Kristian Kostov

Biography

Kristian Konstantinov Kostov (Bulgarian: Кристиан Константинов Костов; born 15 March 2000) is a Bulgarian-Kazakh singer. He was a finalist in season one of The Voice Kids Russia and a runner-up in the fourth season of X Factor Bulgaria. He represented Bulgaria in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 with the song "Beautiful Mess", finishing in second place. In January 2018, Kostov won the EBBA Public Choice award. In January 2019, he was one of seven singers who performed in the seventh season of Singer (previously I Am a Singer).

== Personal life ==

Kostov was born in Moscow to a Kazakh mother and a Bulgarian father. He has an older brother, Daniel, and a younger sister, Sofia. As a child, he learned Bulgarian from his father, English from his brother, and Kazakh from his grandfather. On 5 May 2019, he witnessed the Aeroflot Flight 1492 accident at Sheremetyevo International Airport, Moscow, Russia.

== Career ==

=== 2014–2016: The Voice Kids Russia & X Factor Bulgaria ===

Kostov participated in the Russian version of The Voice. He was part of the first season of the kids version of the show where his mentor was Dima Bilan, who chose Kostov to advance to the finals. After his success in Russia, Kristian auditioned for the fourth season of X Factor Bulgaria as he is of Bulgarian origin. He was selected as one of the three male contestants who advanced to the live shows and became one of the finalists. During the finals, he performed the Lyube's song "Позови меня" solo, a duet with Vasil Naydenov for "Сбогом, Моя Любов", and Emil Dimitrov's song "Ако си Дал" as his winning song on the second night. When the final results were revealed, he was runner-up.

=== 2016–2018: Virginia Records, debut single and Eurovision ===

On 7 October 2016, his debut single "Ne si za men" was released by Virginia Records. The song peaked at number 13 on the Bulgarian Singles Chart. He featured on Pavell and Venci Venc's single "Vdigam Level", which was released on 25 November 2016, and peaked to number 13 on the Bulgarian Singles Chart. On 13 March 2017, it was announced that he would represent Bulgaria in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 with the song "Beautiful Mess". He finished in second place.