Philipp Bedrosovich Kirkorov PAR (born 30 April 1967) is a Bulgarian-born Russian pop singer. Kirkorov's career began in 1985 with participation 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 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.

Biography

Early life and education

Philipp Kirkorov was born on 30 April 1967 in Varna, Bulgaria. His mother Victoria, is of Jewish origin, while his father, Bedros Kirkorov, is of Armenian descent. 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 Bedros Kirkorov’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.

Early career

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," "Nebo i Zemlya," and "Atlantida."

Career

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" 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 BKZ Oktyabrsky 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. He co-wrote the Belarusian entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 2007, "Work Your Magic" for Dmitry Koldun, wrote the 2008 Ukrainian entry "Shady Lady", performed by Ani Lorak, and also co-composed Moldova's Eurovision entry for the contest, "Sugar", which was performed by Natalia Gordienko. He was also a judge in the second season of Music Idol in Bulgaria. Kirkorov makes a cameo in Verka Serduchka's video "Do Re Mi". In 2018, his song "The Color of Mood is Blue" became a viral hit, garnering over 40 million views on YouTube. That year, his duet with Nikolay Baskov on "Ibiza" also gained attention for its satirical music video. In November 2024, Kirkorov presented his music video/short film Black Panther.

Television projects

Since 2020, Philipp Kirkorov has served as a judge on the Russian adaptation of the international hit reality show The Masked Singer, titled The Mask (Maska). The show, aired on NTV, features celebrities competing in elaborate costumes while concealing their identities. In 2021, Kirkorov won the TEFI award for Best Entertainment Show Host for his work on The Mask. The show remains a top-rated program on Russian television, with Kirkorov becoming one of its most iconic figures. In 2023, Kirkorov joined Emperor's Treasures (Sokrovishcha Imperatora) together with actor Wolfgang Cerny, a competitive reality show that combines adventure, history, and treasure hunting. Airing on TNT, the program involves celebrities exploring China's rich cultural and historical heritage while solving clues to uncover hidden treasures.

Film

In 2009, Kirkorov had his first significant film role in the Russian-Ukrainian romantic comedy Love in the Big City. In the film he played Saint Valentine. He reprised his role in the following two sequels Love in the Big City 2 and Love in the Big City 3. The films also starred Volodymyr Zelensky, Aleksey Chadov and Vera Brezhneva. In 2017 he appeared in the comedy film Naughty Grandma.

Personal life

In 1994, he proposed to Alla Pugacheva and she accepted. On 13 January the couple announced their engagement in Moscow. On 15 March the marriage was registered in St. Petersburg by then-mayor Anatoly Sobchak. On 15 May the wedding of Kirkorov and Pugacheva took place in Jerusalem. Other than his native Bulgarian, he is fluent in Russian, and is proficient in Spanish and English. In January 2023, Ukraine imposed sanctions on Kirkorov for his support of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. On March 24, 2024, Philipp Kirkorov left Russia for Baku, Azerbaijan, after an administrative case regarding tax evasion was opened against the artist, and the bank accounts of his companies were blocked.

