita was a male name in Russian. Anya Major plays the role of Nikita; Andreas Wisniewski plays a male border guard.

The car featured in the video is a convertible Bentley Continental that John bought new in February 1985. The registration plate shown in the video, B120 WYM, is the car's original, before John changed the registration for a personalised plate B20 ELT.


In 1986, in the wake of the song's success, video actress Anya Major recorded a spin-off song titled "Moscow Nights" which she released under the stage name "Anya".