Philipp Bedros Kirkorov (born 30 April 1967) is a Bulgarian-born Russian singer. He began his career in 1985 after participating in the Soviet musical TV show "Wider Circle". Since 2000, he has maintained public interest in his person with a scandalous reputation and recording remakes of hits by international performers from Europe and the United States. In 1995, he represented Russia at the Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Kolybelnaya dlya vulkana", and took 17th place.
During his creative career, he achieved success in Russia, Belarus and other countries of the former USSR, and was awarded many Russian music prizes, including ZD Awards and others. He is a five-time winner of the "Best Selling Russian Artist" title at the World Music Awards ceremonies.
Philipp Kirkorov was born on 30 April 1967 in Varna, Bulgaria. His father, Bedros Kirkorov, was a Bulgarian-born singer of Armenian origin. He began traveling on tours with his parents at the age of five. During his childhood, he lived in Moscow. It is believed that his first stage appearance occurred at the age of five during his father's concert in Petrozavodsk Theater. His father performed the autobiographical song "Synok" ("Son"), dedicated to Soviet tank crews he met in 1944 in Varna. At the end of the song, Filipp walked onto the stage to give his father a carnation as the audience applauded.
He graduated from Moscow School No. 413 with a gold medal. After school, he attempted to enroll in a theater institute but failed the entrance exams.
In 1984, he entered the Gnessin State Musical College in the musical comedy department, graduating in 1988 with honors.
In November 1985, Kirkorov made his television debut on the program Wider Circle with the song "Alyosha" in Bulgarian.
He was noticed by Svetlana Annapolskaya, the director of Goluboy Ogonyok, who invited him to participate in the program. After a dispute with the show's management, she successfully secured Kirkorov's involvement.
In 1987, he received an invitation to work with the Leningrad Music Hall under Ilya Rakhlin. This led to a foreign tour in Berlin's renowned Friedrichstadt-Palast Theater.
After leaving the Music Hall, Kirkorov met lyricist Ilya Reznik, who became one of his early supporters.
In April 1988, he met Alla Pugacheva at Ilya Reznik's art exhibit. By October 1988, she invited him to participate in her Christmas Meetings. By this time, Kirkorov had graduated from Gnesin College, competed in his first contest in Yalta, and filmed his first music video for the song "Carmen."
During preparations for Christmas Meetings, he collaborated with poet Leonid Derbenyov, who wrote many of his future hits, including "Ty, Ty, Ty" ("You, You, You"), "Nebo i Zemlya" ("Sky and Earth") and "Atlantida" ("Atlantis").
In 1989, Kirkorov toured with Alla Pugacheva in Australia and Germany and held his first solo concert in Perm. That year, he reached the finals of the Pesnya Goda music festival.
In 1990, Kirkorov won the Grand Prix in the competition "Shlyager-90" (Hit-90) in Leningrad with the song "Nebo i Zemlya" (Sky and Earth). In 1992, his music video to the song "Atlantida" (Atlantis) was selected as "Music Video of the Year". His popularity began to spread outside of Russia and he toured in the United States, Canada, Germany, and Israel.
By 1994, his program "Ya ne Raphael" (I'm not Raphael) included hits by Engelbert Humperdinck, Tom Jones, and Frank Sinatra. Kirkorov represented Russia in the Eurovision Song Contest 1995 held in Dublin with the song "Kolybelnaya dlya vulkana" ('Lullaby for the volcano') and finished in 17th place.
At the end of 1995, the double CD Skazhi Solntsu:"Da" (Say "Yes!" to the Sun) was released under the Polygram label. The album's release coincided with the premiere of the program The Best, the Beloved, and Just for You at the State Variety Theatre, which then successfully toured across the country.
In 1996, he won the World Music Awards for best-selling Russian artist with over 2 million copies sold. By 1997, his world tour covered 100 cities, culminating in a month-long residency at the Oktyabrsky Concert Hall in St. Petersburg.
His 1998 album Oh, Mama, I'll give Chic (Oy, Mama, Shika Dam!) contains four cover versions of well-known Turkish songs originally sung by Tarkan, Mustafa Sandal and Sezen Aksu.
In 1999, Kirkorov joined Michael Jackson's MJ & Friends charity concert.