Public image and controversies

Kirkorov has maintained a "bad boy" public image for most of his career and has caused a number of media controversies. The most notorious scandal followed an incident in Rostov-on-Don on 20 May 2004. At a press conference he insulted (using Russian obscene language) Irina Aroyan, a female journalist who had asked why so many of his songs were covers of American and European hits. During the ensuing discussion, Kirkorov eventually told Aroyan that he was "tired of her pink blouse, her tits, and her microphone" and demanded that she leave the room immediately. When she eventually did, his bodyguards attacked her outside and destroyed her tape recorder. The incident led to a major response and discussions in the mass media. On 11 August 2004, Kirkorov was found guilty of insults (article 130 of the Russian penal code) and was fined 60,000 rubles (about 2000 US dollars at the time). At a pro-Viktor Yanukovych candidacy concert during the 2004 Ukrainian presidential election Kirkorov's father, Bulgarian singer Bedros Kirkorov, mistakenly called on Ukrainians to vote for the opposing candidate Viktor Yushchenko – to wild cheers from the audience. There was also an incident where Kirkorov sent his guards to attack the Russian rock singer and DDT band frontman Yuri Shevchuk after their emotional skirmish in a public place (Shevchuk did not have his own guards). The reason for the argument reportedly were Shevchuk's offensive statements against Kirkorov, his wife, and his alleged lip-synching. On 15 May 2009 Kirkorov resigned as head of the Russian jury at the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest, which has a 50% say in who will be national Russian Eurovision representative, after having been seen posing for cameras with Greek entry Sakis Rouvas and having dinner with Norwegian entry Alexander Rybak. Furthermore, Kirkorov admitted that he and Rouvas had been personal friends for years. Since the integrity of the jury was deemed damaged, Kirkorov had little option but to resign once these stories had been made public. On 3 September 2009 Philipp Kirkorov, clad in his 2008 Music Awards gold suit, was caught on camera breaking a camera belonging to NTV journalist Veronica Kozlova and then taking it away with him. Despite the fact that this could have been seen as robbery, charges were not made, and Kirkorov stated that his actions were 'provoked' by the journalist. Kozlova was immediately dubbed 'Pink Blouse the Second' by her colleagues and other journalists. Another incident occurred on 4 December 2010, when he allegedly slapped a female assistant because he was unhappy with the lighting at a concert venue. The woman, later identified as Marina Yablokova, threatened to sue Kirkorov. As a result, Kirkorov fled to Israel and had himself interned at a psychiatric hospital. On 7 December 2010 the singer publicly admitted that he had psychological problems on his official website and apologized to his latest victim. On 29 November 2016, Russian media reported that Didier Marouani has been detained in Moscow by Russian police on charges of extortion and defamation. The charges were based on a complaint by Kirkorov with whom Marouani had a disagreement regarding a copyright infringement case. In April 2022, Kirkorov criticized RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan for questioning the sexual orientation of Russian comedian and television presenter Maxim Galkin, who fled Russia in protest of the invasion of Ukraine.

Support for the Russian annexation of Crimea and invasion of Ukraine

Due to his public support of Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014, Lithuania blacklisted Kirkorov on 19 January 2021, preventing him from entering the country for a period of five years. Several of his concerts had been scheduled in Lithuanian cities that year. On 23 June, Kirkorov was included in the list of "persons who pose a threat to Ukraine's national security" and was thus banned from entering Ukraine for speaking in support of Russia's annexation of Crimea. Estonia banned the singer from entering the country on 24 February 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine; Ukraine imposed sanctions on him for promoting Russia in January 2023.

Honours and awards

In November 2024, Kirkorov was revoked of the title of People's Artist of Ukraine, as part of a decree that stripped 34 people labelled as traitors to Ukraine. ! colspan="3" style="background: cyan;" | World Music Awards ! colspan="3" style="background: cyan;" | World Music Awards ! colspan="3" style="background: cyan;" | World Music Awards

Discography

Albums

Singles

Eurovision covers

Philipp Kirkorov has covered a few songs which appeared in the Eurovision Song Contest and its national finals, as well as entering a song in his own right. Songs include:

Videos

Filmography

Eurovision Song Contest entries

Real estate

Scandals

Conflict over the cry "My Bunny"

On December 19, 2002, at the Ostankino television center, one of the young extras who came for filming, seeing Kirkorov, shouted: "My bunny," (a reference to one of Kirkorov's hits) and Kirkorov kicked the young man and his security additionally beat up the victim.

Conflict with Yuri Shevchuk

On 29 December 2002, in the St. Petersburg hotel "European", a verbal altercation occurred between the leader of the DDT group Yuri Shevchuk and Kirkorov, during which the latter's guards attacked Shevchuk, knocked him down and began beating him. Kirkorov himself did not participate in the brawl, although, according to some sources, he tried to reach out to Shevchuk. After the hotel security calmed down the singer's security, Kirkorov demanded that Shevchuk be declared persona non grata.

Insult of journalist Irina Aroyan

On 20 May 2004, at a press conference in Rostov-on-Don, shortly after a question from Gazeta Dona journalist Irina Aroyan, "What is the reason for such a large number of covers in your repertoire?" the singer insulted the journalist using obscene words. Aroyan filed a lawsuit, which found the singer guilty under Part 2 of Article 130 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (insult in a public place) and sentenced Kirkorov to pay a fine of 60 thousand rubles. The scandal led to Kirkorov being declared a boycott for some time by many Russian electronic and print media.

