KRISTIAN KOSTOV IS BULGARIA’S REPRESENTATIVE AT EUROVISION 2017 (video)

The young Bulgarian musician Kristian Kostov will represent Bulgaria in Eurovision 2017 with the song Beautiful Mess. The song contest will take place in Ukraine’s capital Kyev in May 2017.

According to the allocation draw, the Bulgaria will perform is in the second semi-final of the contest which will start 22:00 Bulgarian time on 11th of May.

"This is the biggest and most exciting present I could possibly receive two days before my 17th birthday. The news that I was selected to represent Bulgaria at this prestigious stage makes me feel exceptionally happy but I take it as a responsibility as well. Seems that I would be the youngest among the participants selected so far but it often happens to me,” Kristian said. This motivates me to show that the important is how big your heart, talent and inspiration are,” he added.

The song Beautiful Mess has a modern pop sound and tells a story of contrasting feelings and characters. It is dedicated to young people, defending the values in which they sincerely believe. The project was implemented by Virginia Records for the purpose of the contest. The music company chose the song to be created in partnership with the creative team of Symphonics, which included composers and music producers Borislav Milanov (Bulgaria), Sebastian Arman (Austria), Bo Joachim Persson (Sweden). This year, Alex Omar and Alexander V. Blaine joined the international team which was part of Bulgaria’s 2016 Eurovision entry If Love Was a Crime", which was voted in fourth place at the final in Stockholm.

Kristian Kostov was born in Moscow on 15th of March 2000. He started his career when he was 6 in a prestigious children’s music group Neposedy in Moscow. He participated in numerous national and international competitions, such as "Sound Kids", where he was the winner, "A New Wave for Children" (finalist, 2012) and third place in the "School of Music" (2012).

Kristian is the youngest performer in the Eurovision Song Contest this year. The selection of Kristian follows the theme of the contest this year, Celebrate Diversity, since his father is Bulgarian and his mother is from Kazakhstan. In 2014, he was one of the finalists of The Voice Kids in Russia where he reached the final. Eurovision winner Dima Bilan was his mentor in the show.

Two years ago, Kristian was invited to participate in the grand final of the UNICEF’s #Imagine project. Over the years, many celebrities such as Audrey Hepburn, David Beckham, Katy Perry and many others worked together on the project. In 2014, Kristian Kostov is the only artist born in Russia who was invited on stage with celebrities such as Yoko Ono, Hugh Jackman, Daniela Mercury and others.

Later that year, he released his first single in Russia - Listen to the Rain. In April 2015, Kristian performed his composition before more than 3,000 people, impressing not only with his singing live, but also with the choreography he performed with his own dance group - "KrisKrew".

Shortly after his appearance in X Factor, he signed a contract with one of the most successful production companies in Bulgaria - Virginia Records. His new debut single, Ne si za Men(You are not for me) for two weeks topped the national ranking of the most played Bulgarian songs on air. Later, the track got an English version, titled You Got Me Girl". Pavell & Venci Venc 's song Raise Level with Kristian’s participation was a leader in the official ranking for 14 consecutive weeks. The hit was viewed by over 6 million people on YouTube.

The song Beautiful Mess is accessible on the official Eurovision Song Contest channel on YouTube and the website of the contest – eurovision.tv

"We received more projects than we expected considering the big requirements that we had. But that was the reason why we had a high level of songs and stage concepts. That allowed us to look at every proposal from all possible angles. The choice was difficult, but this made us very pleased. All of the projects that reached the final phase of the selection were worthy and could have had their niche at Eurovision The partnership with the music industry in terms of the Eurovision Song Contest is an established practice for years in many countries. It provides an opportunity to consolidate the efforts of actively working professionals, to overcome funding problems and to have a good presentation at the contest. After this selection I am really optimistic that we have extremely good options for the years to come as well," Bulgarian Head of Delegation Joana Levieva-Sawyer  said.

BNT received a total of 11 applications with a proposal for the Bulgarian participation in Eurovision 2017, which included the song, artist and stage concept. Pre-selection by the public broadcaster shortlisted 6 offers which met all of the requirements of the media. They were consulted with international experts with experience in Eurovision from 12 countries (Malta, Israel, Italy, Serbia, the Netherlands, Belarus, Belgium, Denmark, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Armenia and France). Via the online platform, music professionals had the opportunity to get familiar with all the projects and express their professional opinion and recommendations to assist the BNT expert committee in making a final decision.

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