Филипп Киркоров | en

Филипп Бедросович Киркоров (Philipp Bedrosovich Kirkorov) was born on April 30, 1967 in Varna, Bulgaria in the family of a Soviet-Bulgarian singer Бедрос Киркоров (Bedros Kirkorov). Kirkorov is known in Russia and the former Soviet countries for his flamboyant, even theatrical stage clothes and has benefited greatly from his marriage to Алла Пугачёва (Alla Pugacheva), appearing frequently with her on Russian television variety shows. His musical style is generic Russian pop music with occasional Turkish and Western influences and, like many Russian pop stars of the 90s and later, he frequently records duets with other artists working in the same field. Kirkorov represented Russia in the Eurovision Song Contest 1995 held in Dublin with the song "Колыбельная для вулкана" ("Lullaby for a volcano") and finished in 17th place. He co-wrote the Belarusian entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 2007, "Work Your Magic" for Дмитрий Колдун (Dmitry Koldun), and wrote the 2008 Ukrainian entry "Shady Lady", performed by Ані Лорак (Ani Lorak). He was also a judge in the second season of Music Idol in Bulgaria.

His career started in 1985 with the performance of a song titled "Алёша" (or Алеша) at the "Шире круг" ("Wider the Circle") musical TV show, popular in USSR.

There are a number of media controversies surrounding Kirkorov.

The most notorious scandal followed an incident in Rostov-on-Don, 2004. At a press conference he insulted (using Russian obscene language) a female journalist who had asked why so many of his songs were remakes of American and European hits. Kirkorov, responded to the question by telling the female reporter he "bored with her pink jacket, tits, and microphone" and demanding 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.

There was also an incident where Kirkorov sent his guards to attack the Russian rock singer and "ДДТ" (DDT) band frontman Юрий Шевчук (Yuri Shevchuk) after their emotional skirmish in a public place (as known, Shevchuk keeps no guards of his own). The reason for the argument reportedly were Shevchuk's offensive statements against Kirkorov, his wife, and his alleged lip-synching. .