Attack on Marina Yablokova

On 6 December 2010, a verbal altercation occurred between Philip Kirkorov and the assistant to the chief director of the Golden Gramophone ceremony, Marina Yablokova, at a rehearsal, after which the singer slapped Yablokova, pulled her by the hair and kicked her. Yablokova filed an application with the Moscow Criminal Investigation Department to initiate a criminal case under the articles "insult" (part 1 of article 130) and "infliction of minor bodily harm" (part 1 of article 115). F. Kirkorov: "The reaction of some media is an absolute and deliberate lie. I didn’t kick her or turn her into an invalid." Anna Netrebko, who was present at the rehearsal: "This girl is lying for some reason, it’s unclear why." Witnesses to the incident clarify what happened at the rehearsal. The organizer of the award, Russian Radio, published "Clarification on the conflict between F. Kirkorov and M. Yablokova." In an interview with Ksenia Sobchak in the "Sobchak Live" program on the TV Rain channel, Kirkorov admitted that Vladimir Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov assisted him in settling relations with the media. Iosif Prigozhin, Aleksandr Novikov, singer Valeriya and Valery Meladze spoke out against Kirkorov. The journalist who suffered from Kirkorov was also supported by the person involved in the previous scandal involving the singer, Irina Aroyan, who called for a repeated public boycott of Kirkorov and advised Yablokova to "see her job to the end." Several players of the Russian national football team wrote an open letter in defense of Kirkorov. Joseph Kobzon, Lyudmila Gurchenko, Igor Nikolaev, Sergei Makovetsky, Taisiya Povaliy, Gennady Khazanov also spoke out in defense of the singer. On 8 December, Kirkorov was hospitalized in the psychiatric ward of the Israeli Sheba Medical Center (Tel Hashomer Hospital), from where on 10 December, in the Let Them Talk program, he publicly apologized to Yablokova and explained his behavior as a "serious illness", attacks of which the singer "suffers" twice a year and which is accompanied by unconsciousness." "Yes, I raised my hand. I insulted. But I didn’t do what they say I did." On 12 December, in the Central Television program, after the presenter's statement about the presence of a video recording of the incident, Yablokova reported that Kirkorov did not pull her hair. Yablokova's lawyer asks that the video recording not be made public. On 13 December, Kirkorov's lawyer announced a possible appeal to law enforcement agencies regarding slander directed against Kirkorov. On 15 December, a criminal case was opened. Kirkorov was recognized as a defendant, Yablokova as a private prosecutor and victim. On 16 December, F. Kirkorov and M. Yablokova entered into a settlement agreement. On 22 December, the magistrate's court held a meeting to consider the issue of its approval.

Conflict with Timati

In 2012, rapper Timati published a message via Twitter about the just completed Muz-TV Award, in which he expressed bewilderment at the distribution of awards in a number of categories. Kirkorov reacted rudely to the message, reminding Timati of professional ethics. Timati, in the same manner, reminded Kirkorov of his past scandals. The conflict resulted in Timati recording a video message to Kirkorov, "Goodbye", "in the manner of a popular video at that time».

Conflict with Didier Marouani

In 2016, the leader of the Space group, Didier Marouani, made claims to Kirkorov for plagiarizing the musical material of the song "Tough Love," which Marouani, citing experts, considered 41% borrowed from the song Symphonic Space Dream. After lengthy correspondence by email and telephone conversations (which, as it later turned out, were conducted by pranksters Vovan and Lexus instead of Kirkorov), Maruani arrived in Moscow on 29 November 2016 to resolve the conflict and a joint press conference with Kirkorov, for which, as he assumed, was supposed to receive $1 million in compensation from Kirkorov. Before meeting with Maruani, Kirkorov, on the advice of his lawyer A. Dobrovinsky, turned to the police, and during the "investigative experiment" in the Sberbank office, Maruani and his lawyer I. Trunov were detained by the police and then released. Law enforcement agencies refused to initiate a criminal case against Kirkorov based on his claim of "extortion" by Maruani. The whole detective story was characterized by the French musician as "a setup and a stupid, criminal act." Maruani accused Kirkorov of "stole more than 30 songs from other performers," and announced an intention to sue Kirkorov in the United States (where he has property) over "illegal use of musical material." Kirkorov, in an interview with NTV, without denying a certain similarity of a fragment of the melody, argued that the song "Cruel Love" by composer Oleg Popkov was created and recorded in 1996–2000, and Marouani's song Symphonic Space Dream - only in 2002. At the same time, Kirkorov declared himself only the performer of the song, not bearing any legal responsibility for its music.

Pamir Jurab incident

On 2 January 2017, in the entertainment program "MaximMaxim" on Channel One, Philip Kirkorov presented the presenters of the program, Maxim Galkin and Alla Pugacheva, with a pair of knitted woolen socks, calling them Bulgarian and saying that his aunt knitted them. After the release of the program with this episode, controversy and a flurry of indignation began in the Tajik segment of social networks. Users recognized these woolen socks as a rare pattern that can only be performed by women of the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region of Tajikistan. As it turned out, the socks donated by Kirkorov turned out to be part of the national attire of the Pamir peoples and some Tajiks - Pamir jurabs. Soon, on social networks, Tajiks and Pamiris organized a flash mob called "Know our jurabs!" They called on Kirkorov to apologize to the Pamir and Tajik peoples and admit his mistake. Many residents of Badakhshan, emphasizing the uniqueness of the Pamir socks, expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that Kirkorov did not indicate their origin, but presented them as handmade by his aunt. After this incident, some Tajik journalists proposed recognizing jurab knitted products as a masterpiece of the oral and intangible cultural heritage of humanity by UNESCO. The Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Tajikistan has included the knitting of jurabs in the list of intangible cultural heritage of the country, but has not yet submitted an official application to UNESCO.

Conflict with Gilbert Sinoué

In October 2017, Gilbert Sinoué, a French writer, author of the novel Yerevan about the Armenian genocide in the Ottoman Empire, also known as a songwriter, accused Kirkorov of plagiarizing his song "Helwa ya Baladi", which has existed since 1978. The accusation was related to the fact that Kirkorov performs the song "Silk Thread" in Russian, which is identical to the French work.

Swearing at the workers of the New Wave festival in Sochi

On 29 August 2019, a video appeared on the Internet in which Philip Kirkorov swore obscenely from the stage at the workers of the New Wave festival in Sochi, declaring that he did not care about the live broadcast and until he rehearsed the number with cameras, the show would not start. Soon the scandal quickly spread across social networks. Kirkorov's press secretary Ekaterina Uspenskaya called the incident "working moments on a very important day." She explained Kirkorov's obscene language towards the festival workers by his concern for the quality of the performance that he was preparing for "New Wave 2019." Soon, journalist Irina Aroyan responded to this incident, saying the following: "This is not masculine behavior. It’s bad to swear, what else can you say?".

Dancing on the cross in honor of the 55th birthday

From April 27 to April 30, Kirkorov performed with the anniversary show "55. Gold. Golden Hits" at the State Kremlin Palace. As part of the performance for the song "Maria Magdalena," the artist climbed onto a decoration in the shape of a large cross, which aroused great criticism from the Russian Orthodox Church, other artists and public organizations. There were threats to sue the artist for blasphemy, but no legal action was put forth. Kirkorov later apologized to all those offended on social networks.

Conflict with Nargiz Zakirova

In October 2022, singer Nargiz Zakirova posted a video on social networks in which she is driving through the streets of Tashkent and, upon seeing a poster announcing a concert by Philip Kirkorov, swears: "And here they come, f...". Philip Kirkorov responded with: "Nargiz, one doesn’t even need vocal cords to swear. And so to behave that way for whom you were fawning only yesterday, your conscience also will not be useful". In November 2022, in an interview with journalist Alena Zhigalova in the YouTube show "Alena, damn it!" Philip Kirkorov commented on singer Nargiz's attack on himself in Tashkent: "I’m sitting not bothering anyone, suddenly this "hospitable" video "flies in." On the eve of a tour in Tashkent, where I haven't been for a hundred years, where Farukh Zakirov and the "Yalla" group are waiting for me... And suddenly she (Nargiz) records a video: driving past of my beautiful poster in Tashkent and remarks: "And here they come, f...!" This is about me! For five years, while she was trying to do something in Russia, until she quarreled with Fadeev, with Channel One, until she gave our country a bad name and received a ban on entry for her boorish attitude towards Russia, towards to all of us, she wrote to me: "Happy Birthday, Rock Star", "I love you endlessly!" I answered her: "Thank you, my girl!" And suddenly: "And here they come, f..."

Party at the Mutabor club in Moscow

After attending the scandalous "naked" party of blogger Nastya Ivleeva in the Moscow club "Mutabor", where the guests were almost naked, Philip Kirkorov apologized. In a video message to fans on the VKontakte social network, he called attending the event his mistake and admitted that his status requires him to be more responsible in monitoring where he goes. "I didn’t know about the nature of the events that would take place behind these doors and left," the singer noted. After the publication of information about the "naked" party, the head of the Federal Project for Security and Anti-Corruption (FPBC) Vitaly Borodin demanded that Kirkorov be deprived of the title of People's Artist. On 27 December, it became known that Kirkorov's image was removed from the poster of the film "Ivan Vasilyevich Changes Everything!", replacing it with comedian Pavel Volya. The singer has also been boycotted on television - New Year's programs with his participation are being edited anew, without footage of Kirkorov and his solo numbers.